First City School of Dance hosting its 3rd annual Adult Dance Conference, Feb. 20-25.
Matt Carter
To some, a pandemic lockdown might not sound like an opportune time to launch a new business venture of any kind. But as the old saying goes, there’s no time like the present.
In early 2021, Saint John based educator and dance instructor Marcia Dysart launched First City School of Dance. Shortly thereafter, the company’s Adult Dance Conference was born.
“I started this conference in my school’s inaugural year, 2021. It was right after we had that Covid Lockdown in January and it was a spur of the moment kind of decision,” said Dysart. “The interest in our adult dance classes really surprised me and I thought the adults needed their own week of ‘dancecation’, especially in February.”
The conference’s first year saw Dysart and her team of instructors offering close to 20 classes spread out between the company’s locations in Saint John and Quispamsis.
“The conference is for the absolute beginner to the advanced dancer.” – Marcia Dysart
“We had so many dancers come out, I knew it had to be an annual event,” said Dysart.
In 2022, the conference grew to include a partnership with Saint John contemporary dance company Connection Dance Works. Together they were able to grow the event by bringing in a few instructors from outside the province including Canadian independent contemporary dance artist Darryl Tracy.
Continuing to grow at an exponential rate, the third annual Adult Dance Conference is set to take place February 20-25 with more than 30 classes and workshops open to adults of all experience levels.
“This year we have 18 teaching artists and 38 classes to choose from,” said Dysart. “We have artists from Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Yukon teaching this year.
“We have classes in social dance ( swing, bachata, salsa) ballet, contemporary, tap, jazz, musical theatre, hip hop, heels, burlesque, zumba, pilates and more. People can choose to purchase a single class pass, a four class pass or an unlimited class pass. This year, I have one dancer that has signed up for 13 classes!”
A complete schedule and list of events can be found at firstcityschoolofdance.ca
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