Beats will be bumpin’ and feet will be thumpin’ as 300 dancers bust a move at Armstrong’s fourth annual Adrenaline Dance Competition Saturday.
The local team, Adrenaline from Pleasant Valley Secondary, is up against seven other teams from B.C. and one from Alberta at the school-hosted event at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Advance tickets, available today and Friday at the PVSS office, are $5, or $10 at the door – if there’s any left.
Adrenaline, which is the North Okanagan’s only dance team, recently took first place at the High School High competition in Vancouver for best hip hop senior team.
Now they’re looking to secure another win on home-turf.
“We go out and we usually kick some butt,” said Jordyn Malkinson, one of the 25 senior dancers.
“We’re pretty confident,” adds Mariah Enoch, after practicing a well choreographed hip hop routine featuring old school beats – one of four routines the team has perfected since September.
The team meets for two-and-a-half hours every Monday, with shorter practices in between, to make their moves seamless.
“It’s intense...some days brutal,” said Brandon de Wit, whose break-dancing skills are a feature in their winning-number.
Dance teacher Janet Gillis has stepped up the practices this week in preparation for the competition, and sitting just one day away hopes are high they can repeat the Vancouver win at home.
“This year we had just the right mix,” said Gillis, adding that the local team doesn’t have the city swagger teams in Vancouver have, yet they still impressed.
“We really were able to nail the style and dance we were doing and the judges loved it.
“Now it’s like, ‘oh my gosh, can we do it again?’”
Anyone who can’t make it to Saturday’s competition, or anyone wanting to catch more dance-floor action, is encouraged to come to the school’s iSing and iDance 2 competition June 1 to 3. Along with Adrenaline, the event features the school’s other dance and music programs.
-With files from reporter Roger Knox, after Adrenaline was honoured with a certificate of achievement from the City of Armstrong Monday.
