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Photo by Photo used with permission of Mia Witt

Mia Witt, junior, is seen here performing a piece at a dance competition. Witt first fell in love with dance when she was very young.

Practicing the same move over and over again until it’s ingrained in your muscle memory and you flow through the dance like second nature. That’s the reality of most dancers.

“When people first find out that I’m a dancer, they laugh and ask if that’s why my posture is so great, but really they usually always think it’s neat and want to know more because I feel like dance has grown so much into something everyone likes to watch now that World of Dance and So You Think You Can Dance are such popular TV shows,” Mia Witt, junior, said.

Witt has been dancing for 14 years, learning everything from contemporary to ballet and the activity has become second nature to her.

“I remember taking a ballet class with some girls who now go to the High School and thinking how fun it was that I could move and have fun every week with them,” Witt said. A little later I remember learning my first solo and taking the stage for the first time by myself. Imagine being so little and having three people judge you while dancing in front of a huge audience! It’s crazy to think I did that, but it all prepped me to get where I am today.”

Nithila Kannan, sophomore, relates to the exhilaration gained from dance and had been pursuing the activity for 10 years. Kannan learns Bharatanatyam, a classical south Indian dance.

“What I find most exhilarating… maybe how I get to learn new things all the time and can challenge myself,” Kannan said. “My dance idol is probably all my teachers, and actually one of my teachers has a genetic disorder and she is starting to go blind but even past that she teaches dance.”

Kannan has found a way to connect with their culture and hopes to continue her dance journey into college.

“I will definitely stick to dance in college also, I’ll find a group of Bharatanatyam dancers and will practice dance with them. Dancing is fun so whenever I feel stressed or need to relax I will dance it out,” Kannan said.