Dance studios make a splash this summer

All About Dance dancers ran into the ocean off the Oregon coast in full costume after winning the grand championship trophy for their production “The Curse of the Black Pearl,” at the Spotlight Dance Cup in Seaside Ore.

The Spotlight Dance Cup took place in July, and All About Dance took its team of 29 students. Of nearly 1,000 entries, 32 of those entries were from All About Dance.

All About Dance took home four first place overall high scores, 16 in the top five highest scores, and 21 in the top 10 highest scores overall, in individual categories, and seven routines made it to the Diamond Class Extravaganza, which is the highest scoring routine competing with the best of the competition.

All About Dance Studio coach Sarah Palamar said the youngest competitors at the studio, Benny Palamar and Bella Calais, both 4, took first-place high score overall for their duet routine “Just the Way You Are” routine in the 8 and under division.

Eleanor Vogel, 7, took first place overall in the 8 and under solo petite division, Parker Roach, 15, took first place overall all in the novice solo division, and three elite senior dancers Gracie Guzman, Izzie Forzani, and Kylie Roach competed in their solos and won the Triple Crown Award, meaning their scores combined were the highest diamond adjudication of the competition for solos ages 15 and up.

Palamar said All About Dance also had the highest score for the open routine for the teen division, age 12-14, of the entire competition with “Human” which was nominated twice for the Industry Dance Awards in Los Angeles in October.

The dance studio’s other teen division received the top three highest overall score for their routine “E.T.” and won another nominee for “Best Jazz” in the Industry Dance Awards. Other awards were received in technical skill, “A Cut Above,” and two “Best Costuming” awards.

Palamar received four choreography awards for her routines “Fix You,” “Head Above Water,” “Running with Wolves,” and “The Lighthouse Keeper.”

“All About Dance is revolutionizing the performing arts world of dance,” said Palamar. “We have had professional educators of the arts expressing their expertise about our students with statements such as, ‘I have never seen anything on our stage from what you all bring to your production routines.’”

All About Dance not only offers dance, but the aerial arts, tumbling and acrobatics, and Palamar said the studio has volunteers and crew who help build props, and rig the lighting and production for stage performances when the studio travels.

Palamar said she believes it is important to expose students to various genres throughout the performing arts world.

“The more subjects you study, the greater your education will grow as an artist,” she said. “Ballet is the backbone of dance technique, while acrobatics will engage in your full body of strength and add beautiful technical elements to your performance.”

To top it off, Palamar said aerial arts is another element of the studio’s story.

“Not only do you see what is on the floor in the performing arts, but you see leaps, flips and our youth flying through the air with grace,” said Palamar. “All forms of art built into one beautiful picture.”

Visit https://allaboutdancenevada.com/ or call 775-782-3425 for more information. 

The Dance Workshop also had a successful summer in sending seven pre-professionals to prestigious ballet intensives across the country.

Jimmie Grant, 17, and Reese Christensen, 17, attended the Oklahoma City Ballet and Grant also attended Burklyn Ballet Theatre along with Xander Bacon, 17.  Landon Newell, 13, attended Louisville Ballet. Kinzie Stahl, 16, attended Colorado Ballet. Sofia Sanchez, 14, attended Boston Ballet, and Lily Johnson, 13, attended Joffrey Ballet RED in San Diego.

A summer ballet intensive is a training camp for aspiring ballet dancers where they are given the opportunity to grow as dancers.

Dance Workshop Co-owner Erica Adams said the pre-professional dancers attended the Regional Dance America National Festival in Florida in April where they performed to an audience of over 2,500.

Through the festival and audition videos, the students were offered the incentives.

Sanchez who attended Boston Ballet said she learned so much and is grateful for the opportunity.

“I had the most amazing time here and I learned so much,” she said. “I am so grateful to you (Erica) and Oliver for giving me the chance to even come here. I can’t wait to get home and share all about it with you.”

Adams and her husband, Oliver, became the owners of the Dance Workshop in 2018. Prior to that, they became the artistic directors of Pinkerton Ballet Theatre, now called Nevada Dance Company in 2021.

The nonprofit Nevada Dance Company has been a staple of performing arts in Western Nevada for more than 30 years. They are known for the seasonal classic the “Nutcracker.”

In taking over The Dance Workshop, the Adams’ motive was to start a pre-professional ballet company  to offer students an opportunity to receive professional training and performing opportunities in the area.

“Our whole goal moving here was to provide high quality classical ballet training and performance art,” said Adams. “It is so gratifying to see our students, who we have trained for six years, go off and pursue a dream that they never thought was possible. A dream that we had at their age and were able to follow.”

Adams grew up in the Carson Valley and left at a young age to pursue a professional dance company with the intent to return and open a studio of her own.

“I actually had to leave this area when I was 14 years old because the ballet training wouldn’t have taken me high enough and it was one of my goals to move back here and run a dance studio in the area,” she said. “I am proud that, between my husband and I, we are able to offer the high quality training in classical ballet, that I had to leave home to go find.”

Visit https://www.danceworkshoponline.com/ or call 775-782-8717 for more information.