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JACKSONVILLE DANCE COMPANY MEMBERS COMPETE

IN THE 2009 – TALENT ON PARADE NATIONALS

Forty-one members of the Jacksonville Dance Company performed this weekend at the 2009 Talent on Parade National Competition held at the Branson Convention Center in Branson, Missouri.  The two-to-three-year-old Convention Center is connected to the large Hilton Hotel and is close to the “Branson Landing” and many of the other tourist attractions at Branson.  Our dancers were accompanied by parents and grandparents and friends, and all had a great time watching all the great performances.  We were also so proud of the great job of performing by the JDC dancers.  Instructors for the company dancers this past competitive season were Lois Bryan, Emily Neal, Sarah Rettstatt and Lindsey Sweet, and Laurel Spears is the Director of Dance.  Our congratulations go out to all of our dancers and our great staff.

The competition that began early Wednesday morning and ended late Sunday night (11:30 p.m.), was huge, with 1274 performances, including solos, duets and trios, small, large,  and line performances, with performers ranging in age from five to adult – (and we won’t venture to guess the ages of the adults, but not necessarily young!)   The twelve states of Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas were represented by 113 studios, including 28 studios from Arkansas. The competition was so large that for the first days, the performances were held on two different stages.

As in the Regional Talent on Parade Competition that was held at Robinson Auditorium in late April, the following also applied to the National Competition.

The competition, as other competitions, was broken down by average age, genre of dance, and number of dancers in the performance--Solo; Duet; Trio; Small Groups (four to nine performers); Large Group (ten to sixteen performers); Line (seventeen or more performers); and Production (17 or more performers).  Age breakdowns were ages five to six and seven to eight (Petite); nine to ten (Junior); eleven to twelve, (preteen); thirteen to fourteen (Junior Teen); fifteen to sixteen (Teen); seventeen to eighteen (Senior); nineteen plus (Collegiate) and Adult.

The Talent on Parade Competition was also divided between Novice performers, Intermediate performers and performers who have competed for more years and study for more hours per week, called competitive. 

Adjudicated awards were given to each performance by a panel of three to six judges.  The scoring of each performance was based on technique, style and execution, showmanship, costume, choreography, degree of difficulty, and age-appropriate performance, for a maximum of 100 points.  The Adjudicated awards, based on the point system were:  Third, Top Third, Second, Top Second, First, Top First, Elite Top First and unlike regional competitions, the Diamond Elite was awarded to those performances who scored 95 to 100 points.   Special Judges Awards were made for each award ceremony.  Also top choreography and some top costume awards were named for some performances.  Then, High Point Top Five or Top Ten awards were named for all genre of performances in the age range, which could include Novice, Intermediate or Competitive performances.  Ribbons, trophies and plaques were awarded to groups, and checks were awarded to the first-place performance for novice, intermediate, and experienced.  (That First Place High Score performance of all genre dances in the age group (in the Competitive Category) won a larger cash prize of $500.00)  Also Category Cup awards were given to the high-point performance in each genre. 

Top performances were selected for the all-important dance off.  The number of performances selected to dance again in the dance-off ranged from six or seven performances to as many as nine performances.  After these dance-offs, the final performances were selected for the Top Ten.  After those performances were named, the National Championship Performance was announced, and the winner won not only the prestige but a trophy almost as tall as the performers and a check for the studio in the amount of $1,000.00. 

Between Thursday morning and Sunday evening, the Jacksonville Dance Company performed four solos, a duet, a trio and eleven group performances.  We were so proud of all of the performances by the Company dancers.

The early morning performances were difficult because it was necessary to be at the competition at least an hour early, which meant arising at a very early hour of 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. – which was difficult after the late-night award ceremonies.  Also, some of us (staff) had to be there most of the day due to awards and dance-off performances being announced not only during the day, but the last one announced usually about ten o’clock in the evening.  Occasionally, however, we were able to slip out and shop a bit, or eat lunch, or enjoy the view at the “Branson Landing” area, which was within walking distance of the convention center.

The JDC solos began on Thursday with a tap solo to “Do It Well” by Kaitlin Soderlund in the age 13-14 Junior Teen division.  Kaitlin was awarded an Elite Top First and won the First Place of Five Top awards in the Intermediate junior teen division. 

Kaitlin

Bailey Jo Rhodes performed a tap solo to “Low” in the age 15-16 Teen division.  Bailey Jo was awarded a Top First and won Second Place in the Top Ten, Intermediate, age 15-16 division.

Bailey Jo

The third JDC tap solo was performed to “One Girl Revolution” by Jessica Holeman.  Jessica was awarded a Top First and won Third Place in the Top Ten, Intermediate, age 15-16 division.

Jessica

"We just competed and we are ready for fun now!"

About 7:00 Thursday evening, Alana Whatley performed a vigorous hip hop to “Bojangles” in the seventeen-eighteen senior division and won a First Place.

Alana

Early Friday, (at 8:16) the trio of Katy Gorden, Bailea Jones and Madi Spears performed a lyrical number to “Broken” for which they won a Top First and also won the Fourth Place in the Top Ten Intermediate, ages nine-ten Junior Division.  They were also awarded a Special Judges’ Award of “Dream Team.”

Bailea, Madi and Katy

Performance age of each group is determined by the average age of the performers within the dance.  Some of the dancers may be older than the age given to the performance and some may be younger. 

JDC began small group performances with the hiphop performance to “When I Grow Up” in the seven-eight Petite Division.  The dancers in this dance were Regan Campbell, Abbye Cody, Alex Pettus, Tegan Rea, Emily Snell, Mattie Taylor and Katie Turner.  The dancers were honored with a Top First Award and were also named as the Sixth in Top Ten, Intermediate, ages seven-eight Division.

Left to right - Emily, Mattie, Katy, Tegan, Alex, Abbye and Reagan

Performing lyrical to “Walk You Home” in the nine-ten junior division were Katy Gorden, Bailea Jones, Kendra Lytch and Madi Spears.  The dancers were awarded a Top First and won the Eighth Place in the Top Ten Intermediate, age nine-ten junior division.

Yes - we certainly should have gone to the opposite side of the courtyard.  Facing the glaring sun were Bailea, Katy, Kendra and Madi.

Jessica Holeman and Kassie Shepard danced their entertaining tap duet to “Moses Supposes” in the Character Division.  They were awarded a Top First and also won the First Place in the Top Five Intermediate, age fifteen-sixteen Duet-Trio performances.

Jessica and Kassie

Performing on Saturday at 8:20 am in the age eleven-twelve Junior, small group performance division, were Amber Bajorek, Kira Jinkins, Hannah Moler and Ryann Young.  The dancers performed tap to “Dr. Rhythm” and won a First Place.

Ryann and Hannah performed in "Dr. Rhythm" with Amber and Kira who had to make quick costume changes.  You can see Bass Pro Shop and the train cars in the background, which were part of the "Branson Landing" area.

Thanks, Lynn, for sending me the picture that you took of the girls before their performance.   Left to right are Kira, Ryann, Hannah and Amber.

Click below to see the other JDC performances at Talent on Parade National Competition

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TALENT ON PARADE NATIONAL DANCE - CANDID PHOTOS - PAGE FOUR