Tag: you-should-know

Olivia "Chachi" Gonzales

Olivia’s family nicknamed her “Chachi” when she was young. It’s short for “muchachita,” which means “little girl” in Spanish (she’s the youngest in her family). (Shauna Hundeby) Olivia “Chachi” Gonzales is the perfect mix of sweetness and spice. Whether her hip-hop moves are hard-hitting or smooth, you can tell the 16-year-old beauty isn’t trying to […]

Jayci Kalb

Jayci performing her solo at The 2011 Dance Awards in NYC. (courtesy The Dance Awards) At just 14 years old, Jayci Kalb is already living the competition dancer’s dream: She’s performed solos choreographed by convention kings Travis Wall and Nick Lazzarini, she regularly walks away from Nationals with a top title and she spends her […]

Kyle Hanagami

Photos by Michael Chevas for the book Your Shadow/Courtesy Jacob Jonas When Kyle Hanagami dances, it’s as if the music were specifically designed for him. Every sound is accentuated with a sharp elbow or a slow tilt of the head, with no nuance left untouched. The feeling of the song sets his choreographic style—hard-hitting and […]

Who's Who on the Comp Scene

Kali Grinder (PROPIX) KALI GRINDER Age: 18 Studio: The Dance Zone in Henderson, NV In a sea of contemporary soloists, playful musicality and controlled isolations set this long-legged beauty apart. Most recently, Kali was named New York City Dance Alliance’s National Senior Outstanding Dancer 2011 and West Coast Dance Explosion’s National Runner Up Elite Dancer. […]

Michaela DePrince

Michaela DePrince (Rosalie O’Connor) Ballerinas aren’t often described as powerful. Strong? Maybe. Dynamic? Sure. But when you watch 17-year-old Michaela DePrince, a student at The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, powerful is the first word that comes to mind. While her technique is elegant and fluid—particularly her expressive, eloquent port de bras—underneath […]

Alaman Diadhiou

This 11-year-old tapper was born for the spotlight. (by Marc Lecureuil) Give Alaman Diadhiou a seemingly impossible challenge and he’ll not only prove it’s possible, he’ll make it look simple. When Debbie Allen cast him in the title role of her show Twist: An American Musical in 2010, the then–9-year-old had never sung anything but […]

Sarah Pippin

Sarah performing her solo, “The Black Hawk Waltz,” at NYCDA Nationals. By ProPix. At last summer’s Dance Awards finale in NYC, superstars including Travis Wall, Nick Lazzarini, Bobby Newberry and Mandy Moore all tore up the dance floor—but it was pint-size Sarah Pippin, now 14, who earned the only standing ovation of the night. Her […]

Aran Bell

Aran Bell performing Don Quixote at Youth America Grand Prix. Photo by Nina Alovert, courtesy YAGP. It’s not just that Aran Bell can nail a picture-perfect quintuple pirouette, with a sustained relevé to finish. Or that the 13-year-old can whip out split jumps effortlessly at the end of an exhausting variation. Despite his small stature […]