Spotlight on a Community Dancer - Chelsea and Alyssa

What is '4 Dance Sakes'?

It is an initiative that was created by dancers, for dancers, to stay involved through the COVID-19 pandemic. Like so many others, we have greatly missed performing, competing and visiting with our dance families. In an effort to give people a creative outlet, we wanted to create something that would invite dancers to come and do what they love most- dance. It is not associated with a particular school, and is open to any Premier dancer that wants to participate. We adhere to all public health guidelines, while still allowing dancers the space to get creative and do something fun! We have received such a warm response from the dance community so far, and are blown away by the requests we have received from those who want to participate in the next one. It is another testament to how fantastic the highland dance community in Ottawa truly is!

How long have you been dancing?

We have both been dancing since we were old enough to walk! Karen Nuttall (Alyssa's aunt) and Fiona Nash (Chelsea's mom) are both very well known dancers and teachers throughout the highland scene. They instilled a strong love of dance in both of us, and taught us from a very early age that dancing goes well beyond medals and trophies. Because of them, we both have a profound love of dance, and try to share our passion with as many people as possible. In addition to performing in the 2019 International Belfast Tattoo, we received bronze for our group choreography at the Canadian Championships in Moncton, 2019. From pipe bands, to fundraising events, we take advantage of any opportunity we can to dance.

What is your most cherished memory from dance?

For us, right now, our favourite memory would be the first video we created and shared. We submitted a choreography on behalf of the 'Ottawa crew' for the 2020 online dance challenge, to a song from the musical 'Hairspray'. What initially began as a small idea for this challenge quickly blossomed into an amalgamation of dancers from schools across the city. The filming process was so much fun and we were overwhelmed by the immense feeling of community. It’s times like these, we are reminded that people can always be “brought together” through a shared passion like our love of dance. The video received great feedback, and helped us lay the foundation for '4 Dance Sakes'.

What do you enjoy most about dancing?

As the years go on, we have both come to the realization that dancing can open so many doors in life, from travelling internationally to helping the next generation of champions learn your craft. It brought both of us together and from that, we have formed a lifelong friendship. This sport has given us, and continues to give us so much. Now that we are both adults, we truly appreciate how magical performing on stage is, and relish every opportunity we get to keep doing what you love and creating some really fun and challenging dances.

Tell us something that might surprise us about both of you.

We are both #boymoms! Alyssa has twin boys Lachlan and Cael (age 4) and Chelsea has two sons Nash (age 6) and Colt (age 4). We have passed along our love for all things highland, and our boys can be found at highland games throughout the summer. And yes, our boys all own their own kilts!

If you could pick anyone as a mentor who would it be?

We're fortunate enough to have our mentors in our lives since the beginning. Karen and Fiona are the reason we are the people we are today, and we owe our strong work ethic, love of dancing and extremely sarcastic sense of humour to them. They are also the reason we love choreography so much, and encouraged us from a very early age to challenge ourselves and create something unique. The '4 Dance Sakes' initiative is very much a reflection of the support and guidance they've given us throughout the years.

When you have free time, what do you do?

Funny enough, in our spare time we try to come up with new choreographies for '4 Dance Sakes'! We are having so much fun preparing the next one, and are looking forward to having some local choreographers create some exciting new dances for us. We are always listening to possible choreography music, and spend most of our nights texting one another about a possible new number. We eat, sleep and breathe dance!

How do you balance dance and your life outside of dance?

We would actually argue that dancing helps us balance life in general. We both have to balance working full time and parenting two small children (during a pandemic, no less!) while trying to maintain some level of sanity. Dancing offers a creative outlet for our mind to escape and really forces us to carve out some time for just us. It's an hour or two a week where we don't need to be a mom or an employee. We get to simply be ourselves, and focus on our feet and the music. We also think this is a major reason why we have received such a great response from the dance community for '4 Dance Sakes'. Dancing plays such a large role in people's mental health and well being. Even with the cancellation of competitions, highland games and recitals, we are still able to come together safely and do something that makes us happy. We're really grateful that we can help create something to help others maintain that sense of balance. And at the very least, it’s something we all have to look forward to during these difficult times.