By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — Friends and families filled the Davidson School gym on Sunday, May 3 for the Davidson Optimist Dance Club’s annual spring recital.

The club’s dancers performed for more than two hours in a wide range of forms and styles, including jazz, lyrical, tap, creative movement, ballet and hip hop.

The show also included a performance of several songs from the musical Annie, including “It’s The Hard Knock Life,” “Tomorrow,” “Little Girls” and “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here.”

Emceeing the show were Kelly Allan and Trish Boyd. The former reported that the club had done very well at competitions in Lanigan and Prince Albert, leaving with numerous awards and medals.

Club treasurer Lynn Shaw reported that 97 dancers had been registered with the club this year, including out-of-town participants who came from Kenaston, Craik, Loreburn and Elbow.

Shaw said the performances from Annie were especially well-received. The club had performed the songs earlier, first at the Central Saskatchewan Music Festival, and later at a dessert theatre night held at the school.

The club had 10 instructors on board this year: Shantell Hoehn, Aundrea Mueller, Sharleen Knorr, Cassandra Florida, Shanna Claire Howlett, Quin Johnson, Brooklyn Read, Katelyn Riecken, Tiara Shaw and Makenna Dieno.

Special recognition was given to Johnson, Read and Riecken, who are Grade 12 students in Davidson and are graduating from the club this year. Read had been with the club for 11 years while the other two had been participating for 13 years.

In addition to the recital on Sunday, the weekend included a showcase on Saturday, May 2, a shorter event featuring solo and duet performances.

For the full story, please check out the May 11 edition of The Davidson Leader.