A National Finals to Remember

A National Finals to Remember

This year, Karen's School of Dance truly had a season they will never forget. To top off an extremely successful regional competition season, the dancers at KSD achieved more at their National Finals than ever before. Earlier this July, KSD competitive dancers traveled from Highland, Michigan to the beautiful Gulf Coast of Biloxi, Mississippi to compete in a National Competition held by Kid's Artistic Revue (also known as KAR). Dancers, teachers, and parents alike knew the girls had worked hard all year long, but the accomplishments they earned at Nationals this year were beyond everyone's expectations.
Following their annual recital in June, dancers who attended Nationals trained diligently for two weeks "boot camp style". Dancers doubled their regular weekly rehearsal hours in order to fine tune and perfect their routines in time for Nationals. Karen Kern and her teachers marveled at how hard these dancers worked throughout the entire two week rehearsal session. The girls maintained extremely positive attitudes, and seemed simply happy to be at the studio training to make their routines as impressive as possible. Everyone seemed to be on the same page, all striving for the same goal: to make it to the Star Showcase. The Star Showcase is held at the very end of National Finals, and allows all of the top scoring groups to compete one last time in order to decide who is the National Grand Champion in each level.
Make it to the Star Showcase they did. The dancers of KSD managed to place into the Showcase in all four levels, including Primary, Secondary, Intermediate, and Elite. Dancers earned their places in the Showcase after having placed in the Top 5 Overalls consistently throughout the week. The girls took home many awards and honors including First Overall High Point in multiple categories, Most Entertaining, Special Judges Awards, and more, however making it into the Showcase was the ultimate goal. After a day of tough competition and phenomenal performances, the girls held hands to await the judges' decision. Tears of joy were shed as they learned that they had earned the title of National Grand Champions in four of the eight possible categories. Some of the girls reminisced as they had won this title many years ago, however never have they taken home this many victories from one National Competition. This was truly one for the books.
On top of these outstanding achievements, KSD also earned several more accolades. Parker McCarron was crowned Miss Dance America, while many other talented KSD dancers proudly earned runner up title honors. KSD was also awarded Top Studio in three of the four levels, and was given the prize of a trip to Cancun, Mexico. Many soloists, duets, and trios represented KSD well, placing consistently throughout the Overalls. Finally, KSD won both Top Production and Top Superline, each containing 30 dancers or more. 

Karen and the rest of the teachers beamed with pride as they watched their students not only achieve victory, but also perform with dedication and heart. The future of Karen's School of Dance is looking bright, as dancers are already beginning to work for the upcoming year.