The Alberta Dance Educators' Association hosts, organizes and produces the Alberta Dance Festival. This event attracts over 4,000 students of dance to the Myer Horowitz Theatre on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton in May. Dancers vie for medals and scholarships in categories of classical/character ballet, tap, jazz national and musical theatre.
The Alberta Dance Festival has grown to be the largest dance festival in Western Canada and perhaps all of Canada. Adjudicators are drawn from Canadian and American dance masters, teachers or performers.
The Alberta Dance Festival has been held annually since 1976. It is one of the largest festivals, attracting more than 4,000 dancers from across Western Canada.
The Festival provides an opportunity for dancers to perform in a non-competitive atmosphere. Medals are awarded using a standard marking system and over $20,000 in cash scholarships are given away each year. The festival is open to participants ages six years and up in the disciplines of Tap, Musical Theater, Stage/Novelty, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Lyrical, Ballet, Modern & contemporary.