Pierce MacNeil returns from Prague a more determined dancer

Pierce MacNeil readies herself to tap-dance her heart out at the World Championships in Prague.

After the opportunity to travel to Prague for international competition with Team Canada Dance, Pierce MacNeil has returned to Stratford Dance Co. a more determined tap dancer who wants nothing more than the opportunity to do it all over again next year. The St. Marys resident and District Collegiate and Vocational Institute (DCVI) student is still grinning greatly for the experience.

The competition lasted for five days, and MacNeil danced three of those days in four events. In total there were 1,692 dancers from 21 countries to compete against. The venue, the UNYP Arena, was a large auditorium style arena with bleachers around the perimeter, seven levels high. The crowd in attendance, made up of family, friends and fans, was the largest to date that MacNeil has danced for.

“I wasn’t nervous though. Usually before I go on when I am backstage, I’m a little bit nervous, but not there. The floor was slippery so we had to tape our tap-shoes so we didn’t slip. It was still a bit slippery though,” said MacNeil.

Despite the challenge, Team Canada Dance did remarkably well. Success was within reach with a fifth-place finish as MacNeil danced in the Trio category to “Meet Me At the Roxy.” In the Small Group category MacNeil and her fellow dancers performed to the tune “Get Ready” and came in 11th. In the Formation category the group of 14 performers had a close finish at fourth and finally, in the Production category, the group came in sixth.

“The first one, my trio, was not very good, because it was my first time on stage and I was a bit nervous. I did slip a couple times, but it was fine, we made it through to semis,” said MacNeil.

Within each category the dancers would perform their routine, and the teams are narrowed down to twelve. Then they dance the same routine again in semi-finals where again the teams are narrowed down for finals.

“There was a couple of really good countries: Mexico and the U.S.A. For my age group (the team from) U.S.A. were pretty good. They got first, second and third in the Trio category. Mexico was also really awesome. They don’t bring a lot (of people) but they bring good skills,” said MacNeil.

“One of the really cool things for the kids that were in Formation, there was a female soloist and a male soloist from Canada that made it to the finals,” added proud mother Stacy MacNeil. “Those two kids also did a duet and made it to the finals, and also Pierce’s Trio made it to finals so out of all of the Canadian kids (about 100), those five made it to finals for solo, duet and Trio. So, it was really cool that Pierce was one of them.”

Dancing in the finals was a different experience because the arena was packed, but Pierce felt prepared for the competition.

“The studio that we trained at mostly, it is called Access, the one room is really slippery so that helped prepare us for the slippery stage. It was actually less slippery than the floor at Access so it did feel a lot better to dance on,” said MacNeil.

The experience performing on the world stage is one that will not soon be forgotten. Her favourite part of the trip, aside from dancing, was having the opportunity to meet so many new people and network. She also enjoyed the sightseeing that she and her family who accompanied her did.

“We did two full days, we went a day early and stayed a day later, two days of just us going sightseeing. We went to the Prague Castle, the John Lennon Wall, the Charleston Bridge, the boat cruise that the majority of the team came on, the astronomical clock which is right in old town Prague. We got to walk along cobblestone streets, it was really beautiful there. Obviously, we went for the dance, but we made it a family vacation too,” said Stacey.

In any experience, there are lessons learned. For Pierce, she knows she has to work hard and practice outside of rehearsal. “You also have to be patient, because when you are learning it, it is really hard as you learn (steps) fast. I learned a lot of new steps which is a lot harder to get into your brain than older steps,” said MacNeil.

With the growth that she experienced since the summer and confidence in her improvement, she has stepped up her game. She looks forward to the next year where now she will age into the next group of dancers. There were some on this year’s Junior Team that she connected with and looked up to. And now, her little nine-year-old sister Neve, who also dances, wants to compete on the world stage as well.