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Dance group combines high heels, high hopes for online contest

Dance studio owner managed to attract Michael Buble's attention to have him open the competition to Canadians

A group of local dancers hopes their routine will twerk its way to the top of an online contest hosted by Canadian superstar Michael Bublé and Emmy Award-winning choreographer and ballroom dancer Derek Hough. 

Wendy Graham, owner of Studio House Barrie, an 18-plus dance studio in the city’s north end, said dancers would typically work on routines for their three annual performances, but earlier this fall, she learned about the online competition and decided to rally her dancers and submit a video.

The contest, which was launched in September, is in anticipation of Michael Bublé Week on Dancing With The Stars later this month and saw the Canadian songbird join forces with show alum Derek Hough asking dancers of all skill levels to submit a choreographed dance to Buble’s song Higher.

The winner, which will be selected by public votes online, will win a trip to Los Angeles for four including tickets to the Dancing With The Stars finale on Nov 21, tickets to Disneyland, a one-on-one FaceTime with Bublé, and a private dance lesson with Hough.

Graham said that as soon as she heard about the contest, she knew immediately she wanted to enter.

There was just one issue: the contest was not open to Canadians.

@wendydarlingxo I’m sad. @michaelbuble ♬ original sound - 👋

“I was super bummed and did a TikTok saying ‘when you find Michael Buble is doing a dance competition, but that it’s not open to Canadians… and I tagged him in it. About 24 hours later he commented on it and said he’d changed it so that Canadians could enter!”

Graham admitted she may have “freaked out” a little bit when she noticed the superstar had commented on her video, adding she was feeling extremely excited knowing that she’d prompted the change.

@wendydarlingxo Replying to @Michael Bublé ♬ Higher - Michael Bublé

“If he’s opened it to Canadians because of my TikTok, then I need to represent Canadians," she added. 

Within an hour of learning of the change, Graham said she began to reach out to her dancers to see who would be interested in volunteering their time for her project.

“Immediately, I had hands shooting up everywhere,” said Graham, adding 22 dancers from all skill levels joined in the fun. “I choreographed accordingly and we did the entire three-minute-and-seven-second song rather than just a clip. We decided if we were going to do it, we were going to do it big.

"I choreographed it, taught it to them and filmed it all within three hours.”

@wendydarlingxo 3.5 hours later, our video is complete!! AND WE ARE YHE MOST STOKED! @michaelbuble @derekhough ♬ original sound - Wendy Cate

Voting opened last week and, as of Tuesday, Oct. 18, the local dancers were sitting in the Top 10 out of more than 250 submissions, noted Graham, adding they need to stay within the top 100 in order to continue on in the competition. 

Although Graham knows that there are a lot of great entries, winning would be “pretty amazing," she said. 

“In the grand scheme of the dance world, we are very small, but the studio means so much to so many people. I think representing strong women of all dance levels, shapes, sizes, and backgrounds is really important, especially in the dance world,” she said. “To be able to put our studio and what we represent on such a large platform would hopefully spread awareness, love and light to so many more people.”

Going to L.A. and all that comes with winning would also be a once in lifetime opportunity, Graham added. 

“It’s something we’d never normally get the chance to experience," she said. 

Win or lose, Graham is proud of what she and her dancers have accomplished already.

“We actually had someone from Illinois send us an email through our website saying they saw our submission … and had no idea who we were before, but that we were the only video they watched all the way through because they felt so inspired," she said. "Just that, knowing we are reaching people from all across North America, and letting them know it doesn’t matter who you are, what your dance background is, your shape or size … if you want to dance you can dance.”

To view their dance or to vote for Studio House Barrie, click here.