It’s a really exciting time for a local dance group who is about to make their debut representing Nova Scotia on the national stage.

Alyssa Thomas from Studio 26 Dance Company, flew with 75 dancers to Toronto in the fall to audition for Canada’s Got Talent.

They are the only act this year from Nova Scotia and Thomas tells our newsroom the kids worked hard to get there.

“It was such a fun opportunity to showcase what the kids have been working on. They’ve been really working hard over the last couple years and growing a lot in their dancing but also uniting as a team. So, we just thought what a great way to showcase that to the rest of Canada.”

In addition to that, she says they have a fantastic team who helped them get there.

“George Jones, who basically brought the choreography to life. Then my sister Grace, who works with me. We worked together along with our administrative person, Marcella. And our parents are amazing.”

She says, it was quite a process.

“Once we knew we were going to be able to audition, we really had to do a lot of things to make it ready for TV and make sure the music would work, and all these different things.”

How they got started

Thomas and her husband started the company out of their church basement in 2015.

She says they wanted to provide some classes for some of the kids that went to church, and it grew into a “big fun community” from there.

Big talent

The dancer’s range in age from age six to 18, and Thomas says, several are from diverse backgrounds.

“That’s what we’re most excited to showcase. People from different backgrounds coming together, sharing their joy of dancing with the rest of the country.”

Auditioning

The whole auditioning process, Thomas says, was really fun for the kids when in Toronto, with acts from all over Canada.

“So, they have a really cool backstage area, and the kids got to really interact with the other people that were auditioning. They had some dance battles. They got to do some really fun stuff.”

Thomas says, it was also a really good team bonding experience as they kids got pumped up for the day.

Then most spent about a week in the big city.

Canada’s Got Talent premiers March 18.