A.M.R. Dance Does Well At Competition In Olds

Last month the teams from AMR Dance in Drumheller traveled to Olds for the 2025 Danceworks Shine Competition. All of the teams and individual dancers had great success.

They took their four teams, Mini, Junior, Intermediate, Senior to the event on March 22 & 23. The dance teams are under the instruction of Miss Ali, Miss Megan & Miss Jenna.

Dancers demonstrated excellent teamwork, sportsmanship and performances. The Junior Team Acro “What The World Needs Now” – Choreography by Miss Jenna, finished with winning the title “GRAND CHAMPIONS 12 & under” at the 2025 Showdown Challenge. Dancers on the team are Aspen Gouy, Arabelle Schlachter, Claire Schmidt, Kiana Gilbert, Maddie Bladen, Peyton Colbert, Sera Choi and Tenley Peever. This was their fourth in a row winning a championship banner.

Numerous solos and duets placed in the top five for their age division and experience levels in the final awards.  Below are the other awards the dancers won at the event.

• Aspen Gouy & Isabelle Stephan received $2500 Scholarships to “Be Discovered” Disneyland Opportunity.
• Ellie Grainger & Esmae Russell won $300-$450 Scholarships to Summer Intensive programs.
• Aspen Gouy’s solo placed 2^nd Overall for Solos 12 & under
• Ellie Grainger’s solo placed 3rd Overall in Solos 13+
• Esmae Russell & Elena Decks duet placed 1^st Overall for Duos 12&under
• Top Small Groups 12 & Under 2^nd place “My Girl” Intermediate Team, 1^st place “What The World Needs Now” Junior Team.
• Top Large Groups 13+, 2^nd place went to “1000 Nights” Inter Senior Acro Team. This is very impressive and proud moment – as we are 13, on the bottom end of the age bracket.
• 1000 Nights also received a “Platinum Plus” medal (above 93% score) for our highest scoring group routine of the weekend.

Alison Rutz of AMR Dance was so proud of all of the dancers. “All of our dancers performed beautifully and made us very proud. There were so many highlights and personal victories with all of the kids, these are just a few of the notable moments from the weekend. Awards are not everything, it was about dancing with our hearts and giving our performances our best effort. We felt completely fulfilled and like ‘winners’ before the awards were even announced.”

This is the 10th year for AMR Dance and Rutz appreciates the support from the community and admits without the support the dance studio wouldn’t exist.