My dance journey started when I was three years old. I was in a ballet class and loved it! I remember always being excited to go. Skip ahead a few years to fourth grade. That's when I got introduced to Minds In Motion. I looked forward to those Thursdays before specials where we got to learn new moves and dance.

The word that I used to describe myself was Sparkle. I chose that word because I thought that it was a good word to describe my personality. I have been told I’m very outgoing and unique just like glitter! Plus who doesn’t love glitter!

Sierra 8th grade

Optimism in Dance

Dance brings me joy;

soaring leap

confident style

No matter the circumstances of the day;

hopeful stance

promising pose

I can express myself ;

positive movement

upbeat music

And always end on an optimistic note;

bright silhouette

daring pirouette

I am so grateful for Binford Dance Company;

loving family

caring friends

I started dancing at the age of 12 with Ms. Perkinson. Before then I had been doing a few dance related things but nothing consistent. The first class I took was when I was about three. The class consisted of jumping around in leotards and moving however we wanted to in the moment, improvising. The next class I took was with Minds In Motion with the Richmond Ballet. They came to our school when I was in fourth grade, taught us a dance over the span of many months, and then we performed it for our family and friends. This was my first time performing dance and I loved it. I loved it so much that I took a Minds In Motion summer camp that summer.

I have been a part of Binford’s Dance Company since the 6th grade. Dance has changed and inspired me over the past three years. I have created life long friendships and had amazing experiences at Binford and with the Dance Company. Dance taught me to get out of my comfort zone and explore new opportunities.

Hi there, my name is Iana. I'm in 8th grade and I've been dancing ever since I can remember. Dating back to some of the earliest years of my life, I've only been dancing. Now some may say, “That seems so repetitive!” Or a common question is, “Do you ever get tired of dancing?” My simple answer is no. I've tried other sports like soccer, track, and basketball. No other sport has had my complete dedication or peaked my interest like dance has.

The Binford Dance Company was established in 2016. It is an audition-based student dance company from Binford Middle School, an arts integrated school located in Richmond, VA. Company members study Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Improvisation, and Composition within the Binford dance program. The company has performed throughout the community including: The 2019 Superintendent’s State of the Schools Address, Generation Dream, Richmond Public Schools Fine Arts Festival, Strawberry Street Festival, Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology, Petersburg Home for Ladies, and Cedarfield Retirement Community. The company also had the opportunity to perform in the music videos “Have It All” and “Love Is Still The Answer” by Jason Mraz. The Binford Dance Company inspires students to find their own voice through performance and choreography while learning valuable skills in the rehearsal process including collaboration, respect, and confidence.

We are the Roots Cast and Choreographer of Brother General Gabriel (BGG). We are Ms. Julinda, Mena, Christine, Karlito, Monte, and MK. We come from diverse movement vocabularies and a strong collective of Richmond-based dance communities. We began dancing together in the late summer of 2019, and from the creative bonds built, plan to continue building together in future versions of BGG and beyond.

For over five years and counting, the members of Salsa Connection Dance Company, LLC (“Salsa Connection”) continue to provide quality instruction and performances to the Richmond community. Initially teaching and performing as a continuation of Latin Vintage Dance Company under the guidance of Julissa Cruz, co-owners Carey Mitchell, Candice Deisher, Crystal Bullock and Rudy St. Julien first offered instruction out of the Ezibu Muntu dance studio before permanently locating their classes to Dogtown Dance Theatre (“Dogtown”)!

Opened in 2018, Fred Astaire Dance Studio Richmond offers lessons in ballroom, latin, and social dancing to dancers of all ages and abilities. The common goal that all of our students share is to have fun every time they come in, while developing the confidence to dance with any partner, on any dance floor, to any music. Committed to enriching lives physically, emotionally and socially through the positive, transforming power of dance, internationally acclaimed instructors create a “FADS Community” that is welcoming, 100% non-judgmental, and truly joyful. Internationally acclaimed instructors are certified in the Fred Astaire Curriculum, which presents the building blocks of partner dance in the way that people naturally learn. The instructors’ compassion, energy, and kindness combined with the studied and documented fact that dancing is the perfect combination of physical activity, social interaction and mental stimulation, makes Fred Astaire Dance Studio a perfect place to learn and hone a new skill.

