Jackson Day “Inspire” dance team wins World Dance Championship
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jackson Day is a K – 12 charter school in the Charlotte community. One of the unique elements that it offers is a diverse and inclusive K-12 dance program. It is also home to an elite competitive dance team known as Inspire.
Boys and girls with strong academic, leadership, and dance abilities are eligible to audition for this award-winning team. The JDS Inspire Dancers are grouped by age and ability for their nearly year-long season. The dance teams make a powerful impact and receive rave reviews and awards everywhere they go! The team is coached by Lisa Lewis and Megan Zugelder-May.
This past spring the JDS Inspire Dancers competed and performed at various events in North and South Carolina. At every competition, the Jackson Day Inspire Dancers brought home the highest ratings, specialty judges awards, and first place finishes. They also received “Golden Ticket” invitations for all their routines to compete at the 2022 Star Dance Alliance World Dance Championship, which was held in late July in The Meadowlands, NJ!
On the first day of competition at the SDA World Championship, the youngest group of dancers (consisting of 10 rookies and 3 veteran dancers in 1st – 3rd grades) wowed the crowd and the judges with their fun, funky, and fierce hip hop dance titled, “Out of this World.” This group advanced to the Top 10 and later took home a spot in the Final Five!
The oldest group of phenomenal dancers competed in the largest category in the history of the SDA World Dance Championship. They performed two routines and advanced to the Final 5 with their jazz routine called “Lovin’ is Really My Game.” This earned them the “Excellence in Jazz” award, and an incredible 3rd place finish!
On July 26th, the team consisting of upper elementary and middle schoolers took the stage with two iconic dances: a beautiful lyrical piece called “WhoYou Are,” and an electric hip hop routine called, “Dynamic DNA”. Both performances were remarkable, powerful, and inspiring. The crowd and judges erupted with cheers and shared an outpouring of love and support for this team. The team knew that only one dance could advance in the competition and were extremely proud of both performances.
During the semi-final awards they were honored to find out that “Who You Are” would advance to the Final Five to compete for the title.
In that final competition, the JDS Inspire Dancers executed a performance of a lifetime and were crowned the 2022 World Dance Champions!
The team and their families celebrated with a trip to New York City to see the Broadway Musical, Lion King, and a sight-seeing dinner cruise on the Hudson RIver.
Congratulations to Jackson Day School and the Inspire Dancers for this amazing accomplishment and for representing their school and city with pride!
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