Our DSD Competition Team danced their hearts out for the 2025 season, which culminated with Nationals in Supply, N.C. with Dance Machine ANDC the week of June 18-22. We had some fun in the sun at this beach location, along with lots of great dancing! Leading up to Nationals, the team competed in three Regional competitions, at which there were many awards, special moments, smiles and hugs. If you want all the details about the accolades earned by our soloists, duets, trios and group dances during the season, please read on (it’s a long list we are proud to say!). But first, we would like to acknowledge our amazing sponsors for helping us give these talented dancers a chance to shine like the stars they are! We hope all DSD fans will show their gratitude by patronizing these sponsors:

Diamond Sponsors:
360 Hardware Rental & Feed
April's Place King William
Dixon's Automotive Repair
Dream Loxx Studio
Friendly Care Day School
Fun Farm Child Development Center
James River Equipment
Julie Whitaker Insurance Agency, Inc. - Mechanicsville Turnpike
KWC Mechanical
Rainbow Acres Campground
Shawn Cameron Transport LLC
Willow Stitch, LLC
Webber Farm, LLC

Platinum Sponsors:
Bella Pizza of Tappahannock
Raise the Barré Photography
Sandlin Plumbing
Sickal’s Logging
The She Shed
The Shed Man, Inc.

Gold Sponsors:
Becky Koon
Clyde Glazebrook
Don Pedro Mexican Restaurant
King William Florist
Pearls and Chicks Boutique
Roma Ristorante Italiano- King William
(Plus, extra love to our Anonymous donors…you know who you are!)

Details from individual competitions:

Nationals (Dance Machine): We competed against 40 studios from 14 different states and received multiple top overall scores, choreography awards, crowd pleaser awards, beast awards, high voltage awards and special Bravo awards given by the judges. Over 900 entries were presented to the judges and our dancers left everything on that stage to make an impression. We are so proud of them, not only for what they bring to the stage, but also for the kindness and support they extend to each other backstage and behind the scenes. Here are the details from almost a week of dancing:
*Rachel Peck received a Power Platinum. Rachel placed 7th in her category.
* Eden Atkins received a Power Platinum Award. She placed 14th in her category. Eden also received a Judges Beast Award. This is an award given immediately at the end of the dance because the judges saw something amazing on stage that they wanted to acknowledge immediately. An amazing start to our week
*Arabian Nights: Eden Atkins, Devon Nunnally, Lily Reed received a Platinum and placed 2nd in their category.
*Flowers: Rylee Hogge and Tori Glazebrook received a Power Platinum and placed 9th in their category.
*Tolie Smith: received a Power Platinum placed 25th in her category and also received a Judges Bravo Award
*Grace Tidd: received a Power Platinum and placed 24th in her category
*Chelsea Shiflett: received a Platinum Award.
*Charli Madren: received 2 Power Platinums for her 2 solos. She also placed 23rd and 20th in her category. She also received a Bravo award for her tap dance.
*Rylee Hogge: received a Power Diamond and placed 8th in her category. She also received a Beast Award and received a full scholarship to a new event at Dance Machine called Kinetic.
*Sweet Dreams: Anna Baker, Evelyn Mills and Rylee Hogge received a Power Platinum and placed 7th in their category. That dance also received a Judges Bravo Award
*Start Your Engines: Anna Baker and Ella Lipscomb received Platinum Award.
*Tori Glazebrook: received a Platinum Award
*Georgia Balsinger: received a Power Platinum Award
*Morgan Ammons: competed with two solos. She received a Power Platinum and Platinum Award
*Alyssa Bonifacio: received a Power Platinum and placed 15th in her category
*Anna Baker: received a Power Award and also received a Judges Bravo Award
*Evelyn Mills: received a Platinum Award
*Eva McConville: received a Platinum Award and a Judges Bravo Award.
*Samantha Madren: received two Platinum Awards for her two solos
*Applause (Jr Jazz choreographed by Emma Toney) received a Power Platinum Award and a High Voltage Award. It also placed 5th in its category
*Devon Nunnally and Hannah Walker received Power Platinum in the Photogenic Competition for their age group
*Takin’ It Back Old School (Teen hip hop choreographed by Jackie Lane) received a Power Platinum. It also received a High Voltage Award and placed 8th in its category
*Renaissance Tour (Super group Teen Jazz choreographed by Samantha Cox) received a Power Platinum Award. It also placed 2nd in its category and received a Crowd Pleaser Award.
*Virginia Nunnally received a Power Platinum Award in the Photogenic Competition
*Chelsea Shiflett received a Power Diamond in the Photogenic Competition and also placed as a National Finalist for both her photos.
*Let’s Get Groovy (Senior Tap choreographed by Samantha Cox) received a Power Platinum Award and placed 8th in its category.
*Boat (Senior Contemporary choreographed by Ashley Simons) received a Power Platinum Award, placed 7th in its category and also received a Judges Bravo Award.
*Maddie Walker: received a Power Platinum in the Photogenic Competition
*Our parents also competed in a competition that involved fun activities, dance and music trivia. Thank you to Mary Atkins, Melissa McConville, Renee Mills, Penny Walker, Lauren Modlin, Heather Baker, and Ashley Gault for making us laugh and feel proud
Regional Competitions:

