WATCH SFD 50th Anniversary Commemorative Video
It is a rare opportunity to record 50 years of dance on a video and the SFD 50th Commemorative Video is no exception. Complete with a cake and the last surviving founding member, a group of performance art aficionados gathered in Surrey to celebrate this auspicious moment.
On Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016 over 150 guests gathered at 7:00pm in the lobby of the Surrey Arts Centre (SAC) to celebrate the first of several upcoming milestones to happen in the world of Surrey arts. The Surrey Festival of Dance turned 50! Very few organizations last 50 years and this celebration marks just how special the people are who continue to volunteer each year – for 50 years – to keep this important dance festival running. What must be noted, that even before dance associations were beings formed throughout the lower mainland and the province – Surrey was already on its way! What Surrey had back then that no one else did – visionaries with a passion for the arts.
The Surrey Festival of Dance began in 1966 with a group of ‘Mrs.’s’ (newspaper articles never mention first names of women in those day – we’ve have come a long way since then) got together to form the first board and executive that would make up the Surrey Festival of Dance. Little did they know it then but they were also the first volunteers and had to work tirelessly to make it all happen. But they did!
[Left Photo: Doreene Rowe]
Today this festival is one of North Americas largest and longest running dance festivals. Over 10,000 dancers cross the stage and the SFD awards over $60,000 in scholarship/bursaries each year. Over the course of 50 years – that is a lot of money put back into dance to ensure this art discipline thrives in Surrey.
Take a moment to watch this once-in-a-lifetime celebratory video of the SFD 50th anniversary. You may just spot some well known dancers from today’s music videos and popular TV shows.
Video produced by: Mountain Shack Media