The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

The Sisters Dance Academy was able to hold a live performance on Thursday, May 27, at Sisters High School featuring the studio’s competitive dance teams.

The dance academy now has four competitive teams: a junior and senior performance ensemble directed by Kayla Williams and a junior and senior hip-hop squad directed by Shannon Abero Guerrero.

The special performance also highlighted soloists and duets who were able to compete recently, as well as some who chose to choreograph their own solos and had to audition for Director Lonnie Liddell.

“What a joy it was to be able to perform for a live audience again,” Liddell said. “We haven’t been able to do that since December of 2019 due to all of the restrictions surrounding COVID-19. To feel the energy and emotions of being on our home stage with a live audience cheering all throughout the performance felt so amazing for our dancers and has been a long time coming indeed.”

The dance academy normally hosts two live performances a year, in June and in December, but with restrictions on performance venues and gatherings, the dance academy has only been able to do virtual performances for the past year and a half.

This year, the dance academy’s competitive teams were able to attend two dance competitions: Thunderstruck in Vancouver, Washington and most recently, Turn it Up in Springfield,

Oregon.

“With many restrictions still hovering around these kinds of events, competition looked quite a bit different this year, and we were only able to have one attendee per dancer for support,” Liddell said. “So, to be able to have a little over 100 people in the audience at our recent spotlight performance, it was a complete thrill.”

The Sisters Dance Academy has continued running classes throughout all of the ups and downs of the COVID pandemic. From virtual classes, to classes outside, to wearing masks, to distancing restrictions within classes, the dance academy has tried to adapt to the ever-changing parameters.

“I am so grateful for our amazing dancers who have stuck with training and continued to attend class in spite of all the many ways they have had to adapt,” Liddell said. “I am so grateful for the many parents who also continued to have their child enrolled and have believed in us all along the way — we couldn’t have survived without this support.”

Due to the recent change in Deschutes County’s risk level, the restrictions of having a live audience have also lifted. The high school auditorium can host 50 percent capacity for an audience. With this development, the Sisters Dance Academy is able to have their June recital in person for the first time since 2019.

“The June shows are really the culmination of all of the hard work and training our dancers and teachers have put in all year long and to be able to bring that to a live audience this year is beyond exciting,” said Liddell.

The dance academy will host four shows throughout the weekend of June 18-19. There will be a 7 p.m. show on Friday, June 18, and on Saturday three shows at 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. The 7 p.m. Friday show and the 4 p.m. Saturday show will be the same, and the Saturday 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. will be the same. By providing four different shows, this allows there to be the opportunity for ample social distancing within the

auditorium.

The theme for this year’s event is “Extra! Extra! Dance All About It!” and the performers will be weaving this theme throughout each class’s dance number. Tickets go on sale Monday, June 7, and can be purchased through http://www.danceinsisters.com.

This summer the dance academy will have a variety of summer classes and offerings for ages 2-18 and they plan to bring some adult classes back to the schedule as well. Summer enrollment opens Saturday, June 5, 2021.