Students from Donna’s Dancers Studio attended the Showstoppers competition in Myrtle Beach.
The Ladies Jazz Class won first place gold and second place overall in the age 30-39 trio performance jazz to the music “Happiness.”
Chelsea Hatfield, a 15-year-old student at West Rowan High School, received a gold first place for her lyrical jazz solo to “Everybody’s Fool.”
Brooke Arrowood, a junior at Gray Stone, Ruth Clement an 8th grader at Salisbury Academy, Allison Murphy, a junior at Salisbury High; Emily Baty, a West Rowan junior; Taylor Shuler, a freshman at North Rowan; Chelsea Hatfield, a junior at West Rowan, won a gold first place in the small performance contemporary to the music “Waiting On An Angel.”
Before the Showstoppers competition, July 2-7, dancers participated in an intensive dance camp at Myrtle Beach.
Dancers worked from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on perfecting each routine. In arts and crafts each day, the participants either completely re-made their costumes or vamped them with extra sequins, leggings, tights and gloves and also created new headpieces.
In beauty shop, girls came up with highly stylized hairdos that were all the same. Tiffany Davis of Kool Noginz Hair Salon in Spencer taught the girls a special way to do hair and stage makeup. The girls practiced on each other, learning how to do everything themselves so that they would not be dependent on anyone but themselves before a competition. The parents did not have to do anything to get the girls ready for the nationals except get them there on time.
After the week-long camps, each participant’s assignment was to practice her routine to the best of her ability eight times per day.
Considering that these students only take dancing 1.5 -2.5 hours per week and were competing against students who take dancing 3-6 days per week, they outdid themselves, said Donna’s Dancer owner Donna Cesario.