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ARTSCENE Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 5559) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: rjerred@haltonsearch.com W K D N IIS D A Y . MAY 2 1 . 2 0 0 . 1 · |' , | Student pirouettes her way to examination By Craig MacBride s i 'E c i a l t o t h e b e a v e r An O akville School o f D ance stu dent is heading tow ards the m ost nerveracking day o f her dancing life. Tara T hom son is taking her Royal A cadem y o f D ance S olo Seal Exam ination on May 25 in Toronto. T he exam ination, said Frank Baylis. adm inistrative director o f the O akville School o f Dance, is the "O lym pics o f dance." Also, it's not easy to get to this exam in the first place. Thom son passed five advanced level exam s in order to be eli gible. In other words, both the process and the exam are terribly difficult. Last year, o f the 15 dancers who qualified to take the exam, two passed, and there have been years when no one has passed. N aturally, you w ould think that Thom son would be nervous, but she's not. In fact, she com es across as indif ferent tow ards the prospect that she might fail. And that's w hat is really adm irable about this 18-year-old Paris. O ntario native: she hasn 't based her entire life around this exam . Sure, she regularly spends more than 20 hours o f every week at dance school, plus the onehour drive either way. and she has been working her way up to this exam since the age o f three, but she's also been working on other things. Her dance teacher A m anda Anderson doesn't know how she does it. "She keeps great m arks in school and she's a great dancer." she said. "S he's an am azing person." If she doesn't pass. Thomson will then have to choose w hether to stay with dancing or go to university. She docs have dream s o f being a choreog rapher and dance teacher, but if leaving the dance world, she w ants to be a para medic. Thom son said that if she doesn't pass the exam this time, w hich is her first, she isn't going to bother taking it again. In fact, sh e's only doing it this ATHENA nominations requested D o you know som eone w ho d eserv es to receiv e the prestigious ATHENA aw ard? The aw ard is presented to a woman or man w ho has dem onstrated profes sional excellence, devoted tim e and energy w ithin the com m unity, and most im portantly. g enerously assisted w om en in attaining their full potential. S ound fam iliar? T here may be som eone you know that lives or w orks in O akville that fits this description per fectly. It could be a friend, or colleague, em ployer, teacher or som eone from your faith com m unity. W hat better way to acknow ledge their contributions than to nom inate them for this award. A Selection Com m ittee o f prom i nent com m unity leaders will review all the nom inations and select the 2003 ATHENA Award Recipient, with a gala aw ard celebration held in O ctober at the O ak v ille C o n feren ce and Banquet C entre to celebrate all the nom inees and the 2003 Award recipient. The ATHENA Award was launched in 1982. by the ATHENA Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating leadership opportunities for women. Since then, more than 4,000 aw ards have been presented across North A m erica, and most recently in China. In Oakville, the ATHENA Award is hosted by ATHENA O akville, a team o f dedicated volunteers and supported by key sponsors such as the Royal Bank o f Canada. C arm en's O akville C onference and Banquet Centre. Blazing Design and m edia sponsors, the O akville B eaver and Cogeco 23. Nom ination forms can be dow n loaded from the O akville Beaver Web site at w w w .oakvillebeaver.com or em ail ath en ao ak v ille@ co g eco .ca or phone 905-338-1771 for details. The deadline for nom inations is June 30. Harrison Smith · Special to the O akville B eaver T a ra T h o m so n , b allet s tu d e n t a t th e O ak v ille School o f D ance passed five a d v a n ce d level exam s to be a p a r t o f th e Royal A cadem y o f D ance Solo Seal E x am in atio n on M ay 25 in T o ro n to . T h e e x a m in a tio n is th e " O ly m p ics o f d an c e." tim e b ecause she prom ised h erself before beginning train in g for the "You can be really prepared in the classroom , and have everything fall apart at the exam ." A nderson said. " If y o u 're a little nervous, it can be diffi cult to stay steady." w hich is. o f course, o f ultim ate im portance w hen balancing on one foot. It is A nderson though, w ho will probably be shaking during the exam. " It's hard as a teacher," she said. "I'v e prepared Tara for this, and now I ju st have to sit back." " I'm looking forward to it being over." Thom son said, claim ing that though it is a great passion o f hers and she does spend a great am ount o f time dancing, it d o esn 't distract her from being a normal teenager. " I do have a life outside o f dancing. It's limited, but my friends understand that, so they d o n 't get upset when I'm not around." A nd th e y 're all going to be in Toronto to w atch Thom son dance the d ifficu lt steps required by the Academy. The Solo Seal exam inations are at the N ational Ballet S ch o o l's Betty O liphant Theatre in Toronto on May 25. Tickets cost $15 for students and $ 18 for adults and are available through the Oakville School o f Dance at 905844-7035. " I do have a life outside of dancing. It's limited, but my friends understand that, so they don't get upset when I'm not around." · Tara Thomson advanced exam s, that if given the opportunity, she would take it. H er calm , unfortunately, isn 't conta gious. SUMMER SCHOOL Lim ited Space Apply Now! Elem entary School Program . Tutoring R e m e d ia tio n Enrichm ent G rades I - 8 3 students per class High School Program High School Credits Grades 9-12 U p g ra d e s, R e p ea ts & F ull C re d its A ll S u b je c ts Ju ly o r A u g u st HUGE &>' PIANO SALE Living Arts Centre - Mississauga M ay 2 3 , 2 4 a n d 2 5 F r id a y S a tu r d a y Sunday 12pm - 9pm 10am - 8pm 10am - 6pm New & Used Pianos & Digitals Financing available · · · · · · · · · F o cu s o n : L an g u a g e A rts S p ellin g P h onics R eading E ssay W ritin g M a th em atics O rg an izatio n al S kills S tu d y S k ills For in fo rm a tio n High School Foundations and Preparation fo r Grades 9 A 10 E n g lish M ath S c ie n c e L ite ra cy T e st P re p aratio n O rg a n iz a tio n a l S k ills 1 8 0 0 2 8 1 -7 1 7 2 OAkvillE B a II et C o m p a n y PR ESEN T S A SpRiiNq EvENiNq of D aince MAy 25, 24, 200J Sessions are two weeks Tues.. Wed., <6 Thurs. July <$ August Chisholm Education Centre 1484 C o rnw all Road, O akville fEATURiNq PAQUiTA BEyoNd Now T w o - C a r a t D iA M O N d S tr a u s s iN tIh e PARk Pas D e O u a tre (9 0 5 ) 8 4 4 -3 2 4 0 w w w .c h is h o lm c e n tre .c o m TI he O A k v illE C e n t r e fo R tIhe P E R lo R M iN q A rts 9 0 5 -8 I 5 -2 0 2 I Adults SI 9 Srtdews S I 6