Dance Machine Regionals (Greensboro, N.C.): We had a great weekend in a beautiful venue and our girls danced their hearts out and made us very proud. There were 17 Studios represented and 629 entries.
Junior Recreational category
*Arabian Nights (Eden, Lily and Devon) received a Platinum, placed 4th overall and won a Bravo Award
*Rachel received a platinum, placed 5th overall and was awarded a Bravo Award
Junior Intermediate category
*Eden received a Power Platinum and was also awarded a Bravo award.
Teen Intermediate category
*Tolie received a Power Platinum, placed 8th overall and was awarded a Bravo Award
*Chelsea received a Platinum and Power Platinum for Photogenic competition
*Grace received a Platinum
Teen Advanced Category
* Charli received a Power Platinum for both her tap and lyrical entries. She placed 11 overall for her lyrical performance
* Rylee received a Power Diamond and placed 4th overall. She also received a High Voltage award. She was a Teen Soloist Finalist and was awarded Miss Teen Dance. She also received a Power Platinum in Photogenic Competition
Junior Recreational Large Group Category
* Applause received a Platinum, placed 1st Overall and was awarded a Bravo Award
Teen Duo/Trio Intermediate
* Flowers (Rylee and Tori) received a Power Platinum, 5th Overall and received a Bravo Award
Senior Duo/Trio Intermediate
*Be Alright (Evelyn and Georgia) received a Platinum
* Start Your Engines (Anna and Ella) received a Platinum
* Sweet Dreams (Anna, Evelyn and Rylee) received. Power Platinum and placed 4th Overall.
Senior 1 Intermediate
* Georgia received a Platinum
* Ella received a Platinum
* Tori received Elite Gold
* Morgan received a Platinum for both her jazz and contemporary entries
* Evelyn received a Platinum
* Aly received a Power Platinum, she placed 12th Overall, and was also a Regional Title Finalist
* Anna received a Platinum and was awarded a Bravo Award
* Eva received a Platinum
Teen Intermediate Large Group
* Kickin It Old School received a Power Platinum, placed 3rd Overall and received a Bravo Award
Teen Intermediate Super Group
* The Renaissance Tour received a Power Platinum and placed 1st Overall
Senior Intermediate Large Group
* Let’s Get Groovy received a Power Platinum and placed 10th Overall
* Boat received Power Platinum and placed 5th Overall
Senior 2 Intermediate
* Samantha received a Platinum for both her jazz and lyrical entries. She also received a Bravo Award for her Lyrical routine.

