For the fifth year in a row, a Project Dance athlete will represent Chilliwack on the provincial stage.
Hannah Bateman will compete at the Performing Arts BC Provincial Dance Festival, taking place June 3-7 in Penticton.
The 12-year-old was chosen junior provincial stage rep (comprised of jazz, lyrical, tap and stage) at Burnaby’s Pacific West Performing Arts (PacWest)Festival.
Each regional festival sends its most promising artists to provincials.
Earlier this year she was named provincial junior runner-up at the Chilliwack Lions Music and Dance Festival.
Her studio has racked up the hardware in recent weeks. Project Dance teams and individuals have won 20 high-score trophies, 16 bursaries, four honours performance spots and various cash prizes.
At the Synergy Maple Ridge competition, Project Dance competitors earned 18 diamond placements for scores of 92 per cent or higher.
Ten year old Jessica Albert was named junior dancer of the year, 12 year old Dylan Ratzlaff was chosen intermediate dancer of the year and 13 year old Jillian Haima was intermediate runner-up.
The lyrical duo performed by 14 year old Berkeley Ratzlaff and 16 year old Matthew Wyllie — depicting a young couple dealing with a young soldier going off to war — earned first place at Synergy, plus an honours performance at their hometown Chilliwack festival.
“These young dancers work so hard to improve their skills and they have an amazing work ethic,” said Project Dance owner/director Amanda Quinton, who was recently named Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. “Balancing training schedules with the demands of schoolwork and competitions is tough, and they always show up ready to work hard.”
The studio’s competitive dancers are now readying for the month-long Surrey Festival of Dance, followed by Dance Power (Maple Ridge) and PEAK Invitational (Abbotsford).