Lakeville Dancer Goes for 'America's Got Talent' Crown

Dario Mejia didn’t think much would come from a friend’s idea of electric body suits while attending college in New York. Tonight, that idea could garner Mejia’s Team iLuminate a $1 million prize and a headline show in Las Vegas on NBC’s ‘America’s Got Talent’ (AGT).

Mejia, who has taught dance at Premiere Dance Academy in Prior Lake for the last three years and attends church in Lakeville, said the journey from experimental street performer to national television has been a wild ride, and a long one. Lakeville Patch spoke with the performer Tuesday morning. Mejia and Team iLuminate will compete tonight as one of four finalists on the program which airs at 8 p.m. Viewers can vote for their favorites after the show. Winners will be announced during a 7 p.m. Wednesday telecast with the top act garnering the $1 million prize and a headline date in Las Vegas.

“The experience has been great,” said Mejia. “I’ve been able to learn the world of L.A. It’s been kind of a wild ride.”

Mejia’s ride began in tiny Rogers, Minnesota and on to Mahtomedi High School where he studied dance at Larkin Dance Studio and graduated with honors. His passion for dance and a National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts award propelled him to continue his education at Julliard School in Manhattan. It was while at Julliard the Mejia met Miral Kotb who was toying with the Team iLuminate concept while attending Columbia College.

“We had worked on a few dance projects together and she gave me a call a couple of years after school with the idea,” Mejia recalled. “We spent three full days building a wire suit and went out to Union Square to try them out.”

Team iLuminate combines computer-controlled technology and dance choreography for a unique visual experience. AGT judges Howie Mandel, Sharon Osborne and Piers Morgan have consistently lauded the originality and execution of the dance troop. But Mejia says the first experiment in Union Square with the lighting on the suits being controlled by iPhones didn’t exactly go as planned.

“That first suit was highly malfunctionable,” he laughed. “It was a discombobulated train wreck of wire and it would shock you.”

But Mejia and Kotb, who is also a software engineer, pushed on and refined the technology and were soon turning the heads of passing New Yorkers.

“The suit made me feel just a little more surreal while dancing,” said Mejia. “You have to have a passion for dance, but putting lights on your body heightens the experience. I remember feeling like Superman and that had never happened before. Usually it’s the street performers that are doing all the tricks that get the attention. Sometimes it’s the simplest illusions that are really key.”

That simple illusion has gained millions of fans who have voted Team iLuminate into the AGT finals and may propel them to the grand prize.

“It was a lot of fun just to start off with,” said Mejia. “I was just a young college kid trying to be innovative and have fun with life.”

Mejia is eager for tonight’s performance and eager to see his fiancé again as well. He is engaged to Caitlin Fitzpatrick, who is also an instructor at Premiere Dance Academy. The two met in 2006 and both attend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Lakeville.

“I really like the environment that Lakeville has,” says Mejia. “I really like the Lakeville area and teaching at Premiere is really a comfortable environment, too.”

Mejia says Fitzpatrick has been with him every step of the way on his journey, even if not always physically.

“She hasn’t been able to come out here to L.A.,” said Mejia. “We keep in contact via Skype and we even drew some old-fashioned letters and sent them in the mail. It was her (Fitzpatrick’s) birthday yesterday. I sent her two dozen roses just because it’s been such a long time.”

Mejia said he has only been able to come home for two or three days since going to L.A. for the AGT shows.

“It’s really been a full-time job,” he said.

Mejia couldn’t reveal details about the AGT performances or say what was planned for the finale, but in a statement sent out by Team iLuminate ahead of tonight’s performance, members said: “Are we nervous??? HECK YEAH! LOL! Even so, there is no time to dwell on nerves. We have to be ready by the moment we walk on that stage. We have made it this far but we want to go ALL THE WAY.”

‘America’s Got Talent’ airs tonight on NBC at 8 p.m. Viewer can call, text or go online to vote for their favorites for two hours after the show. Winners will be announced Wednesday during a 7 p.m. broadcast.