MELBOURNE, Fla. — The music is cued, and the lights are dimmed. Ava is patiently waiting to start her team dance and the routine and counts are going through her head. She has worked hard – 5 days a week preparing for the competition. As the music begins, Ava’s confidence is high and she is ready to give it her all!

Ava Cangiano is 10 years old and a 5th grader at Florida Virtual School. Dancing since the age of 3 with friends, she hasn’t stopped! She has a love for dance as it makes her feel joy and passion for the sport.

Ava dances for Dance Mania All-Stars and performs in the areas of Jazz, Lyrical, Pom, and Ballet. Her favorite type of dance is Pom because it is challenging and high energy and the costumes are always a big hit! Ava trains 5 days a week and often over 40 hours a week to work towards her goals. She loves every minute of it as spending time with her coaches and friends makes her so happy and the team bonding is special to her.

This talented dancer has a lot of accolades. She has been selected for an elite level competition team, an advanced team in an older age group has won over 25 National Championship titles and six Summit National Championship titles with her teams. The Summit is the highest level of competition that a team can compete on with teams from around the world. Teams descend on Disney Wide World of Sports for this annual competition and the coveted title of the best in the world.

Due to the levels Ava competes on, she can travel to many places. So far, her list includes Las Vegas, Tennessee, Ohio, and Orlando. Her favorite place to compete to date was Tennessee as the girls were able to stay in cabins and she loved being with her friends. In addition to traveling to competitions, the dancers wear various costumes. Ava’s favorite so far was a Paula Abdul themed costume for the Youth Jazz Large and it was competed at several events but they took the first-place title at the Summit in Orlando with this costume and routine.

In addition to dancing locally at Dance Mania, Ava has also looked for additional opportunities to increase her skills. One of those is attending the Ohio State Dance Team Clinic. There she learned from the college dancers themselves and worked on technique and a short choreography. She also takes Stage 8 Master classes in which she learned skills in choreography and Improv. Lastly, she has also taken a Travis Lake Master Class, a well-known dancer in the industry.

Ava doesn’t just dance with her teams and go home; she is also an assistant for the McNuggets team at Dance Mania which is a dance team of toddlers. Her role is an assistant coach with the lead coach and she loves this because they are so fun to work with and she knows she will get to see them grow into great dancers!

Athletes have goals and work hard to get there. Ava set goals for herself this year and she says those are, “improve my flexibility, attend more clinics and workshops and dance with a lot of emotion!” Additionally, she knows she needs to continue to work hard as she would like to dance in college and her top choice right now is Ohio State. Ava is one of a kind with her dedication, kindness towards others, and determination to excel in dance. Outside of dancing, Ava says she loves to “go to the beach and boating and hang out with my cousins and friends. I also like to put on makeup, get my nails done, and do crafts.”

Ava and her mom, Nicole, say that Dance Mania has been so incredible for her in so many ways. “I have grown as a dancer and have also made long-lasting friendships. I have learned life-long lessons that are instilled into my life every day from my amazing coaches!” Ava has a bright future ahead of her in dance and whatever she chooses to do in this world and we look forward to following her as she reaches her dreams.

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