The 10th anniversary Chatelech Showcase last Thursday night was an entertaining display of new talent.The wildly enthusiastic audience cheered on the many performers at the Chat Theatre who demonstrated a diversity of music, dance, fashion and film. Grade 12 student Alex Gerwing's choice of song, a Nat King Cole oldie, or petite Stephanie Mathews-Smith's gentle rendition of What if God Was One of Us could find its place in the show alongside the heavy metal from the Grade 10s delivered by General Trash (Kody Raymond, Nathan Ruddock, Robbie Wilbur) or Mother Nature's Disciples (Calem Bergevin, Dylan Brackett, Matthew Joubert and Nathan Ruddock). Organizers even managed to tuck in a piece of video about the current student art show on display in Trail Bay Mall.Besides being a showcase for talent, this annual performance is designed to raise funds for arts scholarships. Last year's scholarship winners Caleb Ashmore, Chloe Giguere and Daniel Kingsbury have all been helped with their post secondary fine arts studies.There were many highlights. The personable hosts Arielle Boisvert and Grace Walker-Lane, dressed for the part, obviously loved their roles. The film segment was innovative. One junior film-maker, Alex Simpkins, who has recently shown his work at the Reel Youth Film Festival, offered a wry sense of humour. A Look into Chair Riders, a film that Simpkins had made with students Blake Gower and Julien Theriault, gave the audience a quintessentially teenage point of view. What adult would choose to surf on the back of a vinyl stacking chair down a crowded hallway?The dance performances were terrific and included charming solos from a former student, Rebecca Gordon, and jazz dancer Sammie Broomhall. Austin Patterson danced the complete package with her own hip hop choreography and mix of music. Taryn Beauvais, Jill Cytko and Tanya Desautels teamed up for a tap dance.Piano performances proved surprisingly good: James Weekes played Beyond Imagination, his own composition, and Sterling Vanderzee delivered a poignant Chopin prelude, especially remarkable since Vanderzee has studied the instrument for only one year. Naithan Bosse's guitar solo, Arpeggios From Hell, put an edge back into the music.The fashion show displayed the casual outfits and handbags from the school's textiles classes. Grade 10's Kaeli McArter, last seen in The Wizard of Oddz, sang her own composition Get Lost. Teen heartthrob Kyle Meyerink sang for the ladies while Ronnie Virkela played his rendition of Candle in the Wind.The two and a half hour show closed on a high note with a full company of hip hop dancers from the Coast Academy of Dance on stage to perform to choreography by Mark Zealand.
