Tux and heels criss cross at grad fashion show

Students embrace individual choice at annual fundraiser

RECORD PHOTOS BY AUSTIN GRABISH

Grade 12 student Ali Bird wasn't comfortable wearing a dress so she wore a tux instead at the Comp's grad fashion show last Wednesday.

By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record 

A girl embellished in a tuxedo stands full of smiles while a sharp dressed man runs across the stage in heels.

It’s not something many would have expected to see, but the breaking of traditional gender binaries didn’t seem to be a problem for two crowds attending the Comp’s sold-out fashion show last Wednesday.

“It went really well,” said Grade 12 student Reid Senga, who had the crowd laughing when he made his trek across the stage in heels.

 But Senga’s walk was no laughing mater.

The 18-year-old decided to show his support for classmate Ali Bird who wore a tuxedo to the show.

“We tried to go out of the box a little bit and show you can be who you want to be and not have to worry about people judging you and all that,” Senga said.

Bird, 18, doesn’t agree with traditional gender roles and didn’t want to wear a dress to the show.

“As a woman I’m expected to spend so much money getting a dress and doing my hair and my makeup and that’s just not who I am, and I shouldn’t have to do that because of my gender,” said Bird.

“I just don’t believe in gender norms.”

Teacher Amanda Dion said it wasn’t a problem for Bird to be accommodated.

“We were totally supportive,” Dion said.

Some of the dances in the students’ show also challenged regular gender norms.

Two girls added a twist to one dance by pushing two of their male counterparts off the stage.

“It was just to kind of show that they don’t need a guy to show them off like they can show each other off,” Senga said.

Senga and Bird along with about 30 of their classmates danced to a mix of pop, country, and older tunes. 

“We tried to get a nice mix of music,” Senga said.

Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson was one of the hits played and Bird said it kept the crowd going.

“It was really good, they loved it,” Bird said.

Dion said it was great to see students’ hard work finally pay off.

She said students had to hone their dancing skills during nighttime practices in the weeks leading up to the show.

“Everybody put a lot of time and effort into this,” Dion said.

The fashion show was the first big fundraiser for the Comp’s grad class.

Ticket sales from the fashion show totalled somewhere over $3,500 and will pay for activities at the students’ grad in June, Dion said.

A number of clothing shops donated dresses and tuxedos to the fashion show and Dion said the show wouldn’t have been the success it was without the community.

“It’s so great to see so much support from the community coming out to see these kids,” Dion said.

Bird said the fashion show helped to get students pumped up about their graduation, which takes place on June 29.

“It made it feel so real,” Bird said. 

-- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition February 19, 2015 p.20