STORY AND PHOTOS BY DYLAN PAISLEY
Oakville Place has been moving all week with its Just Dance 2014 March Break dance off.
The competition last week to promote the mall and was to entertain kids on March Break.
“Well I know other shopping centres have done it with Guitar Hero. The game seems to be really good, also Just Dance seems to be the hottest game right now,” said Lindsay Holstein, marketing manager of Oakville Place. “It is an opportunity for kids on March Break to come to the centre and have fun.”
Just Dance is a videogame where players follow the moves on the screen and are judged on how well they dance. Just Dance 2014 is the fifth game in the Ubisoft franchise, which started in 2009 with Just Dance on the Wii.
“My favourite moment is when we introduce the accessories,” said Holstein. “There was one young boy was actually very shy to do his dance, but he put on a fedora and a bandanna then his expression just changed and he is transformed into his dance star.”
Last Saturday’s finals saw the five best boys and the five best girls from the week move on to the finals based on their high scores.
The songs and the difficulty were chosen by staff. The girls’ song was “Don’t You Worry Child” by Swedish House Mafia and the boy’s song was “What About Love” by Austin Mahone.
“What they did with the competition at this level was they threw them a curveball. They started doing songs that don’t come with the regular game pack, so you have to download them” said parent Warren Richmond.
“It kinda was more fair, but people with the game who have downloaded the songs had a leg up” said his son 11-year-old Evan Richmond, who came in third place in the age 10 to 12 bracket.
The contestant who had the highest score in each age group won a $500 gift card to Oakville Place and anyone who got into the finals won a $25 gift card.
“I just recently got a fish tank but probably would’ve spent some of my money on that,” said Evan, who won a $25 gift card.” And probably also on video games.”
The contest could become an annual event.
“The event has been going really well, it started off a little slow with on average 40 to 45 contestants register, the last day on Thursday we have close to 90 contestants,” said Holstein. “It has been fun, I’m sure the event will evolve each year but next year we’re definitely going to make it bigger.”
The winners of the $500 gift cards are:
Girls 6-9 Neah La
Boys 6-9 Aiden Meogler
Girls 10-12 Natalie Roufaert
Boys 10-12 Hirad Morade
Girls 13-15 Cheyenne Rousseall
Boys 13-15 Mario Perini
Girls 16-18 Athena Patsinas