In late June, the local dance team, Dance To the Beat headed to nationals after countless hours of practice. Nationals were held in Sandusky, Ohio, at Kalahari Resort and Waterpark. The venue has a massive convention center area attached to hold large events like this.
All of the dances that compete at the local studio qualified for nationals, but the instructor, Alex Fox, chose her strongest dances to take. The senior group took both of their small dance groups considering how often they placed 1st at regional competitions. This group in particular was outstanding at nationals and definitely left their mark.
The seniors were the last to compete of the DTTB studio. The competition they had to face at regionals was always tough, so nationals was bound to be even more of a challenge.
They took the stage Friday morning. Everyone thought they performed great, but was nervous due to the amount of dances they were facing. Awards came around, and 100+ dancers had to wait on stage for over an hour due to technical difficulties, and the company couldn’t access the results.
After all of the teens impatient waiting, it was all worth it when their dance got called up and received a golden ticket to “The Big Show.” This event is a very big deal, where the top five dances get the opportunity to showcase their talent that weekend. Once they were called for this award, everyone knew they had to have done pretty great, but “how great” was the question. A few minutes later their jazz dance was called for third place overall.
This reporter stood to accept the award and stand behind the three-foot tall trophy. While the seniors were taking in their excitement, their lyrical routine got announced for first place overall. In shock, Jonas Anthony, Audrey Baker, Willow Bowen, Kenzie Knight, and Izzy Kellogg jumped up and stood by the five-foot tall trophy. This reporter brings their 3rd place trophy over to the rest of the group and celebrates with everyone.
The MC asked the group for the name of the studio and they simultaneously yelled into the microphone, “Dance To The Beat!” Later, their touching lyrical routine “Spine,” got a special and rare choreography award.
The dancers left the stage ecstatic after completing one of their greatest accomplishments, and in complete disbelief. The pride that beamed off of them was indescribable. The upcoming dance season starts September 11, so they are about to get to work on another national-champion worthy dance.
