Creative Dance Center

Creative Dance Center
Origin	Chantilly, VA
Genres	Dance
Years active	1983 - Present
Website	[1]

Creative Dance Center is a dance studio located in Chantilly and Ashburn, Virginia in the United States. It was started in 1983 by Ramona Batchelder. The studio is becoming Northern Virginia's largest professional dance instruction facility. A second location was built in 2002 in Ashburn, Virginia. There are various performance opportunities at all levels. There is an annual recital for all dancers five and older, an award winning CDC Competition Team for ages 5–18, an All Stars Dance Team for teenagers, and a recently added Performing Troupe that performs at local community events. The current owner is Ramona Batchelder. The Chantilly Director is Ginny Frye, and the Ashburn Director is Margaret Otto.

Competition Team

The Competition Team known as CDC*CT competes at various regional and national dance competitions and participates in conventions and workshops. The team has won many top awards at Regional and National levels.^[1]

In 2007 at Dance USA's National Finals in Myrtle Beach, Creative Dance Center was the Teen Champion in the Showdown of the stars.^[2]

In 2009, CDC*CT was ranked the #1 competitive dance studio in the state of Virginia and the #20 studio in the nation by Dancer Magazine's first annual Year in Review for 2008.^[3]

The Creative Dance Center Competition Team (CDC*CT) consists of approximately 140 boys and girls ranging in age from 4 to 18. The dancers compete in Lyrical, Jazz, Tap, and Contemporary. Required classes for CDC*CT members are ballet, jazz. and lyrical; tap is optional.

The CDC*CT competes at various regional and national dance competitions and participates in conventions/workshops. The team has won numerous top awards at both the Regional and National levels. Youth dancers on the team have won dance training scholarships at conventions/workshops. CDC*CT teachers have won choreography awards.

Performing Troupe

Founded in 2008 at the Ashburn Creative Dance Center, CDC's Performing Troupe (CDC*PT) was designed as a dance training and performance program for dancers who enjoy performing for local audiences at a variety of public community events and for at such as outdoor community events, malls, and senior centers.

Although performance requests and opportunities may vary each year, the CDC*PT Staff of professional instructors and choreographers currently produce dances for approximately eight annual performances each season. Recent performance venues have included [Towne Center], [Keys Baseball] Games, YouthFest Brambleton, Grand Opening Ceremony of Bolen Park Leesburg, Brambleton Battle of the Bands, Leisure World Lansdowne, and Cascades Senior Center.

PT dancers attend class 5 hours per week in jazz, tap, lyrical and ballet but may also study other disciplines such as contemporary, hip hop, and musical theater seasonally. Dancers attend an annual week-long choreographic summer camp and the occasional extra rehearsal as needed to prepare prior to performance. Private instruction and choreography is available as well.

Annual group CDC*PT Auditions are held in June, but the studio welcomes year round auditioners by appointment. Both male and female dancers, age 7 and older with a minimum of three full years of dance training, are encouraged to audition.

All Stars

The CDC All Stars was created to give Middle School and High School students a chance to perform on a dance team style team.

Dancers ages 12-17 audition in June for the following dance year. The award winning All Stars compete precision based Jazz and Poms as well as Hip Hop. Routines are based on the UDA (Universal Dance Association) and NDA (National Dance Association) high school dance team style. It is the high energy entertaining style of dance seen during football and basketball half time shows.

The CDC All Stars practice two days per week, about four hours total, at the Chantilly studio. They perform in approximately three competitions per year as well as the spring recital.

CDC Stars

CDC Stars is a competitive dance program at Creative Dance Center offering classes and co-ed teams in jazz, hip hop, and pom.

Ashburn CDC Stars compete locally and nationally in the All Star circuit.

Annual Performances

Annual Winter Benefit

Each January since 2010, Creative Dance Center in conjunction with the Institute of Performing Arts for Youth presents a charity benefit performance to raise funds for local causes. Over 150 dancers from Creative Dance Center’s Award Winning Competition Team, Performing Troupe, and All Stars unite for one evening to perform, celebrate the causes, and give back. Past charitable recipients have included the Malone Foundation, Our Military Kids, and Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter (LAWS).

References

1. ^ "Creative Dance Center". http://www.cdcdance.com/. Retrieved 2009-02-10. 
2. ^ "Dance USA Champions". http://www.danceusadance.com/Champions2007MyrtleBeach.html/. Retrieved 2009-02-10. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Top 50 Most Competitive Studios in North America". http://danceruniverse.com/stories/issues/200902/top_50_most_competitive_studios_in_the_north_america/. Retrieved 2009-02-10. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Creative Dance Center
• Dancer Magazine's Year in Review