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Celebrate Victoria dancer Sasha Beardmore’s big win

Community invited to help raise funds to send young dancer to New York competition

Victoria dancer Sasha Beardmore won the junior division of the Youth America Grand Prix in Bellevue, Washington – the world’s largest ballet competition – on Jan. 10.  She competed against 139 other dancers aged 12-14 from Washington, Oregon, California and B.C, qualifying her for the finals to be held in New York on April 10.

Beardmore will compete in the finals with young dancers from Argentina, Brazil, France, Japan and all across the United States and Canada.  This is truly the Olympics of Ballet.  She is the first dancer of her age to win at this level from Vancouver Island: an accomplishment that is the culmination of years of hard work, dedication and countless hours of training and preparation at the Pacific Dance Centre.  This victory capped a run of successive wins at local festivals and at the provincial level in recent years.

It’s expected that Beardmore's participation in the finals will cost her family more than $6,000. Dance Victoria has stepped forward with an initial donation of $1,000 allocated from its annual Chrystal Dance Prize for emerging and independent artists. The organization has also posted a crowd-funding page dedicated to Beardmore's participation in the Grand Prix at DanceVictoria.com. All online donors will receive a charitable tax receipt acknowledging your investment in this talented young artist.

On Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7pm, in the intimacy of Dance Victoria Studios (2750 Quadra St), Beardmore and her friends will perform at a special fundraising event. Admission is by donation with all proceeds directed to the young dancer's participation in the Junior Grand Prix Finals. The evening will culminate in the performance of her award-winning dance, the same dance she will take to competition in New York.

Sasha Beardmore: New York or Bust!

Special Fundraising Performance

Saturday, February 28 7:00 pm Dance Victoria Studios

Admission by Donation Complimentary food and beverage Silent Auction

Phone: 250 588 5529 for more information