This article was contributed by Inspire Performing Arts Academy.
The 2018 Onstage New York and Rainbow Dance Competitions were a spectacular success for Inspire Performing Arts Academy's Competition Dance Team. With Critic's Choice nominations and multiple wins for Judge's Choice, Best Precision, along with first, second, and third placing in multiple categories across each age and dance category, the team of 12 girls brought home over 25 different awards and accolades. While phenomenal, the proudest moment for the studio is receiving the Backstage Studio Sportsmanship Award by Onstage New York.
The Sportsmanship Award is given to a single studio each year that the judges feel works best with other studios. Consideration for the award involves overall courteousness of the team members, enthusiasm for the great performances of their competitors, and a general willingness to work with other teams in a chaotic backstage setting. Receipt of the award is a sign of the quality of a dance studio, as it symbolizes the discipline instilled in the dancers by their instructors, and the great pride and joy the dancers have for their craft. It also demonstrates a willingness of the dancers to set aside the often cutthroat attitudes of a competition scene in favor of excitement for the challenge involved when their competitors are also highly skilled.
Ranging from ages six to 16, the girls on the team spend the entire year developing skills in contemporary dance, tap, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, and combination dance forms. Competing against dozens of studios and hundreds of other dancers, the competitors often wake in the early morning hours to drive to the competition location to check in and get ready for their routines. Upon arrival things can be chaotic, with many teams sharing small amounts of space, working a highly managed schedule to keep routines on time, and keeping stock of all of the costumes and supplies needed to fulfill each routine. It is a setting in which anyone could lose their place, but these dancers always perform admirably.
Congratulations to these wonderful dancers for their hard work and dedication to the arts. Thank you to their instructors for helping foster values which so positively represent the Inspire Performing Arts Academy and Hollister, notably Jaelyn Andrade for her wonderful management of the team, and Yazmeen Mora for being a great instructor and leader at these events as well.
Inquiries about dance, theatrical, music, and voice instruction from Inspire Performing Arts Academy can be directed to [email protected], or information can be found on their website at www.ipaacademy.com.
