Local Dancers Compete, Achieve Recognition in National Dance Competition

Submitted by Impact Dance Studio.

Sixty dancers from Impact Dance Studio’s Performance Company in La Grange and Countryside were very busy earlier this summer preparing for the West Coast Dance Explosion National Dance Competition which was held at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas this past July.

The dancers spent a full week competing against some of the best studios in the nation. They also participated in dance classes with master teachers. The Impact dancers received high scores in the entire competition, including numerous first place awards in their age divisions.

One highlight of the week was being awarded second place in the Dance Genre Challenge Cup.

Eleven of the nation’s top studios participated in this separate competition to be named the top studio. Each studio competed in multiple genres of dance: jazz, lyrical, tap, hip hop, ballet. All 11 studios in the competition were top studios in the nation. Receiving second place is a huge honor for Impact Dance Studio and its dancers.

Impact’s Mini & Junior performance company performed “Big Noise” which was choreographed by Logan Lipton. This dance received the highest score for a Junior performance and also won the PINNACLE CUP at the final gala, for the highest scoring performance of the entire national competition, scoring higher than 400+ dances from around the nation.

“The dancers worked so hard and the sense of accomplishment they received was astounding. There were tears of joy from the dancers, parents, and teachers alike. They worked as a team and won as a team!” noted Impact Dance Studio’s director, Diane Fotino.

Erin Wienke (Riverside) was named West Coast Dance Explosion’s Junior Elite Dancer of the Year Champion. Lauren Mochizuki (Western Springs) was among the top five National Senior Elite Dancers. Among the top 10 elite dancers in their age division were Maisy Dunne (La Grange) in the teen division, Lily Panos (Western Springs), Elise Allen (Western Springs) in the junior division and Sophie Daker (Burr Ridge) in the mini division.

Congratulations to all the Impact dancers, we are so proud of each and every one of you!