Calgary teen ‘super excited’ to represent Canada at international dance competition in Europe

A hardworking young Calgary performer is heading off to represent Canada at a major international competition.

Sydney Slauko leaves this week for the International Dance Organization’s youth world championships in Belgium.

“It’s the Olympics of dance, competing with 30 countries,” she said. “It’s going to be very tough competition, but I’m super excited.”

At 15, she is already a veteran dancer.

“She was 3-years-old when she started dancing and she found her passion right off the bat,” Sidney’s mother Brenda said. “It’s been amazing seeing her confidence grow. She’s an informal leader now and you can see all these skill sets that I didn’t know dance would bring.”

Sydney trains at the Prestige Dance Academy in Calgary, where her instructors are impressed with her hard work.

“Her drive, her commitment, her work ethic make her such a wonderful, wonderful dancer,” Prestige instructor Lisette Stein said. ”She lives, eats, breathes dance – she trains all the time.”

Sydney has traveled to New York and Los Angeles for extra instructional opportunities.

During a trip to Los Angeles in the summer of 2023, she did some training with a high-profile dancer.

“Jan Ravnik is dancing with Taylor Swift, on tour with her for her Eras tour,” Sydney said. “This is something I hope to be doing when I’m older, dancing on stage and performing on tour, so it was a huge inspiration to me.”

The world youth dance championships in Belgium begin on Monday Nov 27.

“Sydney’s had some of the highest marks in all of the competitions that we’ve done,” Stein said. “I have no doubt she’ll just do incredible over there.”

No matter how the competition turns out, it’ll be an experience Sidney will treasure for many years to come.

“When I’m dancing, I just get to be myself,” Slauko said. “I get to put on a show that I get to be proud of.”