Dance Spirit

Ava Wagner’s dance career seems almost predestined. “My grandma was stretching my feet the minute I was born,” she says. Her family’s connection to dance spans generations: her great-grandmother, Shirley Larkin, founded Larkin Dance Studio in Minnesota, where Wagner trained until she was 18; her grandmother, Michele Larkin-Wagner, currently co-owns the studio.

Picture this: You’re in class, onstage, or even in the supermarket aisle, and you’re dancing your heart out. You push off for a pirouette, and, suddenly, you’ve entered a never-ending loop of perfect rotations. Unfortunately, this is just a dream. You wake up feeling excited but confused, and even a little frustrated. You could swear you remember what it felt like to execute all those turns—with perfect placement, no less. But in class, you just can’t do it.

Dearest readers, We want to know what’s on your mind! Introducing “Ask Dance Spirit,” a new bimonthly advice column where we answer your burning dance-related questions. Whether you’re wondering about technique, health and wellness, studio culture, or anything in between, we’ve got your back. Email your questions to askdancespirit@dancemedia.com for the chance to have them answered in an upcoming advice article! We can’t wait to hear from you.

When Chris Suchan aged out of the competition-dance scene after high school, he felt a bit lost. “There was no support system there,” he says. Eventually, he found work with cruise ships, jazz-based dance companies, and Broadway national tours.

Ten years ago, at the World Dance Pageant in Secaucus, NJ, an 8-year-old Adriana Ciociano sat down during a break and began talking to the girl sitting next to her, Delaney Theodoropoulos. Over the years, the two dancers continued to bump into each other at competitions and, as they got older, they grew closer. Today, they’re roommates and teammates on Rutgers University’s dance team.

There are dance competitions that put on a great show, and then there are the ones that leave dancers feeling like family. Spirit of Dance Awards (SDA) has spent years doing both. It’s a family-run event that prioritizes attention to detail at every competition and convention weekend. That commitment extends to its panel of judges and emcees, many of whom return season after season, enabling them to recognize and celebrate dancers’ growth over time.

American Ballet Theatre Studio Company dancer Audrey Tovar-Dunster performs with maturity and skill beyond her years, but not beyond her experiences. The 17-year-old, who began her training at the Philadelphia Ballet School at age 6, joined its trainee program at 12 and moved up to the second company by the time she was 14. A year later, she decided to continue to refine her technique at ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York City. She joined the Studio Company after one season.

The dance floor is seriously heating up! “Dancing with the Stars” will welcome a new pro for Season 35, and this time, a new reality TV show is following a group of dancers as they duke it out for the coveted spot. “Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro” premiered on July 13 on ABC. In it, 12 contestants are competing in a weeks-long audition process filled with challenges to test their technique, teaching skills, artistry, and—evidently—patience.

Navigating the dance space can be difficult for anyone, but doing it while having multiple disabilities—especially when you don’t know what they are—is a whole other ballpark. I’m Lucy Turner, a 24-year-old dance artist based in the UK, and up until my 20s I had no clue I was disabled. Don’t get me wrong—I knew something was different compared to other dancers. But without knowing what was different about me, I couldn’t find the tools to help me thrive.

Payton Johnson’s dancing is a tempest of opposites. In a solo in Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber’s Seven Scenes at Little Island in New York City last summer, she moved seamlessly between pinpoint precision and breathtaking abandon. Her performance was at once elemental, like she was animated by forces of nature, and undeniably human—a young woman moving on instinct, albeit with an enviable sense of musicality and a spellbinding presence.