Spotlight on a Dancer - Allie Bruce-Fuoco

What is your most cherished memory from dance?

This is a very difficult question because I have so many different memories from dance that hold a special place in my heart. I think one that I always look back on is in 2013 when I won the Canadian Championships in Montreal. It was such a special moment for me and my mom and my dance teacher. I remember being so excited that I jumped off the stage after the awards presentation and ran into my dance teachers arms. What also made it very special was being on stage with one of my dancing idols, another dancer from Ellen Cameron’s school, Marielle Lesperance, where we were both awarded the Dancer of the Day trophy. As a Canadian Champion, you receive a set of swords as an award. Earning a set of those highly sought after swords had been a dream of mine since I had begun dancing competitively. When I had finally received this award, I was overwhelmed with emotion at finally achieving that goal. I was very proud of myself, but I could have never done it without the amazing people in my life that supported me and continue to support me and my dancing career, even now! I’ll cherish that day for the rest of my life.

What do you enjoy most about dancing?

What I personally enjoy the most about highland dancing is the pure difficulty of it all. It requires so much of a person; strength, poise, technique, body control, flexibility, presentation, stamina, and so much more. It is such a challenging type of dance which is why I respect the style so much. It’s uniqueness is what I totally drew my mom to sign me up and my love for it has blossomed with each new challenge that I am faced with throughout my dancing. I’m always learning, there’s always room for improvement, and I’m always bettering myself as a dancer. It keeps me motivated and fuels my passion to want to share my love of highland dance with the younger upcoming generation of dancers!

A different aspect about highland dancing that I really love is the opportunities and friendships that dancing has presented and allowed me to experience. I have been able to travel the world and perform in places that I wouldn’t of dreamed of. I have performed in the Basal Tattoo in Switzerland and in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Scotland. Both of these incredible experiences helped me grow not only as a dancer, but as a person. I’ve met some of my dearest friends through these opportunities and will always be incredibly grateful for it.

Tell us something that might surprise us about you.

 Something that is a little bit surprising and funny about myself is that my favourite food of all time is watermelon. I always have watermelon with me at dance competitions. I love it so much that on my birthday every year my dance teacher surprises me with the biggest watermelon she can find instead of a cake! And that is quite a task seeing as my birthday is in January and watermelon isn’t exactly in season.

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

If I could pick anyone as a mentor for both life and my dancing it would probably be my friend Marielle Lesperance. Marielle is a seven-time World Highland Dancing Champion and an absolutely beautiful human being inside and out. When I moved from BC to Ontario when I was just 9 years old, I met Marielle. She was also a part of Ellen’s dance school and I was starstruck by her! She was a World Champion, something that I couldn’t even fathom at that age. I think I am very fortunate to continue to have Marielle in my life. I consider Marielle my unofficial mentor. As we got older we became more close and to this day, we are still great friends. I consider her an older sister to me and I continue to look up to her.

When you have free time, what do you do?

I’ve recently graduated from the University of Ottawa with an Hon. BSc. in Human Kinetics which has helped me to recognize my passion for fitness and promoting healthy living and physical activity. In my free time, I lead an online exercise class for the younger dancers in the dance school and I love being active everyday. A new favourite activity of mine is indoor rock climbing. Apart from physical activity, I enjoy reading fictional novels and baking cookies for anyone who will take them! My current project throughout all of the lockdowns has been learning to sew!

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

Dance has been a large part of my life for as long as I can remember. While I was in university, the balancing act was difficult because both schedules were sporadic. Now that I am working, I am able to plan out my practices and teaching schedule as well around my work hours. I think one of the most important things to do when trying to balance an intensive dance schedule and other aspects of life is to prioritize and write out a list. I make a schedule of my dance teaching times, my exercise class times, work schedule, dance practices, and then any other events that I have going on. It’s also very important for me to stay close with friends and family, especially throughout the pandemic. I keep in touch with my family that live in British Columbia and make time to call and text my close friends. Making time for myself is the hardest part, but I now realize that it is very important to have that balance. That is an area that I have been actively working towards improving.