The Inaugural Dance Fuzion Dance Convention/Competition held at the Rising Star Sports Ranch on Sept. 20 and 21 was a huge success. With several teams of dancers joining the group, coordinator, Dina Martinez was thrilled and said in her social media post about the event, “It’s Legit! Our first weekend tour and we were blessed with 100 dancers. The Lord is amazing. We’ll be back May 30, 2020; Let’s bring the fever.”
The event, which took place over the course of two days, offered beginner, intermediate and advanced dance classes that included Hip-Hop, Jazz, Funk, Lyrical, Contemporary, Commercial/Film, Freestyling and more.
Professional dancers from Cirque Du Soleil, Disney Studios, So You Think You Can Dance, and Michael Jackson’s ONE show were on hand to give valuable instruction and life lessons to all who have a passion for the art.
Groups such as Mesquite’s Lifelong Dancers and Mesquite Toes Tap Teams came out in force and entire teams, or nearly all of them, joined the fun. Youth groups also attended the classes and were much more enthused by the Hip Hop, Funk and some of the more contemporary dances while the Older teams focused more on the Tap and Jazz.
Some of the participants said the best part about the weekend was you could participate in all or only the classes that appealed to them. There were a variety of classes offered to accommodate everybody’s interests.
Mesquite Toe dancer Marge Westwood joined Dance Fuzion and thought it was a wonderful experience. While she wasn’t as interested in taking the Hip Hop and Funk Classes, she enjoyed watching the others taking instruction just as much.
There were valuable lessons to learn even if you were just a spectator. She felt the entire weekend was well worth the dollars spent to join and those dollars were extremely reasonable. Westwood and other Mesquite Toes Tap Team members are looking forward to the next weekend adventure with Dance Fuzion.
At the end of the weekend filled with instruction was the time to put all those lessons to the test in a “Dance Fever Competition” that was held Saturday night. Some of the dancers were a bit tired and opted out of the competition, Westwood and Most of the Mesquite Toes included.
Mesquite Toe dancer Dana Stubbs did stay for the competition and won the “Teachers Choice Award for Hip Hop.”
The Lifelong Jazz Dancers from the Mesquite Recreation Center won two awards at the Fuzion Dance competition.
The Lifelong Dancers, as a team, received a trophy for “Achievement in Jazz” and Lifelong dancer Miriam Brandt received a certificate recognizing her “Achievement in Dance.”
Judges commended the Lifelong Jazz Dancers on their energy, enthusiasm, dance execution, and choreography. “We were very surprised. We were just having fun,” said Lifelong Dance Instructor Nancy Wincentsen.
