Huddled over a wooden aircraft that was built exclusively for their routine, the senior dance group members of World of Dance studio pose majestically as their instructor guides them to look softly into the air.
Every move the dancers make is with grace and poise. It is their discipline, both on the dance floor and off, that led to them being ranked among the top 50 dance studios in the country.
Danielle Cuzdey, owner of World of Dance, said there are six different teams of dancers at World of Dance, beginning at 18 months old and going all the way up to adulthood. The youngest team is predominantly made up of 3-year-olds, she said. In addition to the six teams, there are also two hip-hop teams that practice regularly.
The techniques taught in the studio range from ballet to tap and contemporary.
Last year, the Federation of Dance was formed and began judging competitions and assigning each number, or dance routine, a certain number of points. The points from the entire year of competitions are then added up. The studios with the highest number of points are then placed in the top 50 among other studios in the nation.
World of Dance placed 28th last year an announcement that was made in August. This August, the Federation of Dance will be announcing the winners in Las Vegas. Two individuals from World of Dance will be present when they announce the winners.
Cuzdey said she is hoping that this year, the studio will do even better, though she is happy that the studio has made it this far two years in a row. She also said that it’s great to be representing the Capital District in the top 50 after beating several other local studios.
Anybody who competes in the area can be involved in this,` she said.
In the competitions, some numbers are done in teams while other dancers perform solo. Aside from being placed in the top 50, the studio is also being recognized by Kids Artistic Review, a Web site that allows viewers to see different dance numbers and vote for the best on the site. One dance studio is chosen to represent each city, Cuzdey explained, so that the viewers technically vote on the city, with one winner coming out in the end.
World of Dance was chosen to represent two cities on that site, Cuzdey said: Albany and Springfield, Mass. The numbers, which qualified them to represent the two cities were `Slow Me Down` and `Leaving on a Jet Plane,` which is also the number that qualified them for the top 50.
`I think it’s awesome that we’re in the top 50,` said Skyler Bell, 15, a student at Bethlehem Central High School.
Bell said she was with the studio last year when it placed 28 in the country and was proud then, and is proud now of the hard work that she and her fellow dancers endured to achieve recognition. `Trying to get up there and trying to work our hardest,` was the hardest part of these competitions, she said.
`I’m still shocked that we got in there,` she said. `It shows our dance teachers really want us to work hard.`
Fifteen-year-old Lauren Stockli, of Columbia High School, said she was unable to be a part of many competitions last year because she had broken a toe, but that she is very happy to be a part of this year’s ranking.
`It’s very exciting that all the hard work has paid off,` she said.
She described her teachers as `very motivating,` and when asked where she thinks the studio will place in the top 50, she said, `We’re hoping for the best.`
This year, Stockli placed third in one of the competitions for her solo performance `By Now.`
World of Dance teaches dance year round, though a special summer camp program is about to begin in July. The camp sessions are the last two weeks in July or the last two weeks in August, and Cuzdey said the sessions combine arts and crafts and play time along with instructive dance.
At the end of the sessions, the dancers are asked to put on a show for their relatives and friends at the studio, located off of Central Avenue.
There is still room in the summer camp, Cuzdey said. For more information, call World of Dance at 210-7599 or e-mail Cuzdey at [email protected].
You can also visit the studio’s Web site at www.worldofdancealbany.com. For more information on the Federation of Dance, visit http://www.thedancersfederation.com.“