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Festival of Arts closes out 51st iteration with some ‘Hi-Lites’

Instead of going out with a whimper, the 2017 Thompson Festival of the Arts decided to go out with a bang thanks to a pair of “Hi-Lites” concerts that ran May 30–31 at R.D. Parker Collegiate.
The Diamond Dance Academy troupe closed out the night with a routine titled, fittingly, “Diamonds.”
The Diamond Dance Academy troupe closed out the second Festival of the Arts highlights concert May 31 with a routine titled, fittingly, “Diamonds.”

Instead of going out with a whimper, the 2017 Thompson Festival of the Arts decided to go out with a bang thanks to a pair of “Hi-Lites” concerts that ran May 30–31 at R.D. Parker Collegiate.

These two evenings served as a culmination of this year’s Festival of the Arts, which has been highlighting the talent of local youth in the areas of music, dance, speech and visual arts since early April.

While festival officials cast a pretty wide net in terms of who was allowed to perform and show off their work over the past three months, totaling 450 entries, the two concerts in late May represented the absolute cream of the crop.

This was on full display Wednesday night, where the festival’s finalists dazzled the crowd at the Letkemann Theatre with their raw talent in the realms of vocals, piano, speech, dance and strings.

Even more impressive than the showmanship on display was the variety of musical styles and genres that the youth performers pulled from.

The first half of the evening saw covers of contemporary artists like Ed Sheeran and Journey, while also leaving room for more classical influences like Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune.”

The second half of the concert consisted entirely of dance performances, with members of the Diamond Dance Academy making a strong showing with a number of routines that drew influences from jazz and hip hop.

Towards the end of the show they even crossed over into the realm of epic fantasy by performing a routine that revolved around the theme to Game of Thrones.

Not only did these finalists collect awards at the end of the night, but they were also entitled to some scholarships.

Some of the big winners from Wednesday’s show included Diamond dancers Breanna Mayor, who took home the McDonald’s Restaurant Scholarship, and Makayla Pynn, who won Best Overall Festival Routine for her performance titled “Animal.”

“I’m always amazed every year at the talent that we see,” said Jolene Brown, the president of the 2017 Thompson Festival of the Arts. “Because I work for the school district I know a lot of those students that participate in the festival and I had no idea that they had such talent until I had the opportunity to see it there.”

If anyone is looking to get a jumpstart on volunteering for next year’s Thompson Festival of the Arts you can contact Brown at jbrown@mysterynet.mb.ca.

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