By Lily Check

In February, 25 Visual and Performing Arts Academy dancers from Salem High School made the seven-hour journey to Pittsburgh to participate in the Point Park National High School Dance Festival.

Students had the opportunity to watch a performance by BODYTRAFFIC, a renowned Los Angeles-based dance company. They also took exclusive master classes with BODYTRAFFIC’s company dancers as well as other professionals.

“I signed up for mainly contemporary [classes],” said Laura Harris, a dance strand senior who attended the festival for the first time. “However, I also took Intro to Argentine Tango, which I really enjoyed.”

Classes were taught by instructors from across the country, such as Heather Acomb from Nazareth College and Kristin Alexander from the College of Charleston. VPAA dancers enjoyed the different styles of instruction, as they were exposed to diverse techniques and were able to expand their repertoires.

“I loved all of my instructors,” said junior Haley Powers. “The BODYTRAFFIC instructors were so helpful and used lots of descriptive words to describe how they wanted us to dance. They were all so nice and checked on us, even though there were so many of us.”

While classes occupied the majority of the students’ weekend, the dancers also attended an outstanding student choreography concert. VPAA instructor Katie Flint’s piece, “Blackjack,” was selected and performed on Saturday, March 2. The cast included Tamera Jones, Kendall White, Ava Ladi, Kenedi Bray, Serani Myers, Niamh Poe. Having a piece chosen for performance at the festival is a prestigious honor, celebrating the talent and dedication of our dancers while making the experience even more memorable.

“I was very excited and very grateful,” said “Blackjack” cast member Poe, a sophomore. “I was also nervous because performing at the National High School Dance Festival would be one of the biggest performances I had ever done. I was originally chosen as an understudy for ‘Blackjack’ last year, and once the seniors graduated, I would take one of their spots.”

The cast was elated to hear the dance had been selected after countless hours of perfecting the piece.

While the performance of “Blackjack” was one of the main highlights for the dancers, there were also individual recognitions for scholarships and college dance programs. Senior Tamera Jones was accepted into the dance programs of Point Park University, Temple University, Ohio University, and Jacksonville University, while senior Kendall White was accepted into the dance program of Radford University. Both dancers also received scholarship offers.

“My favorite part of the closing ceremony was being able to congratulate my friends who were recognized for their performances in the audition and classes,” said senior Laura Harris.

It will be two years until the next round of VPAA dancers attend the festival, but this year’s dancers will undoubtedly take their experiences in Pittsburgh and apply them to their lives.

Lily Check is a junior at Salem High School.