Dancers from Clarion studio win national title

The road to a national championship is filled with hours of practice, and that road started in Clarion.

Fifteen girls from the Dancers Studio in Clarion traveled the road to Atlanta and returned home with the 12-and-under Grand National Championship at the Dance Masters of America competition.

For the competition, the girls performed “HAIRSPRAY” – choreographed by Dancers Studio owner and director Amanda Jo Gallagher.

“The dedication these girls put into this is insane,” she said. “We are here Monday through Thursday. They have eight to 10 hours in the studio during those days on top of school. Sometimes, it is more because of competitions and rehearsals.

Gallagher said her competition team works year-round, and to qualify for the nationals the team had to go through Dance Masters of Pennsylvania.

“We took 38 routines with us, but the routine that won had all of the kids in it. That just made it better because everyone got to participate,” Gallagher said.

Everyone participated, including the parents.

“We had one family drive down in a big U-Haul because we can’t take all of our stuff on planes,” Gallagher said. “Each girl had between six and 15 costumes, because some of the girls were entered in more competitions than others.

“We were doing fundraisers all of the time for the past two years. Our parents deserve just as many kudos as the kids.”

In addition, she said, much support came from the community and businesses.

The girls, who range in age 9 to 18, were in competitions all summer.

“We added two shows, a holiday show and a gala in addition to the recital,” Gallagher said. “We have a competition team, and we travel almost once a month to a competition.”

Gallagher said she wants her students to be well-rounded.

“We teach the kids time management, because that is No. 1 with all of the activities they are in at school,” she said. “We also teach discipline, structure, respect and camaraderie. The majority is technique in the genre they are taking.

“We make sure they have their weekends off. We urge them to go to a football game or to go to church. We want the kids to enjoy their younger years.”

Gallagher, a 2004 Clarion University graduate who majored in speech communication with a minor in dance theater, spent every summer teaching dance.

“I enjoyed both teaching and performing,” she said. “As I get older, teaching is more my passion.”

And, Gallagher wants to ensure the performances are “clean” and “safe.”

“We are incorporating a safer dance community,” Gallagher said. “I just got certified in Youth Protection Advocate in Dance, which means using songs with clean lyrics and watching the costumes so that they are not too risqu.

“I want them to know this is a safe place. That makes me happy, too.”