In the cold and snow of the Feb. 27 to March 1 weekend, Oyster Bay’s Gone Dancing Competition Team braved the weather to launch their 2015 competition season at the Bravo! National Dance and Talent Competition. Held at East Islip High School, the event featured 12 dance companies from Long Island and upstate New York. Gone Dancing’s 36-member team performed jazz and lyrical solos, duets, a trio and multiple group performances.
Carrie Kirincic and Caitlin Malley, dance teachers and owners of Gone Dancing, started the performance team four years ago as a way to give their students the opportunity to increase their skills as dancers and performers. For the girls, the motivation to join the Competition Team comes from different places.
Original team member, 11-year-old Mary Vera of Oyster Bay, said, “I love dancing with my friends. And it’s really fun!”
New team member Paige Sweeney, 10, of Oyster Bay recalled, “Me and Gianna Murphy always danced in the recital and we wanted to be on a competition team. I saw the girls on Dance Moms dancing and wanted to do that, too.”
The popular television show Dance Moms informs many people’s perception of dance teams and dance competitions. And that means lots of drama and screaming fights between coaches and moms. While some of what is shown on reality television may happen in real life, it is the antithesis of the Gone Dancing experience.
“The most important thing that we want our dancers to walk away with from dancing competitively is a new-found confidence in themselves and their ability to perform for an audience,” said Kirincic. “Children are only children for so long. It is not our job to push them to grow up any faster than they already do by dressing them too maturely for their age.”
Parents support this approach, as evidenced by Gone Dancing’s annually increasing enrollment, and particularly by Kirincic and Malley’s stress on age-appropriate songs, dance moves and costumes.
As mom Luisa Giannuzzi said, “We love the costumes.”
All of the girls made their teachers proud. First to perform over the weekend were the teen soloists Lily Dickman, Kiley Latham and Molly McGee. They all achieved Elite High Gold. The competition judges rate each performance, and performers may receive a Gold, High Gold, Elite High Gold or Platinum rating. They may also be considered for additional awards. Dickman took first place and Latham second in their division. McGee took seventh place overall in her division, where she was one of the youngest performers.
In the Petite solo division, Jane Gurney earned Elite High Gold and first place for her jazz dance, “The Sound of Sunshine.”
“It was fun,” said Gurney, 8, of Oyster Bay. “And I got to do some breakdancing like Franklin [Chen] taught me.”
Emily Viesta, Liana Giannuzzi and Marisa Iemmetti earned Elite High Gold for their solos in the Junior division. Cailin Andrasick, Shannon Walsh and Grace Barrios earned the highest rating—Platinum—for their solos. Barrios took first place for “The Beautiful People,” in the overall awards for the division, followed by Walsh, Andrasick, Iemmetti and Giannuzzi.
Meghan Kelly performed the moving lyrical solo, “Didn’t She Know She Kissed a Hero,” bringing tears to the eyes of audience members. The beautiful performance interprets a song about the 9/11 tragedy by memorializing a pilot who lost his life that day. She earned Elite High Gold.
Alana Conroy and Cailin Andrasick earned first place for their jazz duet “Dracula” while Grace Barrios, Meghan Kelly, and Shannon Walsh earned a second place and the special judges’ award “Precious Potential” for “Another Cinderella Story.”
Team dances encourage cooperation and require precision. Earning Elite High Gold, the Mini-Team’s cheerleading-inspired number, “Be True To Your School,” featured a mash-up of the Beach Boys and Space Jam. The dance also earned the six 8-year-olds a fourth place in their division and the judges’ special award, “Blast From The Past.”
The Juniors 2—third- and fourth-graders—took second place for “I Will Survive.” Most of this team is new to competitions.
Achieving a first place and Elite High Gold for their jazz performance, “Sparking Diamonds,” the Junior 1s also received High Gold and a second place for their lyrical dance “The Living Proof.” The seniors received Elite High Gold for both of their dances, with their lyrical performance, “Nothing More” taking a first place and their jazz dance, “Keeps Getting Better” achieving second place.
The Gone Dancing Competition Team has two more competitions coming up this spring. Arianna Wulffen, 10, of Oyster Bay can’t wait.
“I was really nervous for the first competition, but now I’m really ready to do my best,” she said.
