Choreographer's Ball Showcases Young Talent

The Choreographer's Ball featured a wide variety of dance acts on stage at The Mod Club Theatre last night. There were hip-hoppers, an aerial dance troupe, modern and jazz groups and even a tap dance duo.

Briana Andrade Gomes, 11, and Kelly Lopes, 12 (pictured above), collectively known as Tha Spot performed a feisty number called Single Ladies to a capacity crowd of fellow dancers, choreographers, their friends and family.

This was the fifth anniversary of Toronto's Original Choreographer's Ball, a performance showcase of some of the city's finest youth dance artists, organized by Thamovement.

While the majority of dance performances seemed to imitate the moves seen in music videos of Britney or Beyonce, there was some original choreography performed as well.

The evening was hosted by So You Think You Can Dance's Joy Spears, who tried keeping the audience entertained in between acts.

Some of the performers lip-synched along with the tunes they were dancing to. I found this rather distracting, but maybe it helped them keep focus while on stage.

Another fun young duo featured a couple of young boys in oversize clothes making good use of the entire stage. One of them did a backflip at one point, eliciting lots of cheers from the crowd.

Check out these photos of some of the other performers in this mini photo slideshow:

I think it's great that there are so many types of dance styles kids can learn these days. The two girls in Tha Spot have been dancing for eight years already, four of those with each other. They've got a bright future ahead if they keep this up.

If you want to get into dance, O.I.P. Dance Centre offers professional instruction in a friendly environment. If you've got any other tips on where to learn to dance in the city, please feel free to share it in the comments.

Photos by Roger Cullman.