Ignite Regionals (Richmond, VA): Our girls danced beautifully, leaving everything on that stage. They were supportive, encouraging, kind and generous. They made friends with students from other studios and cheered on those other students and their studios. There was lots of love and laughter!
Junior Recreational:
Open:
Rachel, High Gold, 1st in category and 9th Overall
Jazz:
Lilly, High Gold, 3rd in category, and 4th Overall. She also received a Firecracker award, given to a dancer who was inspiring to one of the competition’s youth ambassadors.
Junior Competitive:
Modern:
Eden, Platinum, 1st in category and placed 8th Overall.
Junior Recreational:
Jazz:
Arabian Nights Trio, (Eden, Lilly and Devon) High Gold, placed 4th in category and placed 5th Overall
Lilly Reed received a scholarship award for her work in convention class.
Junior Large Group Recreational:
Jazz:
Applause, Platinum, 1st in category and 1st overall. Firecracker award received for entire dance
Teen Large Group Competitive:
Tap.
Let’s Get Groovy, High Gold, 1st in category, 10th Overall
Contemporary:
Boat, Platinum, 3rd in Category, 5th Overall, Charli Madren received Firecracker award
Hip Hop:
Taking It Back Old School, Platinum, 1st in category, 9th Overall
Teen Supergroup:
Jazz:
The Renaissance Tour, High Gold, 1st in category and 1st Overall
Duo/ Trio Teen Competitive:
Contemporary:
Be Alright, (Evelyn and Georgia) Platinum, 4th in category, 9th Overall
Sweet Dreams, Jazz, (Anna, Evelyn, Rylee) High Platinum. 1st in category and 2nd Overall, Awarded a judges’ award for Explosive Jumps
Duo/ Trio Teen Elite:
Contemporary:
Flowers, (Rylee and Tori) High Gold, 6th in category
Duo/ Trio Senior Competitive:
Hip Hop:
Start Your Engines, (Anna and Ella) High Gold, 1st in category, 6th Overall
Solo Teen Competitive:
Contemporary:
Tolie, Platinum, 8th in category
Hip Hop:
Chelsea, Gold, 1st in category
Lyrical:
Grace, High Gold, 7th in category
Aly, High Platinum, 2nd in category, 6th Overall, received Firecracker award
Tori, High Gold, 8th in category
Georgia, Platinum, 5th in category
Solo Elite Teen:
Tap:
Charli, High Platinum, 2nd in category
Contemporary:
Rylee, High Platinum, 3rd in category, 7th Overall and received Artist on Fire Award which is an invitation to perform in Opening Number for Ignite Nationals and Scholarship for Ignite Fall Convention
Lyrical:
Charli, Platinum, 3rd in category
Competitive Senior:
Contemporary:
Morgan, High Gold, 3rd in category
Anna, High Gold, 4th in category
Lyrical:
Eva, Platinum, 3rd in category, 8th Overall and received Firecracker Award
Evelyn, Platinum, 2nd in category, 7th Overall
Samantha, High Gold, 4th in category
Jazz:
Morgan, Platinum, 5th in category, 10th Overall
Samantha, High Gold, 7th in category
Hip Hop:
Ella Gold, 2nd in category
We had young ladies step out of their comfort zone and take convention classes. (Lilly, Devon, Eden, Charli, Samantha, Anna, Morgan, Rylee, Aly, Grace, Maddy, Brooklyn, Virginia)
Four young ladies auditioned for Ignite’s Ambassador Program, (Morgan, Samantha, Chelsea and Virginia)
We also had 3 young ladies participate in the Improv Competition (Chelsea, Virginia and Ella)
 
