The Bella Beats was founded in 2011 by Lina Lewis, Artistic Director of Bella Dance Academy in Yellowknife, NT. In 2014, the Bella Beats expanded to a Junior and Senior team to allow younger dancers to participate. In 2018, a Competition Team was added, and in 2020, a Mini Team was developed for dancers ages 5-7.
 
Bella Beats is a high performance dance troupe, with a focus on building connection in their community. The Bella Beats have performed in numerous community events over the years including, but not limited to:
  

• SMILES Fundraising Performance (2012 - 2017)

• Creation, Right On Time - Extra! Extra! @ NACC (June 2012)

• Yellowknife Canada Day Parade (2011 - 2019)

• A Collection of Pieces - Folk on The Rocks (2012 - 2019)

• JUMP - Vancouver (2013 - 2019)

• Broadway Bound - NACC (March 2013)

• SnowKing Castle and Long John Jamboree - Great Slave Lake (March 2012 - 2018)

• Alice in Wonderland – NACC (June 2013)

• City of Yellowknife Garden Party  (June 2013)

• Co-Creation dance project with Zogma Dance from Quebec  - NACC (December 2013)

• An Evening of Dance – NACC (March 2014 - 2020)

• Arctic Winter Games Cultural Delegates - Alaska (March 2014)

• Welcome to the Jungle - NACC (June 2015)

• NACC 30th Anniversary - NACC (December 2015)

• SPCA Gala (2015 - 2017)

• Toy Story - NACC (June 2016)

• Cinderella - A Pantomime (2016)

• NUVO - Calgary (2016 - 2017)

• Warm the Rocks & Folk on the Rocks (2017)

• The Muppets & The Mini Muppets (2017)

• DancerPalooza (2017)

• Music at the Market (2016 & 2017)

• City of Yellowknife Family Fun Night (2017)

• Dance the Magic - Disneyland (July 2017)

• Snow White - A Pantomime (2017)

• History of Rock & Roll - NACC (June 2018) 

• Dance Under the Stars (February 2019)

• Celebration - NACC (June 2019) 

• Dance the Magic - Disneyland (July 2019)

• Prom Night - Aven's Center (February 2020)

• Winter Showcase - NACC (February 2020)

 
While the Bella Beats are honored to have worked with many great Northern artists and choreographers such as: Lina Lewis, Phoenix Smith, Andrea Leask, Hailey McLeod, Kierney Leach and Karen Wasicuna, they are also very proud of their work in other provinces and into the United States.
 
In February 2012, Bella Beats traveled to Calgary, Alberta and had the fantastic opportunity to attend the iDance Convention where they worked with many professional choreographers such as: Brandon Bryant, Matt Marr, Melissa Mitro and Ellenore Scott.
 
In July 2013 and 2015, Bella Beats traveled to New York, New York to participate in Dance the Magic on Broadway. Not only did the Bella Beats have the opportunity to dance with many dancers from across North America, participate in workshops facilitated by choreographers based out of Los Angeles and New York, they had the amazing privilege of performing two showcase dance pieces as well as a production number (with 160 other dancers!) on a Broadway stage at the Minskoff Theatre in Times Square.

In October 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, members of the dance team traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia to participate in JUMP Convention where Bella Beats worked with professional choreographers such as: Mia Michaels, Teddy Forance, Katy Spreadbury, Nick Larrazini, Misha Gabriel, Mike Minery and many more. In 2016 and 2017, they also travelled to Calgary Alberta for the NUVO Dance Convention.

In the summer of 2017, members of the dance team traveled to Long Beach California to participate in DancerPalooza, one of the biggest dance conventions in  North America. At DancerPalooza, the team chose different intensives to participate in for a week of classes. They got to work with professional choreographers, take technique classes, and learn pieces to perform. Some participated in music video shoots, others performed on the stage at Beat Street, and some danced at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. They represented Bella Dance and Yellowknife with pride, and brought new choreography, strategies, and exercises back to the studio for the fall!

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In their 2017/2018 season, the Bella Beats found many more local groups to work with. They performed with the Parcel of Rogues theatre company to present Snow White - A Pantomime, and they hosted their very own Family Fun Night with the City of Yellowknife. In the spring, members of the Bella Beats traveled to Duncan, British Columbia to compete in the Just Dance Challenge.

In 2019, the Competition Team traveled to 3 competitions in Alberta and British Columbia, competing against dancers from across Canada. They learned from these dancers, and worked with them, even creating a music video!

In the summer of 2019, The Bella Beats Performance team travelled to Disneyland to participate in Dance the Magic 2019, where they performed on a Disney stage and danced down Main Street USA with hundreds of dancers from across the world! 

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In 2020, the Bella Beats Dance Team continued to focus on building repertoire, strength, agility, and flexibility. They worked together virtually for months, and came back to the studio together in the fall of 2020. In 2021, the Bella Beats Competition Team attended virtual competitions across Canada, as well as participating in Yellowknife's very own Pointe North Dance Competition. The team was grateful to take to the NACC stage for their Winter Showcase, and look forward to a handful of outdoor community performances in the Summer of 2021! 

Want to join the Bella Beats?

BDA’s Bella Beats Dance Troupe is designed to provide students with a well-rounded, fun, exciting and professional dance experience! That experience includes 4 key elements:

Accelerated Training: Bella Beats dancers learn skills earlier, at an accelerated pace, and with higher standards. Learning in an environment focused on growth gives dancers the opportunity to develop their skills and technique while learning and perfecting their performance strength.
 

Additional Performing Opportunities: Bella Beats dancers perform at several community events throughout the season, as well as at our Winter Showcase Performance at NACC. Competition Dancers also have the opportunity to travel to 1-3 competitions throughout the season.
 

Additional Learning Opportunities: Bella Beats will have several additional learning opportunities: leadership classes, studio workshops and classes with guest choreographers and visiting dance companies. Competitive dancers also gain insight from judges' comments after each competition. These critiques and the high standards of competitive dance give our dancers the impetus to work hard, dream big and be the BEST they can be!

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A Family-Like Community: Our mission is for our studio to be a second home for our students and a positive, encouraging community where they can develop life-long friendships. Throughout the year dancers have opportunities to connect with others on the team through our troupe events, fun activities and of course the memories made performing, competing and learning and growing together in the studio!

Bella Beats 2021/2022 Handbook