Madelyn Byrd

“Mom, I Love You” performed by Qiqi Dance Group, an ensemble that performs Chinese dances.

On March 2nd, the Washington Center hosted its 14th annual Olympia Dance Festival. The Washington Center and Ballet Northwest collaborated, allowing a stage for companies, choreographers, and dancers to display their work. 

The festival sold out its 1,000-person capacity days before the show. Attendees were treated to sixteen groups from all over Western Washington performing an endless number of dance styles. From ballet to hip-hop, the art of dance was put on full display.

Many OHS students performed at the Olympia Dance Festival, one of them being Grace Collins. Collins is a sophomore and dances for Ballet Northwest. This is her second year dancing in the Olympia Dance Festival, but she’s performed with Ballet Northwest for half a decade. Her favorite part of the festival is “the community and being introduced to new kinds of dance that [people] might not have seen before.” 

Senior Hadley Manista dances with Studio West Dance Academy, and this is her first year performing at the Olympia Dance Festival. She loves how she gets to “see so many different groups with such diverse types of dance all perform together.” Manista continued, “It’s really cool to see all the dancers in the Southwest area.” 

Not only was the Olympia Dance Festival enjoyable for the dancers performing, it was also delightful for the audience. Audience member Locy Hamblet went to see the show because her company, Studio West, was performing. Hamblet explained, “I really liked the partnering section from “Skies on Fire,” and I also loved the Johansens’ Hip Hop. I loved their guest artist [Giovanny Garibay].” When asked if she would consider coming to the festival next year, Hamblet replied with a definite yes. 

If you would like to support your fellow Bears, the upcoming performances at the Washington Center are listed here: https://www.washingtoncenter.org/events/month/.