By Mylena C. Ferman
This March, the Center For Dance Arts’ VIP Team gets to showcase their skills at the first mandatory competition of the season! Located in Brandon, the dance studio provides students with a safe place to grow as both dancers and people.
“I think it’s important that we teach them not just the importance of dance,” Christi Furgason, assistant director and studio manager of the Center For Dance Arts, said, “but how dance can shape you as a person in the outside world.”
The VIP Team is the Center For Dance Arts’ competitive dance team. Each season, the VIP Team learns new routines to compete against other studios. There are four regional competitions and a national competition, with various optional competitions that the dancers are not required to attend.
“We want to go for first [place], but it’s also about the experience,” Furgason said, “and making sure they grow not just in dance but also in life.”
Once a week, the VIP Team has a class focused on team building and social skills. Activities can include team scavenger hunts, where everyone must be included or risk losing all earned clues and restarting, or obstacle courses guided by a peer on the sidelines.
“Afterwards, we come together, and we’re like, ‘OK, so what worked and what didn’t?’” Furgason said.
Those who want a taste of the spotlight can join the Center For Dance Arts on Thursday, March 12, for a bingo night at Bullfrog Creek Brewing Co. The fundraiser is open to anyone looking to support the dancers. The doors open at 6:30 p.m., with bingo beginning at 7 p.m.
This season, the VIP Team boasts about 15 dancers, primarily between ages 9-14 years old.
While auditions for this season’s competition team have passed, auditions for next season’s VIP competition team are currently set for Friday, May 15. The audition schedule for ages 4-11 is 5:30-7 p.m., and those ages 12-18 audition from 7-8:30 p.m.
For more information about the Center for Dance Arts, please visit www.mycfda.com, call 813-657-1500, follow its social media pages on Instagram @cfdaofficial or Facebook at www.facebook.com/center4dancearts/.
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