Tap, hip hop, modern, ballet, jazz, and lyrical are dance styles Mattias Cheung, 10, has focused on during his time at Excalibur Theatre Arts Company.
With artistic director Bonnie Leach's choreographic help, he and his partner Madyson Riplinger, will be taking to the stage with a strong modern dance duo performance during the Prince George Dance Festival next week.
The Prince George Dance Festival takes place at Vanier Hall from Saturday to Friday, where 515 performers, ages six to adult, from Prince Rupert, Terrace, Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Quesnel, Vancouver and Prince George come together to showcase their talents in more than 1,200 dance numbers.
The gala performance, which features the highlights of the festival, takes place next Friday night, while more than $24,000 worth of scholarships and prize money will be given away during the week and 16 competitors will be sent to the provincial competition.
Mattias and Madyson have already taken top honours with their routine during the Quesnel Festival of the Performing Arts two weeks ago and hope to make the same splash during the local showcase. They won last year's modern dance scholarship, so a repeat would be nice.
"It's a stunning performance," said Emily Cheung, Mattias' mom. "It's unbelievable how mature the two look when they dance."
Matti's older sister Alyssa, 14, and brother Nic, 18, joined the Excalibur family a few years ago and little brother just naturally followed in their dance steps.
"It was probably my brother's hip hop," said Mattias, talking about what sparked his interest in dance. Last year he found the sound of tap was hard to resist and now that's his favourite style.
Mattias, who attends Heritage elementary and loves math and science, dances most days, but keeps Thursdays free for homework, and his other interests including violin, piano, drums and bass guitar. The Cheung family are all musically inclined, and often play with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, so Matti takes some lessons and then gets pointers from his siblings and parents.
At the festival Mattias will perform solos as well as duos in jazz, hip hop and modern dance. Other categories in the festival include, Highland, cultural-specific (formerly ethnic), ballet, demi-character, pointe, modern, contemporary, lyrical, acro-dance, song and dance, variety, production, musical interpretation and junior choreography.
Mattias said he's looking forward to the festival. His mom said the kids practically live there as the festival begins at 8:30 each morning and doesn't stop until 9 each night.
Tickets to watch a session, which is about three hours, is $5, a day pass is $10, the festival pass is $25 for adults, $20 for students and seniors. The gala ticket is $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. All tickets can be purchased at Vanier Hall during the festival.
