Reader’s one very proud “Dance Uncle!”

Hey, everybody! Reader here, and one of my favourite things to do is watch my nieces and nephew take part in all the activities they enjoy.

I’ve talked about my nephew Hadley’s sports endeavours, in hockey, football and broomball, as well as his big sister Sofie’s ringette adventures, which have taken her to European nations such as Sweden, Finland and Czechia, and most recently, to a tournament in Michigan earlier this year.

But something else I love doing is watching some of my other nieces put on their dancing shoes!

I had the past week off, taking a little bit of vacation time, and it lined up perfectly, giving me the opportunity to be a “Dance Uncle,” and see a couple of year-end dance recitals, and the kids did amazing!

On June 9, I was in Saskatoon, where I got to watch my niece Abbie take part in her recital at Lakeview Church.

Abbie’s 16, and she’s been dancing for many years, but this was her first recital with her new dance school, Trilogy Academy of Dance & Baton Twirling, which is also a brand-new dance school, that was holding it’s inaugural year-end recital, named, appropriately, “The Debut.”

(Fun fact – I didn’t know until that night that one of the owners/instructors of Trilogy Academy is Harvard Media’s own Zoe Vassos, who is one of Abbie’s instructors! Talk about a small world/six degrees of separation thing!)

Abbie performed in five different numbers, in disciplines including tap and ballet, lyrical and jazz, with the music including John Mayer’s “New Light,” Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” and my favourite Billy Joel tune, “Vienna,” and she did fantastic!

It never fails to impress me how she embraces the freedom of being onstage and performs so beautifully. Awesome!

Then, this past Friday night, I was off to Regina, to watch my two youngest nieces, Ella and Drew dance in their year-end recital at the Conexus Arts Centre.

Ella’s 11 – the older of the two, and she took part in five dances, from jazz and modern, to ballet, hip-hop, and tap, while Drew, the eight-year-old, danced in four numbers – in jazz, ballet, tap and hip-hop.

They did so well! With so many dancers on stage, it could be easy to lose the girls in the crowd! Luckily I was sitting close to the stage and could make them out easily – Ella with her bright eyes, and long wavy ponytail, while Drew’s big, unmistakable grin made her easy to pick out!

It’s so much fun watching all three girls do their thing on the stage, let me tell you!

Knowing them, as outgoing as they can be, and as quiet, shy and reserved as they can also be at times, it’s amazing to see them come alive in a whole new way onstage, and show off completely different sides of themselves, whether it’s through the grace and fluidity of ballet, the precision of tap, or while copping some hip-hop attitude.

Unfortunately, during both recitals, taking photos and videos wasn’t allowed, so I can’t show off the kids, but their talent, hard work and love of dance were plain to see.

But I can tell you, I’m one pretty proud uncle!

I’ve been a big fan of dance for many years, even though I’m not necessarily Fred Astaire by any stretch of the imagination.

It probably started where it did for many kids of my generation, watching the videos of the “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson.

Whether dancing on his own, or as part of an ensemble, MJ’s fancy footwork last a lasting impression on so many of us!

I can’t lie – I spent many hours in front of my TV, learning to do a passable version of the “Thriller” dance when Michael turns zombie and joins in the chorus line of the undead!

MJ’s baby sister Janet is a pretty amazing and influential dancer herself – the “Rhythm Nation” video is so iconic that decades later, Joseph Gordon-Levitt did an incredibly detailed recreation of it on “Lip Sync Battle!”

And of course, one of the greatest frontmen of all-time, Mick Jagger, of my favourite band, the Rolling Stones, is renowned for his unique and unorthodox dance moves!

And this is five years ago already. Mick’ll be 81 next month, and the Stones are back on the road this summer!

But one of the best things about dance, is that it can be a beautiful way of expressing a wide range of emotions and feelings, while serving as a wonderful storytelling device.

Back in 2016, one of my favourite athletes, professional race car driver (and Canadian) James Hinchcliffe, along with his partner Sharna Burgess, came in second on season 23 of “Dancing with the Stars” (I still say they were robbed!)

But in the finale, in their freestyle, they told the story of Hinch’s near-fatal crash during qualifying for the 2015 Indianapolis 500. He came into the competition not having a lot of dance experience, but look at what they did here. It’s still one of my favourite videos, and shows how people from different backgrounds can come together to create something beautiful through dance.