wo preview performances on Saturday (March 10) of their dance showcase they will be taking on the road.

On March 30, the students and their families are headed to Las Vegas and Los Angeles on a trip that will feature both a component of performances and training workshops. 

Practising their routines from almost the beginning of the 2017/18 dance term as well as taking four core classes during the season, dancers have to be committed and dedicated. While instructors have logged well over one hundred hours of four hour-long Sunday practice sessions, Alison Stutz, Studio Manager, shares it will be a busy time. "We have nine jam-packed days. In LA, they are doing almost a performance or two a day, on top of excursions and training at the Edge in Los Angeles."

Although there is a cost component to travelling many dancers have been fundraising to help offset funds and the benefit is something Stutz feels is worth the time and cash investment. "It is so worth it. To see those kids on stage in places like Trafalgar Square in Disneyland or Times Square, it shows kids all facets of what they can do with dance. From the theatre aspects of New York to the commercial side of LA to just understanding there is more than just competitions, it shows them there is a whole other world of what they can do with their skills."

Since roughly 2000, Snap Dance Studios offers a travel opportunity to students every other year. While planning for the next trip begins almost right when they return, Stutz shares they have been to many different locales. "We have done Carnival Cruise Lines, all inclusive's in various places of Mexico, London, New York and we've done LA before."

Deciding where the group will travel to depends on location, whether they want to train as well as perform, and what is in the best interest of the particular group of students travelling.

When I asked Stutz, what dancers are most looking forward to, she summed it up perfectly. "I know they're thrilled to get to Disneyland, I mean as a kid what better place to do what you love but on stage there."

While Stutz and owner Courtney Sproule, haven't quite decided where 2020 will take them, they are already working on it. "We announce the trip typically eighteen months in advance so that families that want to come have time to save up. We have a few ideas up our sleeve, probably something very performance-based, but we'll see."

Upon return, the dancers only have few days to get ready for six weeks of competition before wrapping up the dance season at their year-end recital on June 2.