May 9, 2001
Award-winning ballet work
Company Dance Traverse named to state top ten
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Company Dance Traverse is bursting with news.
Once again named one of the top ten high school dance companies in Michigan, Company Dance Traverse will be performing this weekend at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. The dancers will be representing all of northern Michigan at this invitation-only event, the fourth year in a row the company has received this honor.
Winding up their year of competition and performances, which also featured seven gold medals at a January competition in Lansing, company director Betsy Carr was recently named Michigan Dance Teacher of the Year. Carr will be honored at the Festival, cheered on by her dancers and their families.
"I was surprised to be named, very honored," said Carr, co-owner of Dance Arts Academy for five years and a dance teacher for more than 24 years.
Carr proudly points to her company dancers as the key to this recognition. She knows they are 16 very dedicated and hardworking girls, who make social sacrifices to fit in all their class, practice and company time required to make the dance company succeed.
The dancers, however, point right back to her and the studio for their achievements.
"She was recognized as one teacher out of the whole state," said Cat Widdifield, a senior at Traverse City West High School. "If you love to dance, you need to be in the best place."
Many years of hard work and excellent training are paying off for Widdifield and the company's three other senior dancers who are graduating from high school this year. All will be going on to study dance in college next fall. Two will be studying at Western Michigan University, one at the University of Michigan and one at New York University. Two received substantial scholarships because of their talent, Carr noted, and Widdifield won one of 62 spots at New York University after competing against 1,000 other dancers in an international audition.
"I've never had all of the seniors in a company go on to study dance," Carr added. "These four are special, they have the ability and the talent and the drive. The younger kids are wondering what we are going to do without them."
The company's achievements are supported locally by sharing their love of dance with area schools. For the past 11 years, the company has traveled to schools throughout the region and performed for more than 50,000 children. This year their demanding performance and competition schedule allowed them to visit just four schools, but their enthusiasm and teamwork never flagged.
"This type of performing is our favorite type," said Shannon Keane, a senior at St. Francis High School. "The more performing you do it gets easier and easier."
After performing 'ABCs: Dance as a Second Language' at Blair Elementary School Friday morning, company members introduced themselves to the audience and opened the floor up for questions. A forest of hands waved in the air as students asked everything from did they ever fall down to whether it was hard to dance on toes to how do they change costumes so fast.
"This is such a good performance experience for the kids because they are not competing," Carr noted. "They just do it themselves, it is their show and I just watch them. It is a great way to get the word out about dance."
Sometimes the tours fish out future dancers. This was the case for Cara Steen, a senior at Traverse City Central High School and a member of Company Dance Traverse. She watched the company perform when she was an elementary school student at the Interlochen Pathfinder School and was captivated by what she saw.
"I signed up for hip-hop classes and loved it," Steen said.