TORONTO, ONT.: A dance student from Lakeview and her classmates are fundraising for opportunities they want to do in their graduating year, including the possibility of a dance exchange with a Montreal dance school.
Lucie Schmidt, who’s family continues to call the Windsor Junction area home, is in her third and final year at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre.
Recently, Schmidt along with friend and fellow classmate Morgan Aronyk-Schell were named as the co-recipients of the Walker Wood Foundation Bursary. The bursaries are awarded to students entering their third year of study or graduating who demonstrate leadership qualities, high academic standing, and commitment to the School and training.
“This financial support was fundamental in giving me the freedom to pursue my own training and interests this summer outside of school,” said Schmidt. “I’m grateful for their investment in my education and future.”
Schmidt has spent the last two years training full time in contemporary dance at the school during the year, as well as pursuing additional studies during winter and summer breaks. This included travelling in July to attend the Henny Jurriëns Stitching Amsterdam Intensive.
“Now in the midst of my third year here, we’re busy with rehearsals for upcoming performances in December, with two more different shows to follow in the March and May, preparing for pedagogy practicums, and creating our own works for our upcoming Choreographic Workshop,” she said Nov. 21.
With graduation approaching in May, Schmidt and her classmates are fundraising to support the additional opportunities they want to pursue together in their graduating year.
“We hope this will include an exchange with École de Danse Contemporaine de Montréal in March as well as an overseas residency in Mazatlán, Mexico with Delfos Danza in May 2019,” she said. “We are seeking to connect with other inspiring dance communities and immerse ourselves in learning and dancing together with others during our final year together as a class.”
With that in mind, the class has created a donation-based page for those wishing to support their efforts. That page can be found by clicking over to it at: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/37252
Schmidt is preparing for graduation into the world of the unknown that is the constantly evolving dance world.
“In the effort to prepare for this, my winter and spring will be filled with searching for auditions and opportunities both in Toronto and also abroad in Europe,” said Schmidt. “I’m greatly interested in the idea of continuing to work under mentor-ship for the next part of my dancing, whether in a company, with the guidance of another artist or in another program.”
She is unsure where she will land, but Europe is of great interest for her especially with German ancestry.
“Europe is also pulling my focus, so much is happening there for the arts and a German family history makes the move there seem a little less daunting and more possible over the next few years,” Schmidt said.
