Curtain to come down on Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance while they Workshop how to change to new circumstances

By Pepper Parr

May12th, 2026

BURLINGTON, ON

They have been doing it for more than 25 years, and they want to continue doing it – and at the same time adjust to changing times and circumstances.

Every year Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance puts on a show at the Performing Arts Centre that is a Matinee Performance and an Evening show.  There was a time when it was always a sold out event.

The annual Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance has in the past filled the stage at the Performing Arts Centre

While attendance is still strong Sue Pritchard, President of the organization that pulls it all together said recently that attendance is falling.

“We began to see it during Covid and it didn’t recover the way we thought it would.

“So we are holding two workshops to do a deep dive into what we have been doing, what we should be doing and looking at who we are serving.”

In the meantime, the final performance of Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance as we have known it will take place on June 23rd.

It takes a lot of practice to get to the point where you are ready for the stage.

The annual performances are not just a local event.  Tour buses from Kitchener arrive most years. “We draw a considerable audience from Hamilton, and a significant number of people from Toronto make the trip.

We are aware of the changing attendance patterns and have decided, as an organization, to pause, rethink, and perhaps rebrand what we have been doing.

Thus the Worshops; on at the Performing Arts Centre, September 16th and a follow-up at Brant Hills on September 27th.

They have been around for 25 years and are planning for the next 25.

Up until now, the Footnotes have been seen as an “over 50  demographic,” explains Pritchard.  We want to change that to an “18 and up” and we want to be more than an annual performance organization.  Membership to the Footnotes is an annual $40 and $60 for a family.

There are classes in different types of dancing.  “We have a class that teaches people how to do tap dancing while sitting in a chair” said Pritchard.

There is a Mother daughter team on the stage this year – Mom is 89.

Web site address is:  www.burlingtonfootnotes.com