Tristan Ghostkeeper seems to be dancing to the song that never ends.
After nine days in New York, putting his balerino skills on the line with some of the best up-and-coming talent in North America, he arrived back in Prince George just in time for the final rehearsals of Judy Russell's production of Spamalot in which he performs several numbers. He is now in that show's run, and when he's done he is straight down to Vancouver for a three-week prep session for his September program of college-level dance at Arts Umbrella.
When Ghostkeeper, 18, left Prince George for his New York stage battle, he felt, well, like a kid from a small town at the far northern end of the continent trying to survive in the biggest city in the world for musical productions. When he left New York, he knew he belonged as much in Broadway territory as he does in Lheidli territory.
"I was one of the contestants, participants, in The Dance Awards - part competition and part workshop - with the people who do So You Think You Can Dance," he said, naming Travis Wall, Stacey Tookey and Sonya Tayeh among other instructors and guests.
In Ghostkeeper's sporty family, a comparable session for others in the household would be held at Yankee Stadium with names like Jeter and Ichiro doing the coaching, or at Madison Square Gardens with Rick Nash and Henrik Lundqvist at the head of the class. He is carrying on the family tradition in a slightly different form of elite athleticism.
Those who go to see Spamalot will spot him doing the complex choreography, effortlessly flipping and transitioning in full command of the music. You'd swear he could kick his left ear with his right foot, so graceful is he, and that was noticed in New York.
He was taking on the most challenging category at the event. He won at the regional level in Vancouver to test his prowess in the Senior Best Dancer (Male) division, up against regional winners from all over Canada, the United States and some from Mexico.
"There were 30 dancers in that category, and they were every one of them so good. It was quite intimidating," he said. "You start out with an Audition Class where you do a ballet number and a jazz number in front of a panel that scores you on a scale of one to 10. Then you do the solo you performed at the regional level, also scored out of 10. Then the Top 10 are chosen from each category and I was fortunate enough to make that list."
That earned him the privilege of having a winner-take-all dance-off. The judges will randomly select a style of dance and a song. The dancer has to improvise and interpret into movement. At the end of this, only the top three names were announced, and his was not one of them "but that's alright, it was so inspiring to be able to see all those amazing, inspiring dancers. To be so close to all that inspirational and amazing talent made me want to get back into dance as soon as I got home, and back to learning and practicing even more."
He admits he was intimidated at first, but "I remembered that the only reason I was there was to get better as a dancer, so I didn't worry about all that and just danced for myself, and to show them what I could do," he said. "Making the top 10 was the icing on the cake. Now I can definitely see myself in new York."
First he has a year of intense instruction at Arts Umbrella, to go along with the master classes he took in New York. He said the competition felt decidedly secondary to all the workshops and classes taught to the dancers while there.
Catch him on-stage at the PG Playhouse during Spamalot. Who knows how long it might be before he returns?
