Young Dancer 'Daily Presence' in Westborough

Northborough Patch, a sister publication to Westborough Patch, selected a Northborough resident and "daily presence" at in Westborough as its Whiz Kid of the Week.

Whiz Kid: Sheanah McStay, 18

Whiz Kid’s School: Freshman, Bridgewater State University

Whiz Kid’s Accomplishment: A dancer for life.

Whiz Kid’s Key to Awesomeness: “Dance is my life, my therapy, my passion, my everything,” said McStay. “There is not one thing that I don’t like about dance.”

At two, dance instruction starts with tap and ballet and classes typically meet once a week. McStay remembers that once a week was just not enough. “I couldn’t wait for class to start and was so happy to turn 7 years old when I was able to take two classes.”

She has just about a daily presence at Rhythm Dance Company in Westborough. Nicole Newman Kelley, the owner of the dance studio, has inspired and taught McStay for years. McStay thinks of Kelley as a big sister, someone she can trust and has been by her side through some rough bumps in her life.

As McStay became more experienced, she added jazz dance, solos, duets and trios as part of her repertoire. One of her most favorite types of dance is contemporary dance, as she is able to portray an emotional element with her dance.

Most recently, she competed with a dance team in a national competition held at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and placed second. She also placed in the top 25 during try outs for the Boston Celtics Dancers, and although cut, was overjoyed at having had that experience. “It was a great opportunity and lots of fun.” Most dancers at age 18 don’t make it that far. She plans on trying out again next year.

McStay said she is ready to move onto the next chapter of her life and start college. She will be majoring in elementary education and hopes to be a Kindergarten teacher. In between dance steps, she has been nurturing that ambition by working with kids in the Tiny Tomahawks preschool program and working as a nanny all summer.

She credits those two things in helping her be certain of her choice of major. She loved being a part of and witness to the progress of a toddler in the preschool program that didn’t speak any English when he started the program, but had much improvement by the end of the semester.

She will be cheerleading for college football as well as participating on a dance team. Football could easily be another of her passions. She loves football and it is something that she and her Dad have enjoyed doing together for hours on a Sunday during football season.

Although dance has been a huge time commitment, McStay has no regrets. She has been able to meet others with the same commitment and those girls have become lifelong friends. As she embarks on her freshman year of college, she admitted that it will be difficult for her to go separate ways with these friends. “We will be close and always have our interest in dance in common and to share,” she said.