BE A BETTER DANCER WITH THIS SIMPLE ADVICE



Chloe Mathieu performing at CNDC April 2016 in Winnipeg

Chloe Mathieu, a 12 year old student at Encore Studios, recently attended 3 local dance conventions.  We thought this was a recognizable commitment for such a young lady, so we asked her to share her experiences with us.  Which convention was her favourite, what did she learn, and why she recommends other dancers should attend conventions.

The three conventions she attended were View Dance Convention, Triple Threat Dance Convention, & iDance.  Chloe says her favourite was View: 

“It was the most organized of the three.  It was less crowded (because they limit registrations) which meant you had more room to dance.  The teachers were really nice too, and took time to connect with the students.  Overall, it was the most welcoming of all the conventions.”

When asked what she learned out of these conventions, she mentions two important realizations:

“First, I realized how important it is to focus on the details the choreographers are giving as they teach.  I needed to try to work in the details as I was learning the moves, because this is what they are looking for in the final product.  The second thing that I learned about was musicality and the importance of staying in the beat and rhythm of the song being used.  I had just never thought about it much before these experiences.”

The most inspiring moment came from iDance and the Q & A session with the teachers at the end of the convention.  It was here that she heard from Hip Hop teacher, Tyger B, that it doesn’t matter whether you are the best dancer right now.  What’s important is the effort you put into your dance, and if you work at your personal best, eventually you will get to be the best. 

With Vocal Theatre as her favourite class at Encore Studios, she was thrilled that there was a Theatre class at iDance, which was “super fun”.

Chloe was the only student from Encore Studios to attend Triple Threat this season, and luckily she found it the easiest to make friends at this event.  But overall she said that all of the conventions had a competitive feel amongst the participants.  “It wasn’t bad though, it just pushed you to work harder.”

Chloe was one of three Encore students that won scholarships at View Dance Convention (the others were Sierra Reid and Anne Leveille).  About being recognized, Chloe says it was a surprise that she truly was not expecting.  She was excited with winning the award which made her feel like she had accomplished something, and pushed her to work harder at all of the conventions.

We asked Chloe what her advice would be to other dance students about attending conventions:

“Attending conventions helps to expand your horizons.  You learn more.  It’s also good to be with new dancers and learn from watching others that you don’t normally dance with.  Overall, I found that attending these conventions is really encouraging and I would recommend others to attend conventions when they can.”