OUR HISTORY

In 2009 a group of parents came together to form a competitive dance studio in Red Deer to meet the performing arts needs of their children and others like them. While several great options for dance existed in the Red Deer area, the parents and dancers wanted disciplined dance instruction that would foster a child's desire to strive for excellence. With the assistance of Judy Dorland who would become the Artistic Director, Strive Dance Academy Society was born. The Founding Members of Strive volunteered their time, donated resources, shared skills, and provided their collective wisdom to build a vision of what is today, Strive Dance Academy.

Through hard work, commitment and determination, the dancers, parents and teaching staff focused upon developing a reputation for dancers who would be respected for their talent and leadership both provincially and nationally. To this day, Strive continues to be a respected Academy of Dance in Central Alberta striving to provide excellence in performing arts.

While our founding members’ dancers have now graduate and left Strive to pursue their future goals, we at Strive continue to focus on their founding vision. We are committed to stewarding this organization for the current and future students and families of Central Alberta. We take pride in fostering the development of our dancers as productive and community-minded citizens in order to develop both the artist and the person within each child.

OPERATIONS

Strive Dance Academy Society is a non-profit organization which utilizes its funds to operate the Academy. Any profit which may be realized is put back into the Academy for the benefit of the organization and its members. Strive is owned by the collective membership who elect a Board of Directors to represent them in leading the work of the Society. The Board of Directors hires and supervises the Executive Director to administer the Academy. While the Board of Directors is responsible for the governance of the Society, the Executives Director is responsible for operations. Strive parents and guardians are required to volunteer their time and expertise through the work of operational committees. The Executive Director, Staff and Board of Directors work together to address concerns and to nurture innovation and accountability in the programs of the Strive.

Dance Program

At Strive Dance Academy we utilize the (A.D.A.P.T.) Syllabus to instruct jazz and tap technique and the Royal Academy of Dance (R.A.D.) Syllabus to instruct ballet technique. These syllabi are taught by accredited teachers.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Strive dancers give back to the community through performances and charitable events. Dancers and families model volunteerism and leadership in building their community each season.

Since its inception, Strive’s competitive dance teams consistently achieve top overall rankings at prestigious dance competitions. Strive Dance Academy has thus gained a solid reputation as one of Alberta’s elite dance schools.