Stella Maris School dance team performs in year-end show
- Ron Giofu
- 11 hours ago
- 2 min read
The dance team at Stella Maris Catholic Elementary School showed their stuff at two shows last week.
Dancers performed two shows June 22, with dancers ranging from Grade 5-8 going through a variety of dance routines.
Teacher Tina Joncas said they decided to do their own shows after they backed out of a competition at St. Joseph Catholic High School due to concerns over meeting the entry deadline as well as concerns over the number of dances that would be judged.
“What we decided was we wanted to put on a performance at our school,” she said.
There were no judges, but dancers were simply given the opportunity to showcase their talents.
“I feel all of the dancers have been fantastic,” said Joncas, who is the teacher coach with Deanna Way.
Many of the 2025-26 Stella Maris dance team were in Grade 8 with that amount being 15 dancers. Joncas said theteam starts practicing, with the aid of choreographers and instructors that used to go to Stella Maris, in November.
The shows last week had eight dances each.
Choreographers included Macee Genovese, Natasha Kitka, Ruby Lewis, Amira Chammat, Miley Bieber, Gracie Bieber, Megan Regnier and Calista Way.
“They are all Stella Maris graduates that come and volunteer their time for us. They teach our young students a variety of lyrical, hip hop, jazz, acro and contemporary genres,” said Joncas. “Caitlyn Provost, our own Grade 8 student choreographer, devoted recesses to teach her classmates our finale dance called ‘Gonna Go Far’ which was a combination of lyrical and contemporary dance genre.”
The shows included included the whole team of 22 dancers.
“We chose to do our own ‘Rays With Rhythm’ dance show so we could put more dances on display for our school and families,” Joncas said.
Award winners were Ireland Henderson, Quinn Morencie, Dayna Stebelski and Adriana Oraha.
Stella Maris principal Marisa Wismer thanked not only the students and their coaches, but Joncas as well for the work she puts in.
“It definitely takes a team and many hands, but it also takes a leader,” said Wismer. “This means so much to her.”
Stella Maris School dance team performs in year-end show
By Ron Giofu