A Horseshoe Valley elementary student is dancing her way to Europe this summer.
Olivia Chapman, who trains at the Barrie School of Dance on Welham Road, was selected earlier this year to also train with Team Canada in Toronto. As part of that team, the 12-year-old will compete against athletes from around the world at the Dance World Cup in Spain in June.
“I do all different kinds of styles,” beams the W.R. Best Memorial Public School student. “I love them all.”
Olivia has been dancing since age three and trains around 20 hours per week, competing in all the dance disciplines. She initially trained with Dance Incorporated, but when her coach decided to retire during the pandemic, Olivia switched to the Barrie School of Dance. Then in August came the call — she had been selected for Team Canada.
“That was crazy,” Olivia says. “I decided I wanted to do it.”
Team Canada Dance is a non-profit organization that puts together top Canadian dancers with teachers and choreographers to dance at competitions on the world stage as a team.
Olivia was selected to the national team for tap and ballet, and then added jazz and contemporary.
The Dance World Cup is described as the largest, all-genre international dance competition for children and young adults from 62 countries. Last year, around 7,200 dancers competed in a live and video event.
To prepare, Team Canada dancers from across the country gather in Toronto for two or three days on holidays and school breaks so that they can work together. They do the bulk of their training at their individual home studios.
Olivia dances whenever she can. When the pandemic forced the closure of studios, she did online classes at her impromptu studio set up in her basement.
“That’s just the worst,” she says, adding an online connection is no replacement for human connections.
The competitive world has also missed that human element during the pandemic. Instead of competing live and in-person, competitors have been submitting videos to be judged. Meaning now, as society opens up, 2022 becomes the year where things finally seem more normal. And that’s a prospect that excites the local dancer.
It has been a tough couple of years, says her Barrie coach, Alex Farr, owner and director of the Barrie School of Dance where Olivia and a handful of others started dancing last fall with the closure of the other facility.
But this year, things have started to look brighter.
“Having those two groups of kids come together was such a nice infusion of positivity that was really needed at the time,” says Farr, who was delighted to have more than 120 students returning to in-person training and competition. “We’ve been so lucky to have her.
“It’s just been one of the most positive years, considering everything the kids have been through," Farr says.
Olivia often finds herself thinking about choreography or different dance moves when she’s not dancing.
She has also started working with younger children at the studio as a class assistant.
While she knows dance will always be part of her life, whether it will be the foundation of a career, she doesn’t yet know
“I’m only 12,” she points out matter-of-factly.
Her life also includes other interests and ambitions. She would like to help children with cancer and thinks being a pediatric surgeon might be a good fit, so keeping top grades at school has been a priority.
“I’m looking forward to her having this experience,” her Barrie coach says of the Dance World Cup. “Definitely after the last two years it’s going to be a beautiful experience for her.”
