Daily Sitka Sentinel

Dancers Poised to Step Out in Many Styles

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

Dancers will grace the stage at the Performing Arts Center on Saturday with arabesques and pirouettes – plus a few pops and locks – in the Sitka Studio of Dance’s annual recitals.

“Elements” is the theme this year, featuring dancers of all ages and skill levels, and in styles that include ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, modern, hip-hop and “variations.” Three shows are planned, at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

As the name implies, a “recital” is a recitation of what the dancers learned over the past year.

Sitka Studio of Dance students strike a pose in the studio Thursday. (Sentinel Photo)

“It’s to share steps and concepts we learned in class,” said Sitka Studio of Dance director Melinda McAdams. “We’re trying to showcase new things everyone has been learning – keeping things new and interesting.”

McAdams founded the studio in 1996, and today it has 80 dancers and three instructors, McAdams, Jo DeBell and Nancy Neel.

The pandemic forced the studio to change and adapt, McAdams said, with classes offered by video recording and Zoom until live classes could be resumed, first with masks required and now with masks optional.

“We’re still rebuilding, we’ve gone through a lot of stages,” McAdams said.

Some kids won’t be able to perform Saturday because of COVID precautions, but most will be on stage for the shows, she said.

“It feels good getting people back on track,” she said.

Neel, another of the three instructors, has been dancing for more than 15 years, and said hip hop and jazz are her favorite dance styles. Her Coast Guard family lived in Sitka for three years before moving away, and is now in the fifth year on this current tour.

Neel teaches three hip hop classes. Two, the Pearl and the Emerald classes, will be in the recital. The third, a once-a-month hip hop class for teens and adults, will not perform.

While it may be more challenging for adults to learn hip hop style than it is for younger folks, she said with the monthly classes she “keeps it at the beginning level.”

By the end of class, with repetition of the movements and steps that are introduced and practiced, everyone learns, she added.

“They pick it up pretty well and we keep it upbeat,” she said.

One of Neel’s young students in the recital is Morgan Hames, 12, who takes hip hop, ballet and jazz at the studio.

“I love hip hop, but all of the dances are really cool,” Morgan said. On Saturday she will perform a hip hop number set to “Space Jam,” a jazz piece set to “Radioactive,” and a ballet piece set to “You’re Enough.” 

Last year all the dancers wore masks, and Morgan said she looks forward to a recital performed “in a semi-normal way this year.” She started taking dance at age 3 and she has performed in all of the recitals and the Nutcracker since then.

“It’s loads of fun – I love going to performances to see people going on stage and having a lot of fun; I know a lot of people have been working really hard,” she said.

Carole Knuth, who identifies herself as the oldest member of the studio, has been taking dance for 20 years, and said she appreciates that the studio is welcoming to all ages and skill levels.

“Part of it is it’s great exercise, it helps with coordination and helps remind me to stand tall,” she said. “I enjoy being around different ages in the class.”

When she took her first class she said “it was a risk,” since she was trying something new, but she felt it was one worth taking.

It’s also an activity in which three generations of her family take part. She will perform with the Ballet 1 class. Grandson Noah and daughter Erika will appear in different dances, and husband Peter Apathy will run sound.

The show will feature two seniors who will present solos.

Aitana Gluth, who graduates from Sitka High on May 16, will perform a contemporary pointe dance that she choreographed herself with DeBell as mentor. It’s set to “Tension,” by Hollyn.

Gluth said the music and theme resonate with her, including the unusual style and lyrics of the music, which allude to waiting for change.

“I wanted to share a bit of myself through the dance,” she said.

She has been dancing for 11 years, and is headed off to college next year where she hopes to continue dancing in some form.

Mia Anderson, who just graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe High School, worked with McAdams on her dance, a ballet set to “Forever Young,” by Alphaville.

Tickets are available at fineartscamp.org and at the door. Those age 5 and under get in for free.