Taking the stage

Shannon LeClair

Times Reporter

 

At the beginning of December two local dancers had the opportunity to take part in a production of Alice in Wonderland, held at the University of Calgary.  Alberta Dance Theatre for Young People put on its own version of the beloved classic, and Kate Van Kruyssen and Neve Raycroft had a chance to be a part of it. 

“It went so great. It was amazing,” said Van Kruyssen, who played the role of the Queen of Hearts. 

Van Kruyssen isn’t new to performing with the theatre. “I’ve been with the company for nine years.” 

When she was a little girl her parents had seen an ad in the paper about dance being available for children, and she hasn’t stopped since. “Because this is my last year with Alberta Dance Theatre,” said Van Kruyssen. “I was thinking if I stay in Calgary for my schooling I would like to do dance montage that goes on at the U of C theatre.” 

The show ran from Dec. 3 to 5, with 53 dancers taking part in the performance. Of the 53, only one of them was a boy. 

This was Raycroft’s first performance with the Alberta Dance Theatre. Raycroft began dancing when she was three-years-old. She is now eight. 

“Being in Strathmore she was home at that point (at three-years-old) and it was something that was made available for preschoolers. So we took advantage of it and just to keep busy, she just really took to it and she’s been dancing ever since at the same location here in Strathmore,” said her mom Marnie about Neve’s career start. 

When the Raycrofts discovered Alberta Dance Theatre, Neve auditioned and made it. 

Each of the girls participated in 3-4 dances and, depending on the dance, they played different characters. By the end of the performance each of the 53 dancers had been an Alice, said Marnie. 

“When you create a story through dance you know you can be more creative than if you were going to be verbally creative,” said Marnie. 

Neve studies all forms of dance and is also a competitive dancer. After the performance she was so exhausted she couldn’t think of what her favourite part had been. She found it exciting to be on stage in front of all the people and couldn’t pick just one part of the performance that she liked more than any other part. 

She portrayed Alice once during the production; she was also a hedgehog, a house and a variety of other characters. 

‘“I don’t ever see her stopping. I think she was born to be on stage and to perform. She just loves it and you just can’t keep them off of the stage and out of the lights,” said Marnie.