A few local dancers dosey-doe'd on the world stage last month at the 2023 Country Dance World Championships in Phoenix, Arizona.
The prestigious country-western dance competition was hosted from Jan. 1 to 8 by the United Country Western Dance Council (UCWDC), a U.S.-based organization that advocates and organizes competitive country/western dance sport events in north America.
The organization’s president Keith Armbruster is an Airdrie native and so were a handful of thecompetitors who danced the night away at the recent competitive event.
Airdrie resident and amateur dancer Michael (Mike) Pollock and his partner, Red Deer’s own Laura Watson, participated in the Diamond Division 4 at the Country Dance Championships. They had been training for years together with the help of a Calgary dance coach, Bryan Senn.
“We’ve all known Bryan and competed with [him] in various ways over the years,” Watson said.
Senn operates a dance studio called Alberta Ballroom Company with studio locations across Calgary and the surrounding area. The trio were preparing for the international competition and competed at qualifier events including the Calgary Dance Stampede in April 2022.
“And then a group of us went to Chicago to compete and having done well in those two competitions earned us the right to compete at Worlds in January,” Watson explained.
The Phoenix competition hosted a variety of skill levels and age categories, according to the competitor. Both Pollock and Watson competed in two divisions within the ‘couples’ category.
In the Diamond Division 4, couples were tasked with performing a series of eight dances, including the Two-step, Waltz, Triple 2, Night Club Slow, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Polka, and the Cha Cha.
Compiling all their performances, both Pollock and Watson were deemed the ultimate winners in their division competing against six other couples. The duo took home first place and a spot on the podium.
“We actually won one of our divisions and are now considered world champions,” Watson said.
Having competed at international dance competitions three times before, the couple previously snagged a spot on the podium having placed third in two categories. But this year, they placed fifth and first in both categories.
Watson said competing internationally gives her the drive and motivation to improve her skills year after year.
“I had a goal a number of years ago to learn how to dance,” she said. “I started off in ballroom competitions – I've learned to dance, so I’ve achieved that goal.”
The amateur dancer trains approximately two to three times a week. The trio used to train at the Calgary studio when Watson lived there, but since moving to Red Deer two years ago, they’ve found a couple studios in Red Deer and Innisfail to practice their moves.
“To go to competitions is a reason to keep getting better because the calibre of competition of worlds is world class,” she said. “You’ve got people literally from around the world at that event. You’ve got professionals also competing amongst themselves, so the quality and the calibre of the competition is phenomenal.”
She added the people you meet at the international competitions make it all worthwhile and it is an “absolute thrill” to represent Alberta. Already, the couple are starting to train for next year’s competition which is slated to be held in Dallas, Texas.
“It was a ton of fun and now we’re all starting to train so we can go back again next year,” Watson added.
Pollock, who is an electrician by trade, is also a former thespian who performed with Airdrie Little Theatre (a troupe now known as Nose Creek Players). He said he has always been in search of a creative outlet to showcase his talents.
“I used to do a lot of theatre and I’ve done some TVand movie scenes and I’m a blue-collar worker and then going and doing that, it’s usually something that is a big surprise [to people],” he shared.
“[I hear] ‘You don’t look the type,’ and I know exactly what they mean, too. Same thing with dance, they’re like ‘You dance?’ and I show them some videos and they’re like, ‘Oh my god, I had no idea.’”
He said he first got started dancing when one of his fellow actors showed up to rehearsal with a limp.
“I asked, ‘What happened to you?’ and she was telling me about this dance place in Calgary and [I said] ‘The next one, I’ll go with you,’” he explained.
“So I went and three weeks later she quit going and I just kept going... and that was 12 years ago.”
Pollock said he began getting serious about competitive dance about four or five years ago, when he teamed up with Watson, though the two had been dancing together socially for the last decade.
He confessed the two are both a little competitive by nature, which encourages each other to improve their skills and have a lot more fun on the dance floor.
“I get a lot of joy out of [dancing]. To me, it’s like any sport – you get addicted to it. It’s exciting, it really is,” he said.
According to Pollock, the international competition went extremely well with around 1,200 competitors taking to the ballroom stage over the course of one week.
“The talent level is very high, and the atmosphere is extremely contagious,” he said. “The enthusiasm... people treat people they don’t even know, and they bend over backwards to help everybody out – it's like a huge family.
“You feel welcome... you’re welcome to that whole community.”
His advice to others wanting to dabble in dance is to visit a group class or club on a Friday or Saturday night and participate in a beginner lesson.
“Just go. You don’t have to stay all night. That’s what I did – I started taking these lessons – I'd stay for a little while and get overwhelmed and then I’d go home. I’d go back the following week.
“I was right out of my element, but it was just like, ‘I gotta go back again.’”
Longtime Airdrie resident for 31 years and amateur dance competitor Cathy Perrotta said she first got into dancing when she hit retirement at the age of 60 years old.
Before her retirement, she and her husband had ownership of the old Boston Pizza restaurant located near Towerlane Mall. After her husband’s passing, Perrotta worked at George McDougall High School in Airdrie.
“I retired and took competitive dancing. I found a teacher and it was through that teacher that I ended up getting involved,” Perrotta shared.
That coach was none other than Bryan Senn, who she has been training alongside for the last six years (now aged 66). Though, this is the first international competition she has been part of.
“It’s really eye opening to go to a competition that big and see what is out there and the level of dancing that people aspire to,” she said. “It really is jaw-dropping.”
In addition to its other skill levels and categories, the international competition also features a professional amateur dance competition where a student dances with their coach. Perrotta took to the ballroom floor with Senn, alongside Watson who also danced in the pro-am division with Senn.
In the pro-am division, Watson placed eight among the 26 other female competitors. While Perrotta did not place in the division, she said snagging a spot on the podium was not her sole aim.
“It’s not about standing on the podium, it’s about setting goals for yourself and aspiring to be better at what you do,” she said.
Her advice to other retirees looking to break into the sport is to not hold back.
“If you really want to do something, and whatever that might be, for me it’s dancing, don’t let anything stop you,” she said. “Because more and more people are living longer and pursuing their dreams longer.
“If it makes you happy and makes you live your life to the fullest, why wouldn’t you do that?”
