Dance is an escape from the real world. It expresses all that I feel inside. To me, it is a connection between the dancers, the music, and the audience. I dance because I enjoy learning new things and seeing part of others come out through their movement or choreography. I love hard work and feeling it all pay off on stage. I want to continue with dance for as long as I can. I would love to continue performing in a company. Teaching is such an important way to pass on knowledge and passion to other dancers, and teaching would be a wonderful way for me to share what I have learned from many amazing choreographers and teachers. My other passions are makeup, cosmetology, and painting. I want my art to be eye-catching, colorful, strong, and versatile. I want to introduce art to people that are not normally exposed to it. I want to show people that art is for everyone and there is always something out there for you. I want people to be affected by wanting to learn more after they have seen what I do.
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Whitney Black started dancing at Clifton Dance Project in 2013. The teachers at Clifton were Keith Clifton, Linda Clifton, Autumn Clifton, and Stephanie Johnson. She danced there for about 7 years. She took summer intensives at Clifton Dance Project for 6 years with many different teachers such as Matthew Shaffer, Terry Lindholm, Brooke Paulsen, and Shelby Tagge. She has been in the Academy of Performing Arts (APA) program for 4 years. Freshman year, she was in Ballet Tech I with Marie Hoffman and AJ Dirickson, and Modern Tech I with Andrea Taylor. Sophomore year, she was in Modern Tech II and Modern Ensemble with Marie Hoffman and AJ Dirickson. Junior year, she was in Jazz Ensemble with Andrea Taylor, Modern Ensemble with Marie and Trevin Stephenson, and Ballet Tech II with Brande Dunn. Senior year, she is in Company and Modern Tech II with Marie Hoffman as her teacher. During this year she has had guest choreographer, Chris Smith, and guest teacher, Destany Churchwell. During her years in APA, she has been in faculty produced dance performances- Fusion 2019 and Synergy 2021. There were also many student choreographed shows such as Creative Forces and Trash Bag Fashion Show. She also participated in the APA Dance Intensive for 3 years. There she worked with Chris Smith, Jessie Knox, Boroka N., Alex R., and many more. She has done some DMI Conventions. At these conventions, she has taken classes with Kathryn McCormick and Erica Sobol. She also has had a master class and rehearsal with Fred Matthews and Gary Masters. Marissa Skates has choreographed for her in hip-hop. She has been dancing at Studio Fusion for over a year now. At Studio Fusion she was in Waltz of the Snowflakes and Waltz of the Flowers in Nutcracker 2019. At Studio Fusion she has been dancing with Nicole Hogg, Aaron Williams, and Brittany Barney. She did the Elevate Aerial summer intensive 2021 with Taylor Cases which introduced her more to aerial dance. She has now been doing Lyra at Elevate. In the future, she wants to continue Aerial arts as well as performing, learning, and hopefully teaching and choreographing.