Students pour heart and soul into The Echo Chamber

By Lethbridge Herald on January 28, 2026.

HERALD PHOTO BY JOE MANIO LCI student dancers rehearse one of many high-energy numbers from The Echo Chamber

By Joe Manio

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Motown rhythms roll through the Sterndale Bennett Theatre as dancers snap, glide and spin across the stage. Lethbridge Collegiate Institute (LCI) student performers are putting the final touches on The Echo Chamber, a high-energy production blending classic soul music with street and contemporary dance styles.

Opening today, Echo Chamber features breaking, popping, locking, modern jazz, house dance and more, all echoing to the Motown sound. It is the latest large-scale production from the LCI Arts Academy Dance Program.

“This is our ninth year running the dance academy and I always feel very blessed,” says artistic  director Geordan Olson. “When I look around, I see all of the fantastic people I get to do a show with — my co-directors, alumni teachers, techs and students.”

An LCI original, Echo Chamber is a student-powered, movement-forward production that showcases both dance versatility and a strong sense of family — literally and figuratively — within the cast and crew. 

The 100-strong cast includes siblings performing onstage and also working behind the scenes, including two LCI alumni sisters serving as assistant directors; reinforcing a collaborative environment that mirrors the show’s themes of connection, rhythm and shared voice.

The scale of the production is immediately apparent. Rehearsals are physically demanding, transitions are rapid and choreography pulls from multiple dance traditions requiring performers to switch styles seamlessly.

A standout element of Echo Chamber is its breaking component, coached by Co-Artistic Director Koji Nagahama — a second-generation breaker whose full-time job is in the Lethbridge School Division IT department. 

While his role as breaking coach technically falls under “other duties as required” clause in the job description, Nagahama says the role is deeply personal.

“When I started at LCI I noticed a poster for a breaking club at lunch and had to check it out,” he says. “That’s where my history is. That’s how the connection started and how things fell into place.”

Like the first-generation breakers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Nagahama was immersed in breaking culture as a youth — something he now passes on to students. Competitive breakers, often called B-Boys and B-Girls, are now firmly recognized as competitive dancers, and like theatre ensembles, breaking crews were often referred to as a family.

And speaking of family…among the cast are siblings Hazel and Ozzy Jahn, experiencing the production from different stages of their high school journeys. Hazel, a 14-year-old first-year student, says the commitment from her classmates is clear.

“All the work the students put into the show was so awesome,” she says. “You can really tell they want to be there because they love to perform. It’s mostly just people who want to perform and have fun.”

Her older brother Ozzy, a 17-year-old fourth-year student, takes pride in what the program has built.

“What we’ve been able to build in just a couple of years — especially with Geordan, Koji and Haley in charge — is amazing,” he says. “People around Canada know about our program. If you’re looking for something different and exciting, full of culture and art, you can always look forward to the LCI dance show.”

Seventeen-year-old fourth-year student Yousef Elraih says the academy has changed how he views performing.

“This program taught me to love being on stage in front of an audience,” he says. “Audiences can expect the best show you’ll see in Lethbridge or Southern Alberta.”

Performers describe rehearsals as intense but supportive, with dancers pushing through demanding sequences while encouraging one another. While the directors may be detail-oriented — even obsessively so at times — their approach is grounded in care for their students.

Olson says audiences will see that dedication reflected onstage.

“They’re letting their hearts and vulnerability out in front of a public audience,” she says. “It’s a beautiful thing to experience. It reminds you there are really good things happening in the world.”