Turn It Around Tour Regionals (Richmond, VA): This competition was a great start to the season and the awards and critiques from this weekend got us off to a great start!
Friday:  
Start Teen Overall - Rylee Hogge placed 4th out of 69 entries
Start Teen Tap - Charli Madren placed 3rd; She also won The All or Nothing special judges award.
Anna Baker was awarded The Power of Vulnerability special award.
Everyone on Friday was awarded High Gold or Platinum.
Saturday:
Anna Baker, Charli Madren, Chelsea Shiflett and Rylee Hogge participated in morning workshops: tap and musical theater.  
Lilly Reed received The Powerhouse special award.
Eden Atkins placed 5th overall in the Premier Pre-teen Solo category.
 “Applause” (choreographed by Emma Toney) placed 3rd overall in the Premier Pre-teen Large Group category and received a Platinum.
All numbers on Saturday received high gold or platinum.
Sunday:
Anna Baker, Rylee Hogge, Charli Madren and Chelsea Shiflett began the morning with contemporary and hip-hop workshops.
All our Star group dances received platinum.
Rylee Hogge won a scholarship to return to workshops next year at TIA.
“Let’s Get Groovy” (Tap group number, choreographed by Samantha Martin) placed 2nd Overall in Star Teen Tap.
“Kickin’ it Old School” (Hip Hop group number, choreographed by Jackie Lane) received The All or Nothing special award.
We also had a duet and trio that received high gold and platinum.
Our studio also received a special award: The Spotlight Award. It is awarded to the studio that exhibits well-rounded technique and performance, backstage etiquette, poise, and a gracious attitude. We are so proud of our girls for being that group

Our 35th Anniversary Season culminated in three unforgettable recitals this weekend. In an emotional celebration of this landmark year, our “Because I Knew You” recitals featured throwback fun alongside tear-jerking pieces from the past. We were able to honor our past in a way that we were denied when our 30th Anniversary Season was cut short by Covid. In addition to our students giving it all they had, Dawn's teachers, both past and present, honored "The Queen" by dancing to "Because I Knew You" in a surprise performance that featured some of Dawn's own original choreography. Long before they knew this year's recital theme would be based on the same song, the current/former teachers planned their tribute to the woman who allowed them opportunities to share their love of dance with students. In turn, Dawn used the same song as a tribute to all the students who have made an impact on her and the studio itself; she sang that very song for the finale piece, danced by 2024 Students of the Year, Morgan Ammons and Eva McConville. To add to the touching moments, Anna Baker and Alyssa Bonifacio were named the 2025 Students of the Year, and June Hare received the Sue Hancock Scholarship. Thank you to all who came and watched our students dance their hearts out! The little studio Dawn started in 1990 has now become a big part of our community, and we are so grateful for all of the students and parents who commit so much time and energy to all we do. You are all members of the DSD family and we look forward to many more years of dancing for the love of dance with all of you!

Our talented Student Dance Company put on a fabulous show Saturday, and it was truly a "Joyful" thing to behold as the show's title suggested! The creativity in their student-choreographed dances continued to amaze the audience this year. It is always so impressive to see what they can achieve when simply given studio time and encouragement -- the show is completely produced and run by the students themselves, from the rehearsals to the programs! Our Company was formed in 1992 and will continue to shape future leaders and dance instructors. Can't wait to see how they will build on all they learned in the coming year!

The angels were singing (and dancing) at our annual Christmas Show, O' Night Divine, on December 8. As Christmas approaches, we want to thank everyone who attended the show, which raised a total of $1,830 for local charities (that means $915 each for King William Emergency Ministries and Christmas Dreams!). This year's show, subtitled "All Is Well," told the story of a reporter who got lost in the chaos of the season by interviewing people on the street, but discovered the importance of the holiday along the way. We'd also like to give a big thanks to all the students, parents and community members who shared their talents and took time out of their busy schedules for rehearsals. Vocalists, musicians, dancers and actors all came together to make this beautiful show a celebration of true meaning of Christmas. In a truly special moment, DSD instructor Rachael's 3-week old daughter, Miss Audrey Emma Petrizzo, made her stage debut as Jesus and became the first live baby to portray Jesus in our show's history. In another first, violinist Malia Pererya-White accompanied some of our vocalist with a beautiful medley of Christmas hymns. It truly was a magical show as it both brought joy and gave back to the community -- see the photos and recap video below to catch a glimpse of the love that went into this production! Thank you all and we wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas!!!!
Photography credit: Heather Oakes Photography; Video credit: Samantha Cox

