Second Wave of Teams Advance in DanceMKE
Beautiful weather, large crowd for the second night of competitive dance contest.
Young Dance Academy. Photo courtesy of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.
A large crowd was on hand Tuesday night at the Peck Pavilion for the second night of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts 2018 DanceMKE competition. The multi-week contest is part of Live at Peck summer programming series.
Next Step Dance Studio, Young Dance Academy and the Cultural Institute of Dance by Manuel Gaona have advanced to the August 21st finals. See their performances and learn more about the groups below.
Want to help pick the next group of winners? Join the fun at 7:00 p.m. on August 14th at the Peck Pavilion at the Marcus Center (929 N. Water St.). The event is free to attend.
Twenty groups of talented dancers from all backgrounds and disciplines will compete for nine spots in the finals. Come down and be amazed by these talented Milwaukee dancers as they compete for cash prizes and Danceworks scholarships, and bragging rights. There will be a little something for everyone with dance styles including: contemporary, Mexican folklore, hip-hop, American Tribal Belly Dance, lyrical, salsa, contemporary fusion, ballroom and tap.
For more information on the DanceMKE schedule and all of the free Live at Peck events visit http://www.marcuscenter.org
Next Step Dance Studio
Next Step Dance Studio. Photo courtesy of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.
With DanceMKE – What are you hoping to get from this experience?
Our dancers are aiming to gain perspective through our experience performing at DanceMKE. So often we are concerned with what occurs in our personal lives, failing to realize the struggles the community faces as a whole. We hope to inspire other dancers and performers to use their art as an outlet of expression and as a way to spread the word about many different topics. Sometimes the “unspoken truth” can be most impactful.
Why do you love to dance?
One major reason why we love to dance is because so often in in today’s society we feel as if our voices are not heard, especially being teenage girls. Dancing is a way that we can freely and safely express what we want to say. Our group takes advantage of every opportunity we are given to perform for others. We absolutely love to entertain through dance; most of us have even participated in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and danced the streets of Disney World.
What is one unique characteristic about you/your group?
One unique characteristic about our group is what a close friendship we share; it’s actually more like a sisterhood. We have an unbreakable bond that is rare among 9 teenage girls. This is thanks to the ten great years we’ve been dancing together at Next Step Dance Studio. Even though we dedicate our lives to time at the studio, we still find time to bond and grow our friendship outside the studio which adds to the amount of connection and power we bring to the stage.
What is your favorite thing about your dance you performed?
What we liked best about our performance was the incredibly powerful message it portrayed. Women empowerment is a strong message and through this dance we can show how truly strong we are as young women in today’s society.
Young Dance Academy
Young Dance Academy. Photo courtesy of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.
With DanceMKE – What are you hoping to get from this experience?
We just love having the opportunity to perform for an audience! It’s especially exciting to be surrounded by our fellow performers as we all share our love of dance!
Why do you love to dance?
We love to dance because we have a passion for music and movement!
What is one unique characteristic about you/your group?
The one unique characteristic of our group is that we are all best friends who respect and support each other!
What is your favorite thing about your dance you performed?
Our favorite thing about the dance we performed is the variety of emotion we get to experience in telling our story.
Cultural Institute of Dance by Manuel Gaona
Cultural Institute of Dance. Photo courtesy of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.
With DanceMKE – What are you hoping to get from this experience?
From this experience I would like to learn about the difference styles of dances.
Why do you love to dance?
We love to dance because we can be a different person and we can express ourselves on stage.
What is one unique characteristic about you/your group?
Our unique characteristic is that we are a family that is proud of demonstrating our roots and Mexican culture.
What is your favorite thing about your dance you performed?
My favorite thing about our performance was that we were able to connect with our audience and transport them to our beautiful country with our music.
