Giving dance a whirl at the young age of two, seventh-grader Juliana Silver has developed a passion for dance. She now trains in ballet, tap, lyrical, jazz, musical theater and hip hop as a member of the Mysticals Dance Company in Sarasota.
Silver spends an abundance of time in the dance studio each day. Practices take place four days a week from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with a one hour break in between to complete homework. “It can be pretty hard sometimes managing school and dance. It really just depends on how much work I have and how productive I can be,” Silver said.
All of her hard work at practices came to light when her team was invited to dance at the World Class Dance Nationals in Mystic, CT. Silver’s team qualified for nationals with their high scoring tap group dance. According to Silver, this came as a surprise to her as only five groups are chosen to compete at nationals, however, her team was unable to attend.
“Juliana is very compassionate and dedicated to dance. I can tell she is a hard worker and manages her time well,” seventh-grader and Silver’s friend, Maya Velazquez said.
According to Silver, the most rewarding part of dance is being able to meet new people at dance competitions. She is additionally given the opportunity to learn new skills at dance practices and rehearsals, especially from her teacher Nicole Calabrese-Savage. Calabrese-Savage is one of her biggest inspirations because of her long dedication to the art and her success. “Ms. Nicole encouraged me to start dancing because of how great she is,” Silver said.
“Here at Mystical’s Dance Company, we are so pleased with Juliana and her determination to do more, want more and always strive to become an even better dancer and person every time we see her. We love her and we are so thankful to have her as part of our dance family,” Calabrese-Savage said. Silver plans on continuing dance throughout middle and high school, and aims to pursue dance for a career as a performer on cruise ships. “I would be able to go traveling all around the world and doing my favorite thing as a career,” Silver said.