Logan Savard has been a dancer since the age of five; after eight years with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB), he is undertaking a role of a lifetime, the Nutcracker Prince in the RWB鈥檚 production of Nutcracker.
The tour sees him dance the part 16 times throughout B.C., including five performances at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver from Dec. 13 to 15.
鈥淚鈥檓 most excited for this coming weekend. We have already done Surrey, VIctoria and Nanaimo - it was great to be on the Island so it鈥檚 easy for friends and family to come see but Vancouver, it鈥檚 a really big stage and big theatre,鈥� shared Savard.
Savard began his training in Comox at the Brian Kruse School of Dance then moved to studying at the Pantuso Dance. After three years of study and one more in the post-graduate program, Savard became a professional dancer for the RWB. After all the studying, which he started at the age of 16, he is now in his fourth year as a professional. He has now reached the status of a Corps de Ballet dancer for the RWB.
鈥淚n the last year, I鈥檓 coming into those highlighted achievements and am grateful to do quite a couple lead roles at this point. I never really dreamed of doing this because as a kid I just loved dancing. I never really thought about it as a professional career.鈥�
This season sees Savard take on the leading role of the Nutcracker Prince, a role he is honoured to take on, particularly after a setback last year.
鈥淚 was originally cast to do the role last season but I had an injury that prevented me from being able to do the lead, so I was pretty disappointed. I feel pretty happy to be able to do it this time around. It鈥檚 a really important role in ballet and fun.鈥�
When dancing across the stage, Savard notes that he gets lost in the moment and when there is a live symphony accompanying the ballet, the feeling is even more intense.
鈥淗aving live music along with you and just feeling the power of the live orchestra, dancing with you is so powerful. There鈥檚 nothing else like it.鈥�
Savard says most often he lets his mind and emotions get get caught up in the dancing.
鈥淚 just get lost in a dance while enjoying it. There鈥檚 lots of moments too where you鈥檙e really thinking and hoping things go well, but there are the rare moments where you feel super confident. Just fully engaged with what you鈥檙e doing, and it鈥檚 just so much fun."
