Our History

The history of the WRDAA.

The Wild Rose Dance Arts Association three day competition was one of the first dance competitions held in Calgary. As the competition grew and more studio owners came on board a new venue had to be found. The competition was then moved to the Jubilee Auditorium to a small theatre in the basement and the event ran for seven days. When the association could afford a larger venue it moved up to the main theatre in the Jubilee and then when the Performing Arts Centre opened it moved there. The competition continues to be held in that wonderful venue.

As membership in the association continued to grow it became a non-profit association in 1987. This allowed us to add another avenue to our association. We continued with the competition program and added a scholarship program. Auditions for scholarships originally took place immediately before or immediately following the May competition, but with growth of the scholarship program it is now held as an independent event.

Once again members saw a need for our association to have the ability to open more doors for the local dancers. That is when in 2004 we completed the application process and were accepted to become a charitable organization. This opened the door for the association to fund raise and as a result have the ability to give more back to our dancers.

We now an accept donations to any of our programs and are our members have been able to volunteer time working the casinos to raise funds. These funds are passed back to the local dancers.

Today our competition is still held in May over four long days, and our scholarship program is held in January. Today our competition is still being held in the spring and our scholarship program is being held in January. To date we have been able to give back over half a million dollars to dancers in our community since 1987.

The WRDAA is a charitable organization allowing us to form and give out Memorial Scholarships which are managed by the Calgary Foundation. We are home to three Memorial Scholarships. These are the Heather Simpson Award in Dance, the Carol Neilsen Award in Dance and the Tammy Lynn Powers Award in Dance. These cash scholarships are a huge benefit our local dancers. More information about these awards can be found on the Calgary Foundation website.

Our membership has grown and changed over the past thirty years but the philosophies of those members at that first meeting in October of 1982 still stand today. Our members are committed to providing a safe atmosphere for dancers to compete and show their talents off to their fellow peers in a competitive and educational environment.