By TERRY PUGH
A pair of young dancers from Warman are heading to Dublin, Ireland next summer to compete on the world stage.
Olivia Mann and Nadia Buyan recently were scouted at a dance convention known as ‘‘1820’ which was held for the first time in Saskatoon. After catching the eye of scouts, they auditioned for judges with World Performers Canada in Saskatoon.
They were both selected to be on Canada’s National Dance Team, an elite group that will represent Canada at the Dance World Cup slated for Dublin, Ireland July 8-18, 2026.
Both dancers train at Dancers Edge, owned and operated by Amy Bertram.
The Dance World Cup is a prestigious international competition held annually in locations around Europe. The event brings together an estimated 10,000 dancers from more than 60 countries, making it the second-largest dance event globally.
Both dancers are “incredibly honoured” to have earned a place on the national team and to have the opportunity to represent Canada on the world stage in Dublin.
According to the Dance World Cup website (dwcworld.com), dancers must qualify through auditions to perform at the global event.
Private dance schools around the world send their most talented students to compete on the world stage in a variety of genres including Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Lyrical, Jazz, Tap, Song and Dance, Street/Hip Hop and National.
According to the Dance World Cup website, the event began in 2005 following a gradual growth of national dance competitions in several European countries. The first international competition was in 2005 in Wroclaw, Poland. In subsequent years it was hosted by Portugal, Ukraine, Canada (in Vancouver in 2008), Jersey (one of England’s Channel Islands), Italy, France, Austria, England, Portugal, Romania, Germany, Spain, and the Czech Republic.