After a long day of pas de basques, highcuts, Johnnies and other traditional Scottish dances, some local dancers came through with outstanding performances on Saturday at the North Island Highland Dance Association's 33rd Annual Campbell River Competition.
Dancers from both Donna MacIver and Gayle Allen's schools competed against competitors from around the Island and the Lower Mainland. The dancers included a few who have competed at the World level and that was nice for the locals to get a taste of their abilities.
Continuing with her improved steps and getting consistent results is Katelyn Schulz, who had 4th place finishes in both the Pas de Basque and the Swords. Schulz also came in with a 5th in the pas de basque and highcuts in the primary aged group. Competing in their first ever event were the McLean triplets Jillian, Heather and Molly. Jillian achieved an incredible 5th place finish for her Fling in the beginner under 8 group. In the same group Kaylee Dewar who was also in her first competition and she achieved a 4th place in the Swords. These are outstanding results for both considering this was their first time performing before an audience. Also in this group was Avery Osadczuk who danced her way to a bronze medal in the Lilt and a 6th in the Fling.
Davan McEachren had a strong showing in the beginner under 10 class with a 3rd in the seann truibhas and a 5th in the lilt. Kendra Dewar in only her second competition led all locals with a gold medal performance in the swords, silver medal in the Seann Truibhas and she rounded out the day by winning a bronze in the lilt while dancing in the beginner under 11 group. Competing in the novice under 12 group were Haley Smith who won the Flora and had a 4th place finish in the Swords. With this result Smith will now be moving up to the highly competitive Intermediate division. In the same group Grace Burgess had a 3rd and Emily Dreger with a 5th place both coming in the swords. Dancing in her first Novice 12 and over event was Julia Landers who won a bronze medal in the seann truibhas and a 6th in the lilt. Dancing her way to 4th place finish in the seann truibhas was Breagh Kobayashi.
Another dancer having an outstanding day was Avery Foy, who won the swords and achieved 3rd place finishes in both the laddie and Johnnie. This coming in the very tough Intermediate under 12 group. Rounding out the local results was an incredible day had by Jasmine Biegler. In her last competition in the Intermediate 12 and over group, Jasmine won the both the Johnnie and the Flora, came in 3rd in the Fling and rounded out her day with a 6th place finish in the swords. Biegler will now be competing in the top Premier division.
On Sunday the girls travelled down to Courtenay to participate in their 40th annual event. Again turning in an exceptional series of performances was Katelyn Schulz as she gained a second and two third place finishes in the primary group. In the beginner 7 group, Avery Osadczuk enjoyed fantastic results with a 2nd, 3rd and 6th place finishes. The positive results just keep piling up for Davan McEachren as she stepped her way to two 3rd's and a 4th place in the beginner 8-9 group. Emma Schulz, Breagh Kobayashi and Emily Hill performed well enough to earn 6th pace finishes in their respective groups. Haley Smith garnered a 5th place finish in her first competition while dancing at the Intermediate level. Avery Foy once again came through with consistent results with a 5th place in the Seann Truibhas and an awesome 2nd place while performing her first ever Hornpipe.
The girls will continue to work hard and look for more positive results when they travel to Port Alberni in early April. A group of the locals is also starting to fund raise as they have a trip to Scotland planned for the summer of 2012. Please try and support the girls if you see them out in the community.