New Recreational Activities Coming to Oliver Get Bent Arts and Recreation will offer classes in Oliver beginning this month. First day of classes will be February 7. It is located below the Edward Jones office on Main Street. Business owners John Goudie and Wendy Williams are looking forward to seeing Get Bent programs grow in Oliver. “We offer far more than the advertised class material,” Goudie said. “As a values-based organization, we put a large focus on mentorship, esteem building, community partnerships and making healthy choices. It’s always rewarding to see the teens in our programs looking out for the younger ones and guiding them through growing pains.” Youth programs that will be offered in Oliver are Cheerleading and Girls Belly Dancing. Get Bent is the only all-star Cheer program in the South Okanagan. In 2009 they took a team to Vancouver for the Western Canadian Championships and won first in their age category. Williams beams, “Cheerleading is all about enthusiasm and being over-the-top excited. The trophy was three feet tall. It was such an exciting experience. There is nothing quite like Cheer, that’s for sure.” Belly Dancing is another activity offered to the youth in the Okanagan by Get Bent. “All our programs are really a vehicle to teach kids dedication, honesty and integrity, respect, and belief in the potential of others.” Get Bent has become a controversial group in the larger belly dance community. “We’ve made a focused effort to make belly dance appropriate for youth and family friendly - and it already was in many ways - but there are some movements that look better on a ‘grownup’ body
and depending on the cultural background, not all costuming ideas are appropriate for youth.” Williams explains, “We’ve brought in traditional East Indian Dance teachers and blended their beauty, colour, style and music with a selected technique base of belly dancing movements - creating Bollywood belly dance.” Across western Canada Get Bent has been sought after for workshops in their unique style. “It’s a really neat thing to see other groups and recognize moves and combinations unique to our dancers. It’s great to know we are pushing the art.” But it’s not all kids at Get Bent. We welcome adults of all shapes,
sizes and fitness levels for our adult classes including Zumba, Bellyfit and Ladies’ Belly Dance classes for those that want to learn a routine and try a low-key performance. Get Bent has a strong volunteer component to their programs and instructors do many free workshops in schools and community events. “In February we will be doing a cheerleading workshop with 130 students in OK Falls. We are scheduled to visit KVR in Penticton for a grade eight gym class as well,” says Williams. They have volunteers almost every night of the week in the Penticton location - people just want to be a part of the community that they’ve created. Get Bent is an inclusive organization that is happy to grow and share what they do with people further down in the South Okanagan. Laugh, have fun and ‘get bent’ with the new recreational programs coming to Oliver!
OKANAGAN SUN • FEBRUARY 2012 • 15