Carolina Dance Academy took a bite out of the Big Apple! On July 27, 23 dancers from the dance academy traveled to New York City by plane, train, and automobile to perform in Times Square with Dance The World Productions. The dancers performed a production number with studios from around the world, including Canada and England. They were accompanied by Tik Tok performers Cost and Mayor, who performed the opening entertainment. The dancers got to perform for thousands in Times Square, and at the Minskoff Theater, home of the Broadway hit, The Lion King.
Seven of the dancers also competed in the World Dance Competition, taking home three overall wins. Kinslee Duke won first place overall Junior Soloist. Charleston Hodge won first place overall teen soloist as well as one of only three judges awards given, and Maddie Clark won first place overall senior soloist.
Regarding her experience, Charleston Hodge stated that, “Dancing with thousands of people watching with my team was amazing. Getting the special judges award from a real Rockette was icing on the cupcake!”
To highlight their performances in NYC, the entire team was featured on a billboard in the heart of Times Square and several of them dined and danced on a special dinner cruise through the NYC harbor. Throughout the four day event, the dancers and 91 family members were able to explore and take in the city. They went to Broadway performances, visited the 9/11 memorial, several high rise observatories, the Statue of Liberty, double decker bus tours. There was lots of shopping, eating, and they tackled the subway system with ease. Dancers and their families stayed in the Marriott Marquis in the heart of Times Square and were fully immersed in the city that never sleeps.
Director and owner of Carolina Dance Academy, Dixie Elliott, said, “Seeing my students’ faces take in the atmosphere, sights, sounds, and truly embracing the moment was definitely the highlight of my trip. Many of us were first time visitors to NYC, and the hesitation quickly turned to excitement and a love of the city. While we wouldn’t trade our hometown for anything, it was an experience of a lifetime and several families, including myself, are ready to go back! Watching my girls perform on the same stage as so many Tony Award winners was amazing, and their performance in Times Square had me in tears. It was a very surreal moment. Seeing them win awards was a testimony to their training and dedication. I am beyond proud of each and everyone of them!”
When speaking to some of the performers about their experience, the overall feel was genuinely the same. Lillian Bryant said, “The experience of dancing in New York was amazing and I would love to go back and do it all over again.”
Kinslee Duke stated that, “Those people loved us as much as I loved the trip and I loved the trip. It was so much fun to dance on a Broadway stage with my favorite people!”
Maggie Epperson felt that “It was a great trip! I enjoyed being a part of the performances with CDA and meeting other dance groups from different places as well. I had a wonderful time in New York!
To sum it up, Olivia Clayton said that, “It was like eating a chocolate sundae that never ends”, and Hailey Quintanilla stated that “It was great and they have the best salmon I’ve ever tasted!”
Over the years, Carolina Dance Academy has performed at Disney World several times, on a Carnival Cruise Ship, at college halftime performances, as entertainment for the Harlem Globetrotters, and for the Columbia Fireflies baseball team.
“My goal is to show my dancers the world! I want them to know that there is a huge world out there and that they have the ability to conquer it. Dance is such a universal expression of kindness and love, and it is the same no matter where you go. Home is where you know you can always land, but adventure awaits and I want to give them wings.” Dixie Elliott states.
Next on the agenda, Carolina Dance Academy students will be setting sail in 2024 as they perform aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Line!