Pink is our signature color, so this October we decided to go all out and wore pink every day the studio was open (even on Saturday during Christmas Show rehearsals!). Not only was it great fun, we also wanted to find a new way to give back, so we invited our students and their families to donate money toward breast cancer research. Participants brought small donations on the days they wore pink to the studio. Our Team got really intense with a plank-holding competition: whoever held their plank the longest got a small prize, and everyone on the team donated 50 cents for each second they held their planks. Ava Howell came in first place with an impressive 4:17 hold, with Grace Tidd and Rachel Peck collapsing only seconds before her. In total, we raised $2,010!!! We collected $420 from Pink Out participants, and DSD matched that amount, and team raised $1,170 with their plank competition. The money was donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The plan is to make this an annual event, and we hope to raise even more next year!

As classes resume on Monday, it's time to reflect on a great summer for DSD. In June we traveled to Disney, where we attracted a large crowd during our performance, rocked new moves at our workshop with a professional Disney dancer, and had a blast enjoying all the attractions with each other. We also had a a blast and learned so much with our very full schedule of summer classes!

A few of our team dancers continued their journeys after receiving special invitations at some of our competitions. Charlotte Madren represented Richmond as their Regional Champion at the Ignite Nationals Competition in Jacksonville, placing ninth in her category and winning a High Platinum award. This June she was chosen as one of their Ambassadors, meaning she will represent Ignite for this coming competitive season by assisting at conventions and with competition classes and awards. Virginia Nunnally and Rylee Hogge were invited to compete in the Southeast Showdown Legends Dance Competition. They had an interview, an audition and then presented their solos. Later in the summer Rylee was awarded 3rd runner up out of 18 semi-finalists in Dance Machine's America's Miss Dance Nationals Competition after winning a regional title at their Roanoke competition this spring. The rigorous competition included an interview, audition and solo performance, and she received special awards for both her interview and solo.

Former DSD students were on a roll too. DSD graduate Paige Lake earned her BFA with a Major in Dance from Radford University this spring, just after she traveled to New York City with Dawn to try out for the Rockettes. Bella Deem, anther DSD alum and a Dance Major at James Madison University, performed in NYC with the Joffrey Ballet School after auditioning and being selected for their Jazz & Contemporary summer intensive. Dawn, her husband Lin, and former DSD dancer Jenny Estok came to support Bella and see her perform in this amazing show this August.

To wrap up the summer we were invited by McDonald’s to entertain the crowd at their Back to School Night on August 22. DSD dancers Anna Baker and Rylee Hogge gave great performances right in the WP McDonald’s parking lot!

So proud of our DSD dancers, past and present! Can't wait to see what you accomplish in the coming year and beyond.

Time to join our circle! We are gearing up for our 35th Anniversary Season, and we want you join in and celebrate with us. If you'd like to learn more about us and all that we offer, please come to one of our Open House events: Wednesday, July 24, 7 - 9 p.m.; Sunday, July 28, 2 - 4 p.m.; and Wednesday, July 31, 6:30- 7:30 p.m. You can meet and chat with teachers, sign up for classes, and even win prizes! You'll also be able to sign up for additional opportunities to dance, such as our annual Christmas Show, our Student Dance Company, and Team auditions (go ahead and mark your calendar for that because auditions are coming up August 1, 6 -8 p.m.!). We start enrollment on July 24 at the first Open House, and online enrollment begins August 1, following the final Open House. Classes begin August 26 -- we can't wait to see you there!

​The Student Dance Company presented their 2024 showcase, "Black & Gold," on May 11, 2024. This student-produced group formed in the Fall of 1992 to enable dancers the opportunity to create and display their own work. They elect officers, choreograph material, and put on their own production independent of the school’s instructors. Their love of dance drives them to dedicate many hours of rehearsals in addition to their weekly classes, and they learn many life lessons from working with their piers, organizing events and schedules, and working through the complexities of choreographing for a group. They began rehearsals in January and all of their hard work paid of with a fascinating show. Love the creativity everyone!!!