Ninety arts high schools from around the globe made their way to Pittsburgh to take part in the annual High School Dance Festival. Included in the group were 21 dancers from CREC’s Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts.
A number of recruiting colleges and summer programs were also in attendance and were holding auditions. Participants were limited to ten students for auditions.. The Academy auditioned three juniors and seven seniors. All of them received a total of 158 acceptances to college or professional dance programs. Many of the acceptances came from prestigious programs with very selective enrollment. Highlights include elite dance programs at Rutgers University, Boston Conservatory, James Madison, University of Minnesota, Goucher, Liverpool (England), Temple, Montclair, Texas Christian University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the Peabody Conservatory/Johns Hopkins just to name a few.
Other programs of note include Bates College Summer Dance Festival, New World School of the Arts/Miami, Studio School Los Angeles, and University of the Arts.
Senior, Sofi Andrews, received a scholarship and acceptance to American Dance Festival at Duke University, one of the most prestigious summer programs in the world , an honor reserved for college and professional dancers.
In addition to these acceptances, the Academy had two pieces accepted from the 234 submitted worldwide. One of those pieces was from alumnus Trezon Dancy whose piece “Unbreakable Light” was selected for the gala performance putting the Academy among the top 10% of the arts high schools in the country.
Academy student Geo Mantilla’s solo piece “Freedom” was selected for the Student Concert.
Academy teachers, Sonia Plumb and Kim Stroud conducted master classes.
Numerous college professors have expressed interested in visiting the Academy and teaching master classes in an effort to recruit our dancers! Including Rebecca Pappas, class of 1997, who is currently teaching in the dance department at Ball State University.