The Saint Francis Dance program is one of the many fine arts options available at our amazing school. Throughout the 15, 25 and 35 levels, students work with professional choreographers, showcase their talents through major and minor performances, and have opportunities to perform at festivals and events throughout the school year. This year students are preparing for the Eastside Dance Festival. A community based competitive dance festival featuring Calgary’s finest high school level dancers from high schools across the city. The festival takes place at the Decidedly Jazz Dance School, with performances in the DJD Theatre each evening. This is an opportunity to share our talents and abilities with other high schools, and to take part in workshops and master classes offered by professional dance artists in Calgary’s vibrant dance community.
We are also working toward our spring show called, “Same Ship, Different Day!” Saint Francis’ finest dancers and actors telling the story of a shipwreck disaster. Turning our stage into an ocean liner and dancing on our ship’s deck is our next task! May 24 and 25, at 7pm. Don’t miss it! Finally, one of the best things about our dance program is the Saint Francis Pep Rally Dance Team. Our finest student hip hop dancers and choreographers come together to perform for and celebrate our sports teams. Truly an experience of school spirit second to none, our dancers show their love for Saint Francis through hard work and dedication to dance to inspire and be inspired by the hard work and dedication of our teams!
Just two weeks ago the Saint Francis High School senior improv team achieved the impossible. They won their second consecutive city championship down at the Loose Moose Theatre on March 2nd against Central Memorial High School. Coached by Saint Francis alumni, Anyssa McKee, team members Logan Hockley, Layne Labbe, Patrick Lynn, and Aidan Sura were able to beat all the other teams and get the biggest laughs to secure the championship for Saint Francis. Our team got off to a great start on their first night and capped off the round robin with an even stronger second night putting them into first place overall going into the semifinals. Then after the semifinals match against their rivals, Notre Dame, they were able to narrowly beat out Central Memorial to clinch first place. It was a hard fought tournament with weeks of preparation but it all paid off and these four students were able to finish their high school careers with another win under their belts. But have no fear for the future because backing them up is the Saint Francis junior improv team who were only 0.1 points away from making the semifinals which is absolutely incredible for them. The future of improv is bright for Saint Francis. We would like to thank everyone down at the Loose Moose Theatre and Dr. Larry Stanleigh for making this all possible and we can’t wait to defend our championship next year. Aidan Sura