Artistry dancers sparkle at American Dance Awards
The Dancers from Artistry in Motion, the in-house dance company of the Des Plaines Park District, competed at the American Dance Awards March 16-17 at Governor’s State University in University Park.
Ranked as one of the best dance competitions in the country, the American Dance Awards’ annual competition places emphasis on technique. This year, the 250 entries were comprised of dancers from 11 studios in Illinois and Indiana.
The Artistry dancers won two Ultimate Gold, 10 Gold, and 16 High Silver medals.
Ultimate Gold winners are Meghan Hanrahan for “Uprising,” a jazz solo, choreographed by Mary Williams; and “Machine,” a contemporary duo choreographed by Cecilia Ferguson-Bell for Hanrahan and Kim Diebold.
The Gold Award winners are:
Ÿ Hanrahan’s Modern solo, “Invisible,” (Cecilia Ferguson-Bell, choreographer) and Hip-Hop solo, “Hold Up Your Hand,” (Karlo Familara, choreographer);
Ÿ Diebold’s Contemporary solo, “Sigh No More,” (Ferguson-Bell, choreographer) and Lyrical solo, “Someone Like You,” (Williams, choreographer);
Ÿ Megan Swanson’s Lyrical solo, “Sort Of,” (Williams, choreographer);
Ÿ Hanrahan, Diebold and Suzanne Kukec’s Tap trio, “Fix You,” (Laura Chiuve, choreographer);
Ÿ “Drummer Boy,” a large group Tap piece, (Chiuve, choreographer);
“Cosmic Love,” a small group Contemporary piece (Williams, choreographer);
Ÿ Kayla Reeves, Greta Sorensen and Nataley Grimmer for their Tap trio, “Moses,” (Chiuve, choreographer);
Ÿ “Girls, Boys and Hip-Hop,” a small group Hip-Hop, (Williams choreographer).
On March 10, Artistry was one of 12 studios to compete at DanceAmerica Detroit. Two first-place awards were awarded to Meghan Hanrahan — for her Hip-Hop solo, “Hold Up Your Hand,” and for “Carmen,” a classical Pointe piece choreographed by Anne Gollenberg.
Jordin Suwalski also placed first with her Lyrical solo, “Blood Brothers,” choreographed by Williams. Her performance qualified her as a Dancer of the Year semifinalist in the Petite division.
Jackie Rentner and Kari Radke took third — Rentner for “Beautiful,” a Lyrical solo, choreographed by Gollenberg, and Radke for “Everybody Got Their Something,” a Tap solo choreographed by Chiuve. Radke’s performance qualified her as a Dancer of the Year semifinalist.
Suwalski, Radke, Hanrahan, Diebold, Swanson, Mathew Skorupski, Jenna Specchio and Erika Hahn will compete in the Dancer of the Year finals at Nationals this summer in Orlando, Fla.