Tags
Related Posts
Share This
Dixon Dance Studio goes to LA DanceMagic
Dixon has a lot of talent when it comes to sports, arts, and music. One group of talented people comes from the Dixon Dance Studio. This business has been around for about 11 years now, producing talented dancers. Their ages range from 2 years old all the way to 50. There is also a special class for the chosen dancers to represent the studio at multiple locations, one of which are dance conventions.
Dance conventions are simply a weekend full of dancing. Dancers from different studios split into 3 levels: generally seniors, juniors, and petite, and they are usually chosen by their dance teachers. Classes last from 8 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon with one break and a lunch break, and this happens on Saturday and Sunday. The classes vary in styles with different teachers for the classes. Most of these teachers have famous backgrounds- from choreographing for celebrities to appearing on television.
Along with classes, there is competition. This is where the studios enter their own dances for the teachers to judge and award categories by style and the size of the group.
Last weekend, Dixon Dance Studio competed at LA DanceMagic. They competed with 5 dances, each placing in their category. First, they competed with This Little Light of Mine in the junior division, placing 1st in Tap with a High Gold. Another number they put in the junior division is a jazz dance to Hey Mickey, which placed 2nd in their division. In the teen division, Dixon High students Ivy Dunn, Keila Wedow, Sarah Payne, Allison Bleasdale, and I competed with three numbers. A jazz number to Stray Cat Strut which placed 3rd, a hip hop dance that placed 2nd, and a tap number to We No Speak Americano, placing 1st in its division. They all scored high gold, which is a small step down from platinum, the highest score.
Dixon Dance did well in both the auditions and the competition. For 15 and under, this means learning a ballet combo, and if they pass, moving onto a jazz combination. But as for 16 and up, they just go straight to a jazz combination. So, those who got through that round get to perform it for all the teachers to judge. They then decide who gets the scholarships to come back to that convention.
Out of the many girls that auditioned, only about 20 from each division- juniors, teens, and seniors,- get through to the final round. And about only half of those actually get scholarships. Dixon Dance Studio had a really good outcome this convention in auditions as well. Two girls in the junior division made it through the jazz cut, five girls made it past the ballet cut in the teen room, and three made it past the jazz cut. For seniors, two made it through the jazz cut.
The studio got exciting news when they announced awards at the end of the weekend. Dixon High student Keila Wedow received a full year long scholarship to go to as many LA DanceMagic conventions as she wants in the next year. Keila has auditioned at LA DanceMagic before, but only expected to get past ballet, like in the past. She felt nervous to audition in front of the judges, but once she started dancing, this feeling went away.
Keila was not the only Dixon High Student to receive a scholarship. Ivy Dunn also got a single convention scholarship. This means she gets to go to one convention in the next year for free. This was her first time auditioning at LA DanceMagic, and she auditioned in the senior room. She didn’t expect to get that far, but she was really shocked and happy when they called her name at awards.
Along with these scholarships, London Ngoy and Caroline Payne also got magic performer of the weekend and runner-up. And a lot of girls got pulled up on stage during class from the studio, like Sarah Payne, Ivy Dunn, and I. Dixon Dance’s very own Marissa Forbes was also on stage due to her apprenticeship with LA DanceMagic, so she goes to mostly all of their conventions, assisting in classes.
Overall, this was a good weekend for Dixon Dance Studio.
Photo provided by Ivy Dunn