The Corriveau School of Dance’s annual year-end performance brought the magical underwater The Little Mermaid to the stage at École secondaire Sieur-de-Coulonge over three sold-out nights last week.
The 1989 Disney film’s cast of characters leaped and twirled and flipped their way across the stage in the show’s opening and closing acts which, performed by the dance school’s Ivy League, told the story of mermaid Ariel’s impossible love for Prince Eric, a human, and all that she sacrifices for it.
Ariel was played by senior dancer Alexie Savoie-Morin and Prince Eric by Logan Long. Ursula, the sea witch who convinces Ariel to trade her voice for the chance to be a human, was played by Olivia Draper. Sebastian the crab, Flounder the fish and Scuttle the seagull also made appearances.
“It’s been a few years that I’ve been one of the main characters, but this year it’s like the main, main character. I have three solos on stage, so I’m really nervous about that, hopefully I won’t forget it,” said 19-year-old Savoie-Morin before going on stage for opening night.
She said she was particularly nervous for the lifts, of which there were several throughout the Little Mermaid routine and the rest of the show.
And the choreographed adaptation of the Disney classic only accounted for two of the 36 routines that took the stage each night.
Over the course of the evening, various combinations of the school’s 119 dancers performed acro jazz, tap, Irish, hip hop, ballet, and swing numbers to an enthusiastic audience.
Lead dance teacher Natacha Corriveau said the show came together with a lot of hard work, passion, dedication and patience.
“And support from my family and my dance family,” she said. “One of my sisters took a bigger role this year in the studio, which is very helpful. And everyone is kind of grown up in the dance family, so everybody has their job.”
This year the performance also featured a contingent of about a dozen dancers from Chapeau, who have been practicing since September at the Chapeau RA thanks to weekly visits from instructor Samantha Corriveau.
“The RA didn’t have any programs for kids in dance at all,” said Chapeau RA board member Karie Bisonette-Sullivan. She reached out to the Corriveaus to explore the possibility of starting a small dance group, something she’s hoping to offer upper Pontiac kids once again next year.
“I don’t know if parents were aware of how invested kids had to be,” she laughed. “This past week was crazy. I think it will be a good thing to offer, and see.”
On Thursday evening, the second night of the performance, Natacha Corriveau and mother Cindy, who founded the dance school, announced senior dancer Olivia Draper to be the winner of this year’s Annabelle St-Cyr Memorial Scholarship.
Annabelle, a long time student with the Corriveau School of Dance, passed away in January 2023 at the age of 15 after contracting meningitis.
The $500 award, to be used towards the next season’s dance fees, was presented to Draper by Annabelle’s brother Patrick St-Cyr, on behalf of the St-Cyr family. Upon receiving it, Draper was overcome with emotion, unable to find her words.
“I think I was extra tired, and it’s a sensitive topic,” Draper said Monday. “I danced with Annabelle for years. It’s hard to deal with that stuff. She touched everyone. She was a really good person. She was always happy. She always brought light to the studio. So it was a very hard hit.”
Draper said it meant a lot to be recognized with this award.
“It was a good feeling because I feel like sometimes I’m not seen as a person, I’m just on the down low. So it felt good to be seen like that. I’m proud of myself.”
