This year’s Creative Dance Center’s Nutcracker performance, Penny took one of the lead roles as Rat Queen and brought her style, humor and presence to the role making her a crowd and show favorite!
Tagged: Creative Dance Center, dance, Nutcracker, Penny, Rat Queen
“He is the poster child of what we want for Collective, he is so good at it.” – Dejan Tubic
Dejan was the first DanceMakers faculty to notice Lucas. And he continued to notice him, year after year, calling him out, having him on stage and sponsoring his nomination to Collective. Relationships define life and work and this year as a member of Season XI of Collective Lucas had the opportunity to experience his extracurricular activity of dance in the real working world. He learned how to run backstage, the logistics of staging, coordinating dancers and supporting awards, assisting faculty ranging in styles and familiarity, learning their preferences on running the music and teaching, and being on all the time whether he was backstage, on stage, or in the elevator. He knew dancers of all ages were watching him because he had done the same. Collective from seasons past had hyped him, inspired him and been a role model. From the nervous youngest to the talented oldest, he offered support, laughed with them and celebrated for them. Every weekend he was deepening his relationships with the faculty and staff and building new ones with every dancer and studio owner he interacted with. And every weekend, in cities around the country, hearing the cheers from the crowd when he was introduced, his impact was felt.
Tagged: CDC, Creative Dance Center, dance, Dancemakers, Lucas, Nationals, Oliver, Penny
Creative Dance Center’s End of Season party theme was NYC. It’s always a great time to celebrate the successes and growth of the season, and this time we also celebrated Lucas’ last end of season party.
Tagged: CDC, Creative Dance Center, dance, Lucas, Oliver, Penny, senior year
He almost didn’t try out for the team his first year but a word of encouragement from a coach was the nudge he needed and although he was battling severe stage fright, as long as he took the stage with his team he’d be OK. He competed two hip hop routines that year. Then his second year he was placed in two hip hop routines, one jazz routine and one contemporary routine and was offered his first solo. He was equal parts excited and scared. After four team competitions, three extra conventions of classes, and placing in the top ten for his solo I’d say his growth this year is best measured in leaps.
Tagged: CDC, competition, Creative Dance Center, dance, Oliver
In 2018 Lucas competed for the first time at DanceMakers.
Tagged: Bethesda, CDC, Creative Dance Center, dance, Dancemakers, Lucas, Oliver, Penny
24Seven is our Convention team’s second convention of the season. In Pittsburgh, we compete against studios we don’t usually see in the DMV area. The talent was fierce and the environment new but our dancers still shined showcasing the musicality and storytelling that are strengths to our studio.
Tagged: 24Seven, CDC, convention, Creative Dance Center, dance, Lucas, Oliver, Penny, Pittsburgh
Creative Dance Center’s annual Nutcracker In a Shell The Remix is our community fundraising performance of the year. This year marks Creative Dance Center’s 26th annual performance, Oliver’s first, Penny’s fourth and Lucas’ last.
Tagged: Creative Dance Center, dance, Lucas, Nutcracker, Oliver, Penny
They did it! But wait, this journey for Lucas actually started seven years ago. DanceMakers was the first dance convention he attended when he joined Creative Dance Center’s competition team in 5th grade. It immediately made an impression on him. We’ve attended many dance conventions and the format is largely the same; high caliber faculty, classes in many styles of dance, competition against some of the best dance studios in the nation. What has stood DanceMakers apart from the rest is their vision; to make every person who walks through their doors feel welcomed, loved and supported. Those first few years Lucas stood out for his hip hop while he learned ballet, jazz, contemporary, tap, ballroom and musical theater. Then class by class, year by year, his confidence grew. His trust in the dance community grew. His belief in himself as more than a hip hop dancer grew. The community, the faculty and the Collective of DanceMakers played a big part in the safety of this growth. For the past seven years we’ve attended a DanceMakers regional event and for the past three years we’ve attended their Nationals. The mutual trust and respect between our studio and DanceMakers has grown tremendously in the past few years with our coaches and dancers all feeling a bit more at home, every year.
Tagged: convention, Creative Dance Center, dance, Dancemakers, Lucas, Myrtle Beach, Nationals, Oliver, Penny, South Carolina
Beyond the Stars was our studio’s last team competition of the season and the one event all three of my kids competed all their routines. The season is always busy but always seems too short. 
Tagged: Beyond the Stars, competition, Creative Dance Center, dance, Lucas, Oliver, Penny
DanceMakers always kicks off our competition season, the first convention for the team. This year it was also Oliver’s first convention. Each of my children came into this weekend with different levels of nerves and expectations, Oliver simply wanting to survive it, Penny wanting growth and Lucas hoping he and the team could achieve beyond last year.
Our Everyday 