Freshman Ella Young uses dance to express herself. She is involved in the Fine Arts Academy’s dance strand, Dance and Company, a program called Shenandoah Contemporary Dance Theater (SCDT) and the musical “Hairspray.” 

“[I was] in the ensemble for the musical Hairspray, we [practiced] everyday.  I [had] musical from about 2:35 [until] 5:30 [and] then dance right after that [until] about 9:15,” Young said.

Because of her busy schedule, Young doesn’t have much down time.

“A struggle [of mine] is that I am usually really tired and sore because I take classes [and had musical rehearsal] Monday through Friday from 2:35-9:15,” Young said. 

Being in the Fine Arts Academy  has helped Young because of the different people she has gotten to work with. 

“Dance at HHS has helped me grow as a dancer because I get to dance with different people who have different experience levels and know different types of dances,” Young said. 

Practicing skills and working together isn’t the only thing students like Young do in dance classes.

“We [also] learn about dance history which is very interesting,” Young said. 

Young is in multiple different classes for different styles of dancing. 

“I do ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, [and] modern. [My favorite is] jazz because it is more active,” Young said. “At Dance and Company I take 2 ballet classes, musical stage, tap, modern, hip hop, lyrical, jazz and improv.”

Along with the classes Young takes at Dance and Company she, also works with SCDT. 

“[At SCDT,] there is a junior and a senior company. I am a member of the senior company,” Young said. 

Through SCDT, Young gets to go on multiple trips with the other dancers. 

“On Fridays, we have a two hour rehearsal, and on some weekends we have a dance intensive where a guest artist comes in for usually two days to teach us a dance that we can perform. We also go on about two trips to places like Roanoke, Richmond, New York or Charlottesville to take classes, go to conventions or perform,” Young said. 

Normal classes at Dance and Company for Young involve a warm up, then stretching and a combination. 

“Now that it is the second semester, we spend most of the time learning or cleaning the dance. If it is ballet class, then we do bar for warm ups and stretches,” Young said. 

Along with dance, Young enjoys running, but the time and energy that dance requires makes it hard to find time for running.

“I’m not going to do outdoor track because I have dance. I really hope to improve in running,” Young said.