September 2014: Four GD&PAA Company dancers recently attended the Step Up 2 Dance competition; Alexandra Segar, Holly McGrath, Emma Blanchet, and McKenna Lerch. Alex and Holly performed a duet, “These Four Walls” which received 1st place in the lyrical category and 3rd Overall! Emma and McKenna also performed a duet to “Hanging Tree” receiving 2nd place in the contemporary category!

All four dancers performed a group dance to “Human”. This dance was extremely mature and the girls did a great job getting into their characters. The song talks about a person constantly being degraded and beaten down, so we thought it would be fitting to have all the dancers wear a sign with a harmful word they have been called. At the end of the song the singer says, “but I’m only human” so all of the girls ripped off their signs and threw them. The judges awarded them with 2nd place small contemporary group, along with a special judges award, the “expressive heart award” because their emotion told an inspiring and relevant story.

There were four solos competed: Emma performed her first solo to a number called, “Keep it Undercover” and received 2nd place in the Jr. Jazz category! Holly competed a lyrical piece to “lay me down” and was awarded 5th in the teen lyrical category along with 1st runner-up to Teen Miss Step Up 2 Dance! Alex competed two solos for her final senior year! She competed a jazz solo to “Crazy in Love” and got 2nd place in the teen jazz category! She also competed a contemporary solo to “Burnt Prairie” and received 1st place in the contemporary category and 10th Overall!