Get to know Milton area youth ballroom dancers, the Palmers
MILTON, Ga. — In music theory a triplet is a group of three notes played inside another note-length and understanding how triplets work is key. We are featuring three very talented young men who truly enjoy music and dancing. Connor, Jordan and Mason Palmer are triplets! We are featuring them as our very special and unique athletes of the month. They are elite ballroom dancers and a triple threat when on the dance floor! These young men are making headlines in the dancing world, and they do not skip a beat!
They have been dancing and competing since they were only seven years old. The triplets dance three categories; Latin, Standard and 10 Dance. Currently, they train at Volga Dance Academy in Atlanta and are part of USA Dance and World Dance Sport Federation. Their training is rigorous and highly demanding. They train six and sometimes seven days out of the week. Each of the triplets are determined to win a world championship and with this level of commitment these fine gentlemen are well on their way! Their demanding schedules do not leave much time for traditional schooling. Their Mother, Leslie Palmer, made the decision to switch them to Georgia Connections Academy. “That way we can participate in school from anywhere in the world and continue to progress with Ballroom Dancing,” she says.
At merely 13 years young they are making bold moves in the dancing world! Jordan and his partner (Finley Severance) are six times USA Dance National Champions. Connor and his partner (Veronika Rozenberg) have won Nationals twice. Mason and his partner (Sasha Pompham) have competed in the Nationals three times and won. At USA Dance National Championships in March of 2022, Jordan and his partner qualified to be one of two couples to represent the USA at the Junior 2 World Championships for all three categories (Latin, Standard, and 10 Dance). The Latin World Championships were held in Germany in June of 2022. They are aggressively training for the 10 Dance World Championships which are being held in Portugal. The Standard World Championships are scheduled in Bulgaria in November and December at the end of this year. “We are excited for 2023 when all three couples will be competing against each other at the USA Dance Nationals and will all be eligible to qualify for the World Championships,” says Leslie.
The triplets may be intuitively wired to read each other’s minds and enjoy participating in the same sport, but at the end of the day they are very different. Leslie describes the personality of each of her sons. She describes Connor as the easy going and laid back one. Leslie says he has a great sense of humor and enjoys making everyone laugh. Mason is usually a little less rowdy than his brothers. He is very fun, smart, dependable, and mature, but also enjoys hanging out with his friends like most teenage boys. Jordan is the life of the party but knows when it is time for business because he always brings his “A game!” The three of them enjoy traveling. Fortunately for them that is one of the many advantages of competing and dancing globally. “We love getting to travel all over the world to train and compete. We love the exposure to new places and cultures and the amazing people that we get to meet while doing it.”
The triplets follow a pre-game ritual. They listen to songs to help get them pumped up and ready before a competition. “It depends on the event and whether we are getting ready for Latin or Standard, but some of our favorites songs are FaceOff (for Latin dance) and Fly Me To the Moon (Frank Sinatra version, for Standard dance).” These highly talented triplets are competing amongst the top dancers in the world. But sometimes even the best dancers make a mistake and recover. “During a competition one of our partners slipped on a slick spot onto the floor. She fell to the floor and pulled me down on top of her. I popped right back up, pulled her up, and we kept on dancing (without skipping a beat). At other times, especially when we have just gotten new choreography, either our partner and/or ourselves will forget part of the steps in the middle of a competition. As the male in the partnership, you are the leader and have to keep going. You have to figure out how to lead your partner into the next portion of the dance and not just stand there in the middle of the floor paralyzed and looking at the judges.”
Connor, Jordan and Mason are working hard towards their goals. They have a bright future on and off the dance floor. Their mottos are: “There are always walls in your career, but you can break through them” says Mason. Connor says, “Practice how you would like to perform, so always give 100%”. Lastly, Jordan believes, “There may be people that have more talent than me, but there shouldn’t be anyone working harder than me”. Their determination is certainly inspiring! One important piece of advice that they were given and would like to share with others looking to get into ballroom dancing is “To always continue to improve and push yourself. Also, it is a partnership sport, and you have to respect your partner and have great communication with them.” Learning how to properly communicate with your partner and have smooth dance moves means these gentlemen are already ahead of the curve! We look forward to hearing more about the Triple Threat’s success in the future!
This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.
