The Woodstock Sentinel Review reported on Elite's success at ShowStopper in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Local news
Elite earns a North American Championship
Posted By BRUCE URQUHART, SENTINEL-REVIEW
The roughly 1,500-kilometre journey from their Woodstock studio to the Myrtle Beach Convention Centre proved worthwhile for the young students of Woodstock's Elite
Dance Centre.
By the end of the Showstopper: American Dance Championships, one team from the studio had captured the championship while a second earned a top-10 finish and a spot in a "Web TV' broadcast. Considering that Elite's dancers were competing against 2,500 other entrants from 74 schools across North America at the early July finals, their accomplishments were considerable. "We're a small studio," said Tonya Leduc, who owns Elite with her husband Rob. "Our students held their own quite well, and it's nice to hear the comments coming back from the judge about strong technique."
The group that won the "double-platinum" championship was competing in the competitive eight-and-under small group category. The group's acrobatic dance routine, "Itsy Bitsy Spider," had the students dressed as arachnids and performing on a "large prop spider web."
"I liked doing the performance," 10-year-old dancer Emma Searles said. "When I perform, I'm happy."
The other high-scoring group was one of the top finishers in the eight-and-under large group competition. Performing a jazz routine called "Right Type of Mood," the Woodstock dancers also finished with a double-platinum score.
"It was a big deal for everybody," said Tonya Leduc, adding the competition's winning performances will be broadcast on ESPN in December. "They had a great time down there."
In total, the studio brought 23 students -- Searles, Lauren Barker, Lauren Burn, Makayla Braga, Savannah Blancher, Riley Carswell, Madeleine Carswell, Julia Copeland, Marlee Eddy, Allison Goodbun, Emma Hagen-Johnson, Bridget Heeman, Katie Heeman, Caitlin Humeston, Madi Langdon, Lauren McReynolds, Emily Porchak, Jillian Sommers, Jillian Utter, Emily Walker, Claire Worrall, Madisen Young and Kassidy Norris. Norris earned a gold medal in the jazz solo competition for her routine, "Dare to Dance."
For the the dancers from Elite earned their spots in the Myrtle Beach championship through their gold-standard performances at a regional qualifier.
"We had to do a regional competition in Battlefield, Mich.," Rob Leduc said, "and they had to place in their categories.
"We're very proud of their accomplishments."
Combined, the Leducs have been teaching dance for roughly three decades, and instruct their students in a number of disciplines, including ballet, tap, jazz, acrobatic, hip hop and ballroom. While both have education degrees -- and were once schoolteachers -- they have now turned their full attention to their dance studio, which is currently registering new students.
"We' re trained to teach everything (we offer), but we specialize in the classes we are strongest in," Tonya Leduc said, "and we have different specialties."
Article ID# 2682386
The roughly 1,500-kilometre journey from their Woodstock studio to the Myrtle Beach Convention Centre proved worthwhile for the young students of Woodstock's Elite
Dance Centre.
By the end of the Showstopper: American Dance Championships, one team from the studio had captured the championship while a second earned a top-10 finish and a spot in a "Web TV' broadcast. Considering that Elite's dancers were competing against 2,500 other entrants from 74 schools across North America at the early July finals, their accomplishments were considerable. "We're a small studio," said Tonya Leduc, who owns Elite with her husband Rob. "Our students held their own quite well, and it's nice to hear the comments coming back from the judge about strong technique."
The group that won the "double-platinum" championship was competing in the competitive eight-and-under small group category. The group's acrobatic dance routine, "Itsy Bitsy Spider," had the students dressed as arachnids and performing on a "large prop spider web."
"I liked doing the performance," 10-year-old dancer Emma Searles said. "When I perform, I'm happy."
The other high-scoring group was one of the top finishers in the eight-and-under large group competition. Performing a jazz routine called "Right Type of Mood," the Woodstock dancers also finished with a double-platinum score.
"It was a big deal for everybody," said Tonya Leduc, adding the competition's winning performances will be broadcast on ESPN in December. "They had a great time down there."
In total, the studio brought 23 students -- Searles, Lauren Barker, Lauren Burn, Makayla Braga, Savannah Blancher, Riley Carswell, Madeleine Carswell, Julia Copeland, Marlee Eddy, Allison Goodbun, Emma Hagen-Johnson, Bridget Heeman, Katie Heeman, Caitlin Humeston, Madi Langdon, Lauren McReynolds, Emily Porchak, Jillian Sommers, Jillian Utter, Emily Walker, Claire Worrall, Madisen Young and Kassidy Norris. Norris earned a gold medal in the jazz solo competition for her routine, "Dare to Dance."
For the the dancers from Elite earned their spots in the Myrtle Beach championship through their gold-standard performances at a regional qualifier.
"We had to do a regional competition in Battlefield, Mich.," Rob Leduc said, "and they had to place in their categories.
"We're very proud of their accomplishments."
Combined, the Leducs have been teaching dance for roughly three decades, and instruct their students in a number of disciplines, including ballet, tap, jazz, acrobatic, hip hop and ballroom. While both have education degrees -- and were once schoolteachers -- they have now turned their full attention to their dance studio, which is currently registering new students.
"We' re trained to teach everything (we offer), but we specialize in the classes we are strongest in," Tonya Leduc said, "and we have different specialties."
Article ID# 2682386
