Beeton French immersion student Andrea Matei, 13, has launched a new dance project, Little Girl, Big Imagination.
Little Girl, Big Imagination is about exploring and enjoying the world around us in an artistic and creative way. It is about noticing the little things and giving them an entire life of their own in a little girl’s head.
Fueled by her love of dance and driven by her creative nature, Matei teamed up with a talented group of artists this summer to produce her very first short dance film: Little Girl, Big Imagination: At the beach.
It was filmed at Woodbine Beach during the summer, providing a natural backdrop of sand, water and wind to align with the thematic elements of the project.
Matei came up with the idea to film a routine, choreographed by Merey Ismailova and Nicole Decsey, in an artistic setting, as a summer souvenir reflecting her passion for dance and acting.
The film features Matei's four-year-old sister Gabriela Matei.
With the success of the first episode, Matei decided to expand her collaboration with DOP Kareem Byfield and photographer Ricardo Araújo to continue with Little Girl, Big Imagination into its second episode, which takes Gabi on a stroll through the forest, where she encounters a tiny creature that sets her imagination wild.
The episode features Lyrik Alkema as the object of Gabi's imagination, dancing through the forest and expressing some of the wildest thoughts in the little girl's head, through the choreography of Marissa Clarke.
The sisters would love to expand the mini-series, showcasing various dancers and dance styles while continuing the same exploratory theme of letting little girls dream big and imagine freely as a way to connect and experience the world in a positive and carefree way.
Matei has always had a passion for dance and performing arts. She currently trains with Canadian Dance Unit in Bolton, Ont., and has an extensive background in competitive dance, acting and modelling.
As a competitively trained dancer with experience in a variety of genres, from competitions on regional, national and international stages to local indoor and outdoor performances, Matei's goal remains the same: to help bring the story to life and please the audience through artistic movement and expression.
Aside from numerous trophies and awards, some of Matei’s competitive dance accomplishments include performing with Team Canada Dance in 2018 at the World Dance Championship in Warsaw, Poland, bringing home two gold, one silver and one bronze medal, and representing Canada as a soloist in 2020 at the Virtual World Championships of Performing Arts, earning a gold medal in the semi-finals.
Artistic highlights include performing with the Toronto International Ballet Theatre in the Nutcracker in 2019, playing the main character in Ismailova Theatre of Dance Immersion Dance Theatre Production Journey with the Wind in 2021, as well as performing as part of the main cast in NLC Dance Company’s debut show Inhale in 2022.
Her love of dance and performing naturally progressed to on-camera work, sharing her story not only through movement but also through acting.
She has since starred in With Grace Productions’ trilogy of revamped fairy tale short films, playing Cinderella in A Dance with Cinderella, Sara Snow in Sarah Snow and the Seven Dancers and The Queen of Hearts in Madhatter’s Tea Party, and has appeared in several commercials, promos, PSAs and even a TV series as an episodic character.
The latest episode is showcased on Matei's recently launched website.
