When DeStella Dance Centre owner Alexis DeSabatine is watching her students perform from backstage, she is a bundle of nerves.
“I literally hold my breath and tense up,” she said. “I’m so nervous but also so excited.”
On July 27, she had plenty to be excited about, watching from backstage as one of the DeStella dance teams earned a top spot at the Star Dance Alliance’s World Dance Championships in Secaucus, N.J.
One of DeStella’s dance teams earned a world championship in the 8-and-under large-group intermediate division with their routine, “Disco Fever.”
“It’s a medley of Earth Wind & Fire songs,” DeSabatine said. “It’s entertaining, it’s a real crowd-pleaser and the kids really enjoy it and give it their all for the whole five minutes.”
In each category, judges choose the five top-scoring teams to re-compete and narrow the field to three before choosing a division champion.
Faith Palmer, 11, of Penn Township, has been dancing since she was 3 years old and was part of the world championship team last week.
“We were all nervous, because we knew we’d be up against tough dancers,” Palmer said. “So we really had to step up our game.”
Palmer’s mother, Dana Fetter, said the World Dance Championships are unlike other competitions the team has attended.
“When we do local competitions, it’s people from here and maybe a couple nearby states,” Fetter said. “With this, it’s people from all around the world, and the girls had their best performance ever. I think they knew what they had to bring to the stage in order to compete with the talent they were up against.”
DeSabatine said she always runs through a range of emotions watching her dancers compete.
“It’s very stressful, but it’s also very overwhelming and exciting,” she said. “This is like the Super Bowl of dancing, and sitting there watching them win, I went insane. I cried. I jumped up. I was so excited.”
DeStella teams also went up against dancers in the competition’s intermediate small group and junior 9-11-year-old intermediate small group divisions.
“It’s just the best feeling to watch them go from learning the routine in August to where they’re at now,” DeSabatine said. “All of the kids danced amazing, and we’re just excited to be coming home and grateful for all the support from everyone in Export.”
For more, see StarDance Alliance.com or WorldDance Championship.com.
