By Richelle Hirlehey and Allison Hartman, Dance Extreme
Our dancers have had a busy summer, both within the studio and abroad. Ewan Hartman competed in the Dance Masters of America National Solo Titleist Dance Competition in Orlando, Florida. DMA, founded in 1884 in Boston, MA, acts as a governing body for dance instruction throughout North America, providing excellence in dance education.
Over the course of five very long days, Ewan, along with many other contestants, stood before a panel of judges who evaluated overall dance technique and performance. This consisted of audition classes in four disciplines (jazz, ballet, tap & acro), an interview and a solo title performance. On top of all this, Ewan was also required to be at rehearsals, meetings and workshop classes throughout his stay.
Ewan made many new friends from all over Canada and the United States. They laughed, sweat, ate, hung out at the pool, danced, and performed together while bonding and supporting each other throughout the experience.
The evening of July 7th turned out to be one of the best nights of Ewan’s life thus far, as he won the national title of Master Dance of America 2015 and was awarded the highest marks in three of the four audition classes. On top of this great achievement, Ewan’s peers voted him as Mr. Personality.
For the rest of the week, Ewan’s days were filled with photo shoots with his fellow Petite Miss Dance of America 2015, Summer Brown, along with the other National solo title winners (junior, teen, Miss & Mister), as well as workshops and the closing ceremonies for the week’s events. On his downtime, Ewan enjoyed playing in the pool, going for frozen yogurt with his friends, visiting Universal Studios, going to Downtown Disney for some shopping and eating, and last but not least, taking in a Cirque du Soleil show.
Ewan says he doesn’t have one favourite part of the whole experience. It was all great, he says, including the amount of support he received from his dance family at Dance Extreme. He received guidance and support from: Miss Rebecca Brettingham-Filice, Dance Extreme’s Artistic Director, and her wonderful staff; the executives from Dance Masters of Canada – Chapter #38; all his friends from the chapter; and, most importantly, from his family.
Dance Extreme is proud of the accomplishments of all of our dancers!
