It's been a year full of challenges, but throughout it all, the staff and students at Dance Images by BJ have remembered to stay grateful for the opportunities they have had.

The performing arts have been hit especially hard throughout the pandemic and the young dancers in Barb Jackman's studio have not had many opportunities to perform. Nevertheless, with a bit of creativity and a lot of determination, they've transitioned their final recital into an online format.

Filmed at the Mae Wilson Theatre over the course of March and April, the recital showcases the skills students have been working on this year. Jackman says the process came with some challenges but was still worth it.

"Even our choreography had to be reformatted for only eight students at a time. But just having the opportunity to go into the Mae Wilson was amazing. So, we've always wanted to keep the word 'grateful' in our vocabulary."

Jackman adds that the experience was still a lot of fun for her students.

"It was so heartwarming to see those kids as they crossed the stage. There was only a filming crew in the audience but that kind of made the kids feel like big movie stars."

On top of that, this will be the first time that many of these young dancers will be able to see their own performances.

"I think it was just as exciting for them as having their families in their audience," says Jackman. "Any experience this year is better than what we had last year. Our season was just completely over last year after March 15 so being able to wrap up the season this year has been great."

The whole process has been a huge undertaking according to Jackman and she hopes it will still be memorable for the students.

"We really appreciate the support that we've had from our families while we try to give our young people everything that we can. Sure, it's been hard, but 'hard' is part of life, and 'different' can be ok."

Jackman notes with a chuckle, however, that she hopes this will be their first and last virtual recital.

You can learn how to view the recital on Dance Images' Facebook page.