LITTLE ROCK — Abbey Craig is 13, and David Wright is 12. While other youngsters their age are playing video games or texting, these friends are dancing. And they’ll compete Saturday in the Dance Coalition’s sixth annual “So You Think You Know How to Dance?” fundraiser.
David’s mom, Ki Yanna Wright, is their coach and director of dance at Infiniti Cheer Dance Tumble in Bentonville. She has students as young as 7 and as old as 18 who devote six hours a week to training in ballet, jazz, hip hop, lyrical and contemporary dance.
“They all have one long, four-hour day on Monday or Tuesday, with a different class every hour,” Wright explains.
“And then a two-hour rehearsal on Wednesday or Saturday.”
Her 70 competitive students should also be practicing four or five hours a week on their own, she adds, for their regional and national competitions. To compete, each dancer must have four entries, some solo, some with a partner.
About half her students want to dance professionally, Wright says.
“We took a group of five to New York last summer to study with the Joffrey Ballet,” she says. “This summer, we plan to take about 40 to the Broadway Dance Center.”
The hard work pays off, she adds.
“My son and another young man got full scholarships to Joffrey last year, and David was invited to move to New York.
We declined - this time.”
The Fox “So You Think You Can Dance” television show has been a “huge boost to the dance community,” inspiring a lot of youngsters to dance,Wright says.
“And I have a 3-year-old who is addicted to ‘Yo Gabba Gabba,’” she adds. “She’ll probably start competing soon;
most competitions have an under-5 division.”
Dance, however, is for all ages, says Jerry Kendrick, owner of Dance and Swing in Rogers and the lead judge for “So You Think You Know How to Dance?”
“I started doing ballroom dance at the University of Arkansas back in the disco era,” Kendrick says. “I took the final 19 times because the ladies got to choose their partner!”
“We get a wide variety (of students), anywhere from teenagers to people in their 70s,” says his wife, Leette, whom he met at a dance. “Men and women, doctors, lawyers and blue-collar, they’re all people who want to have fun.
It’s a social thing. It’s great exercise. And you don’t have to be a skinny, toothpick person to do it!”
“What I find most thrilling about teaching dance is watching people break out of their shell,” her husband goes on. “They gain a lot of selfconfidence.”
And that’s what Kendrick looks for when he’s judging a competition - “originality and confidence.”
“I also look for interpretation of the music, for something different, something that nobody else has done,” he says.
“And I kind of look at the music they have chosen. There are always a lot of things going on in this particular contest. There could be forms of dance I’m not well versed in. And that’s when I look to Jennifer Davis.”
Davis has danced with Oklahoma
Festival Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Western Arkansas Ballet and Victoria Ballet Theatre.
The two dancers will also be joined by Pharanda Cole, a local West African dancer, to complete the panel of judges.
“The audience can expect to see hip hop, ballet, jazz, modern, Hawaiian, tap, contemporary, ballroom and several other styles of dance competing,” says Erin Basnett of the Dance Coalition.
“Dancers will perform for our panel of judges while the audience watches. The judges will select three finalists from the junior and senior divisions, then a hat will be passed around for each finalist, and the audience will vote with dollars for the winner.
“There will be a winner from each division,” she concludes.
“However, all finalists win trophies, scholarships and bragging rights.”
The fundraiser also includes an appetizer hour and silent auction, and all proceeds go toward local dance education events and performances for the Northwest Arkansas community, Basnett says.
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FAQ
‘SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW HOW TO DANCE?’
WHEN - 7 p.m. Saturday (appetizer hour begins at 6 p.m.)
WHERE - Clarion Inn in Fayetteville
COST - $10 dance competition only; $25 for appetizer hour, silent auction & premium seating
INFO - www.dancecoalition.com
Whats Up, Pages 13 on 02/18/2011