1 0 3 5 3 " * 5 r 1 3 0 ' * - & RUSSELL’S ADDYSON DELORME LIVES TO DANCE
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Addyson Delorme tells a story every time she dances. “I can let go of anything happening outside of the dance,” she said, explaining her passion. “And I can sometimes make up stories through my dance.” This July, the young Russell dancer will take her dance moves and her storytelling skills into the international spotlight as part of Team Canada’s entry in the 2019 Commonwealth Cup Dance Championship in Sun City, South Africa, July 16 to 20. Delorme is both excited at the prospect of dancing before an international audience and also a little bit worried about the trip to South Africa itself. “I’m really excited,” she said, “but I’ve never been on a plane before. So I’m horrified.” The worry for her is from hearing news stories about accidents involving airplanes. But even that is not going to stop her from boarding her flight when the time comes, because she has never, since she took up dance before she was three years old, ever let anyone tell her what she could and could not do where dance was involved. Born to dance Addyson Delorme remembers well when she first decided she wanted to dance. She was two, going on two-and-a-half at the time. “I saw a flyer for an open house about dance,” she said. Her mother, Christine, smiles and recalls that the flyer showed girls dressed in traditional ballet tutus. This may have been part of the reason for her daughter’s interest, but there was one problem the instructors at the dance school were concerned about. Addyson’s age. “They didn’t want me to start until I was three,” Addyson said. “But I told my mom I was going to dance anyway.” Addyson’s passion and attitude made a very positive impression and she was accepted into the Studio School of Dance in Nepean, where she spent two happy years, learning her first steps in the art of dance. One teacher, who Addyson remembers as Ms. Rebecca, made the biggest impression on her during those first two years of training. “She was really nice, and would always talk to me,” Addyson said, recalling that Ms. Rebecca started a sticker book system with the newcomer from Russell. Addyson would receive a sticker in the book for every day that she showed up at dance class, even on days when the child felt discouraged. “That sticker book really gave her the encouragement to dance,” said Christine Delorme. 'PSUIFQBTUFJHIUZFBSTOPX "EEZTPOIBT been a member of the Kaliande Andrews Dance Company in Ottawa. Over the past 10 years of her studies, she has mastered classical ballet, contemporary and jazz styles of dance. She also used to perform hip-hop but has since set that style aside in favour of acro-aerial, the dance style made famous by Canada’s Cirque du Soleil. Time for everything “I never had any interest in any sports,” said Addyson, regarding her need to dance. “I can let go of anything happening outside and just focus on the dance. I feel like
Addyson Delorme pose fièrement avec sa veste officielle d’Équipe Canada. La jeune danseuse de Russell la portera avec fierté lors de son arrivée à Sun City, en Afrique du Sud, du 16 au 20 juillet, pour rivaliser avec le reste de la troupe de danse nationale canadienne au Championnat de la Coupe du Commonwealth 2019. —photo Gregg Chamberlain
is her own independent person.” After Sun City, Addyson resumes her usual full schedule of dance training and babysitting calls, though she will have some more free time for herself with the summer vacation break. It will be several years before she has to think about graduation, but she already has a choice of dreams she wants to pursue when she leaves high school. “I’ve always wanted to own my own dance studio,” she said, “and to dance with the National Ballet of Canada.” She also thinks about taking a year off after graduation so she can travel and teach dance to underprivileged children. She even thinks about following in her mother’s footsteps. “I would like to be a nurse, like Mom,” she said, smiling. Whatever her future will be, Addyson Delorme will always make sure there is time to dance.
everything’s been lifted off me, and I can be free.” Mike Delorme noted that dance has helped his daughter mature and become very self-reliant, very responsible for managing her own time, and making sure all other responsibilities are handled, so that she can focus on her dance studies and training. He recalled, one time, coming home from work and finding Addyson sitting in the kitchen, books spread out on the table in front of her, doing her homework. “I hadn’t even asked her to do her homework,” he said. “I did ask her why she was doing it. She said, ‘I have to do it now otherwise I won’t have time for dance.’” Addyson averages 16 hours each week at dance school, plus time spent at home with her own training and practice of techniques. Add to that the five days a week she spends at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School,
where she made the honour roll this past school term. She also works as a babysitter. “She likes to keep busy,” said Christine, her mother. “I get bored easily,” Addyson said, smiling and adding that rest and recreation for her means “sleep and watching Netflix.” She’s a fan of the 90s series, Friends , and CBC’s Heartland series. Sun City and the future Addyson was accepted as part of Team Canada’s entry for the Commonwealth Cup competition, after submitting an audition video to the spring tryouts call. Her mother received the acceptance email by phone. “I was at work when I received the email,” Christine said. “I was jumping with joy.” Mike Delorme, when he heard the news, CFHBOQPTUJOHOPUJDFTPO'BDFCPPLUPMFU family and friends know about his daughter’s latest success and her newest adventure. “I’m extremely proud of her,” he said. “She
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