Ciara's Solo - "Parting Gift" photo: Imajin Images

Looking back on your four years with In Motion and the Performance Dance Team, what would you say are the most important things you have gained both personally and as a dancer? How has this experience benefited you?

When I came to In Motion the summer before my freshman year I had no idea what I wanted to do with dance. I had taken some ballet classes before then so I figured I would just start and take ballet with Rosine Bena. Who, by the way, scared the bejeezes out of me! But she sure did make me improve fast! After half a year of just ballet, I started taking jazz with Jennifer August and I fell in love with it. I loved the free feeling of her jazz movement and couldn’t wait to try more styles. A year after that I started taking modern with Jen and lyrical with Jenny Buck. She had just started teaching at the studio and we clicked right away. Our style of dance and how we moved matched up eye to eye. Basically it was a match made in heaven! haha. Finally, I looked into joining the Competition/Performance Dance Team. When I joined that team 3 years ago, I was only thinking about meeting friends and having some fun competing, but by joining that team it forced me to improve faster than just taking leisurely classes. I didn’t improve just in technique but also in the emotional and physical aspect of dancing.