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08/30/2021 12:00 AMIt wasn’t until 12:30 a.m. that the 12-14 novice tap team from All That Jazz Dance Studio got to perform its Footloose routine at the 2021 World Dance Championship. They performed it again at 1 a.m. When awards were announced at 1:30 a.m., the dancers on All That Jazz novice tap team left the stage with their heads held high and a brand-new trophy after placing second out of 30 teams in their division.
In order to qualify for the World Dance Championship, teams must earn golden tickets by placing in the top three at a Star Dance Alliance Regional meet. This year, All That Jazz performed at the Revolution Talent Competition and the Imagine Dance Challenge, winning golden tickets at both events by virtue of their performances.
The 12-14 tap dance teams from All That Jazz were split into two divisions—novice and intermediate. The members of the novice team include Leah Brustman, Shannon Glick, Sofia Manzo, Sasha Perkins, Mya Raucci, Leila Verzalla, and Danielle Vincent.
The intermediate team features Samantha Burzysnki, Caroline Chasse, Tessa Farah, Olivia Frank, Anika Jayanetti, Kendall Leonard, Lauren McCarthy, Grace Ricciardelli, Eva Riga, and Peyton Stegina. Both teams qualified for the World Dance Championship, where the intermediate team finished in seventh place in its division.
Elaine Orsini is the director of All That Jazz Dance Studio in Branford. Orsini works alongside her daughters Carissa and Oriana, who are the choreographers.
The routines that the All That Jazz tap teams performed at the World Dance Championship are the same routines from last year, but since the 2020 competitions were canceled due to COVID-19, they never got a chance to perform them. However, this year, Orsini and her students were able to break out their routines at the Star Dance Alliance Regional meets in order to earn their spot at the championship.
“It was very exciting for all of us. At one point, we had to close the studio. Competition season was coming, and we only practiced on Saturdays. We were so overwhelmed,” Orsini said. “This was a come around. We reused the numbers from a year before, because we never got to use them. We just kept practicing.”
This year’s World Dance Championship took place at the New Jersey Meadowlands during the last week of July. Some of the dancers from All That Jazz had previously competed at the event, but for others, this marked their first time under those the bright lights. Orsini said that everyone on both the intermediate and novice teams went into the event with wide eyes and realized just how far they had come.
“When they walked in the door, everyone had their eyes opened, all excited. Some had been there before, and some hadn’t,” said Orsini. “When they saw the setup and the lights, they were like, ‘Whoa, we’re here. We’re at Worlds. This is going to be fun.’ They were very excited. This is the real thing. This is big.”
This year, the All That Jazz novice tap team danced to Footloose, while the intermediate team performed to Dancin’ Fool by Barry Manilow. Orsini said that Dancin’ Fool is a song she had used before and that she loves the theatrics that accompany the performance. Once she introduced it to the team, everyone was on board and felt excited to perform it.
When it came to Footloose, Orsini wanted to paint a picture that few had seen on the World Dance Championship stage. Orsini used the number from the 1984 movie, instead of the Broadway musical. Orsini had her team perform in cowboy hats and boots in order to set a scene and express what the times were like in the film.
Many of the dancers had ever seen the movie Footloose. However, once Orsini told them about the premise that involves a small town attempting to ban dancing, all of the girls wanted to demonstrate how dancing is a necessity that should not be set aside.
“I love to choose fun and exciting songs. I like to choose things that they can feel when they’re dancing and have a good time,” Orsini said. “None of the younger ones have seen the movie Footloose. It’s a great piece of music. I used the old one from the movie. They loved the song. I told them the movie is about a town that banned dance. One of the girls said, ‘Well, if they banned dance, then we’re really going to dance.’”
The novice team performed its routine at the World Dance Championship on July 26, and the intermediate team performed on July 30. Orsini and her daughters were impressed with both performances and felt that everyone shined on the stage.
“I thought both teams did fabulous. They performed. They danced their hearts out. It wasn’t just dancing,” said Orsini. “Their faces showed that they loved what they do. It was very impressive. My daughters and I were in awe. They were giving a presentation.”
Following its first performance, All That Jazz’s novice tap team knew that it had finished in the top 10 of its division. After a second performance, everyone anxiously awaited to see where they had placed overall. When it was confirmed that the team had finished in second place, Orsini, her dancers, and their parents were overjoyed.
“There was screaming and yelling from myself and, of course, parents,” Orsini said. “We were happy just to be in the top five. They named the first, and we knew we were second. But at that point, we didn’t care. We were top five. It didn’t matter where we fell in. We were already excited.”
A few days later, the All That Jazz intermediate tap team competed at the World Dance Championship and finished in seventh place out of the 30 teams in its division for its performance of Dancin’ Fool. There was similar excitement when that placement was announced as the members of both teams got to enjoy the benefits of their effort after thriving at the highest level of competition.
“That was an intermediate category. There were tons of talent. It could have gone either way. We just didn’t know. They had the adrenaline. They wanted this,” said Orsini. “If you didn’t make the top 10, you didn’t know where you were. They went out there and danced their brains off. When they called the top 10, we were just stressing. When they called Dancin’ Fool, we were so happy.”
When her teams returned from the World Dance Championship, Orsini received a call from someone affiliated with Branford Youth Cheerleading, which was using the studio for a practice. Orsini was told that there was a package at their door.
When Orsini opened the package, she realized that it was from the Star Dance Alliance. Each year, the Star Dance Alliance power ranks each region based on its performances. All That Jazz performed in Region 9, which encompasses the Northeast.
Inside that package was a huge trophy and a banner that stated that the 12-14 novice tap team had finished first out of all the teams in Region 9 for its rendition of Footloose. Orsini said that was a wonderful honor on top of a great competition season and that she’s excited to hang another banner in the studio.
After missing out on competitions last year, Orsini’s dancers wanted to come back strong and prove that All That Jazz still had a strong program. That’s exactly what happened at the World Dance Championship, where All That Jazz displayed that with hard work and determination, you can dance your way to the top.
“Competition ended [last] March, and we never got our chance. It was over. When we were able to go back and continue to dance, we worked really hard,” Orsini said. “We had these routines. Let’s work as hard as we can, and let’s do this. Everybody was on board. They were so excited to get on a stage and perform. It ended up being one of the best years yet.”