It is such an honor to be included as a nominee again for the RVA Dance Awards. Being recognized in your hometown among your colleagues and peers whom you admire and respect is quite amazing.

Dance has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I developed a deep passion for dance and the arts at an early age attending my first dance lesson at the age of 5. Since then, I have never looked back; dedicating the last 20 years to dance education and exploring choreography. Today, I am starting my 11th season as the Artistic Director of J’Adore DANCE and share in running the school alongside of my mother Alice and the most amazing team of faculty.

Hi everyone! I'm Madison Marshall and I am so excited and honored to have been chosen as one of the Youth Dancer of the Year Nominees. It is so amazing to be part of this awards program with such a talented group of dancers. As this year has seen so many challenges, changes, shutdowns and us having to change the way we learn to dance, I am so thankful to be able to continue to dance. I currently train in jazz, jazz funk, contemporary, ballet, pointe, acro, tap, hip hop and ballroom dance.

I am so excited and honored to be nominated again this year for an RVA Dance Award for “Best Choreography”, “Dance Instructor of the Year”, and “Best Collaboration” with my girl Neo. Last year was a tough year for me professionally, but my dance kids helped me get through it. They constantly inspire me to push myself beyond what I thought I was capable of. They have always trusted me and I am so grateful for my students both past and current. If there is one thing I have learned it is that kindness goes a long way and kids will always remember how you made them feel. I am just grateful that God has blessed me with countless opportunities to do what I love and share it with so many beautiful souls.

Loving to push boundaries and never giving up, no matter what has been thrown at me, has always been a huge part of my dance journey. It began like most other dancers, at a young age through college, then on to a 10 year professional career in my 20's. After moving back to Richmond from New York City, I found my calling as an educator and always wanting to deliver the very best for students. What I ultimately found, my students inspired me every day, and many days left me a little teary eyed because of the joy they brought to my life. Being an educator has always been a space where I felt most alive and striving to teach my amazing students beyond expectation, so they could reach their goals and realize their dreams. I have always remained grounded in my dance roots, (fun fact: I adore a good ballet barre), but since I was young, I had a vision of a space where the arts could come together in a beautifully inclusive, kind and joyful place. A space beyond the traditional dance studio..... This place is SOUL Aerial & Performing Arts Center... a vision made into a reality.

My Name is Cierra Wilson. I've been living and dancing Richmond for 5 years now. My RVA Dance journey started with working at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School as their dance teacher. This began my love for reaching the black community through dance. It was for my community that I started Beyond Borders Performing Arts.

I started dancing at West End Academy of Dance when I was 4 years old. After a few years of exploring various styles, I quickly realized hip hop was my true passion. Thanks to the wonderful teaching staff and welcoming environment, WEAD became my second home. Dance continued to by a critical part of my world as I transitioned from high school to college. After four years at the University of Virginia, participating on a hip hop dance team throughout, it was time to enter “the real world.” I worked in a corporate job for five years and realized something major was missing from my life. As luck would have it, WEAD was looking for a hip hop teacher, so I jumped on the opportunity. After the first night of teaching, my passion had been reignited. I loved being back in the studio, connecting with the students at WEAD, and sharing my passion for dance with them. As the now Owner and Studio Director of West End Academy of Dance, my ultimate goal is to ensure our students have the same wonderful experience I had growing up as a WEAD dancer.

I’ve shared my dance journey before, but since then it has drastically changed. I shifted from working as a teaching artist and performer to being a full time artist (an anti-racist, anti-institutional artist at that…) . I’ve been discovering what that is for me: applying for residencies, researching artist grants, mfa programs, developing a daily ritual and movement practice, connecting with other artists in the field across the nation.. Anyway.. it has come with challenges.. but it is so fulfilling to mesh my artistry with organizing and activism.

Being nominated for Choreographer of the Year is an incredible honor, that frankly still seems a bit surreal. I am truly grateful and my soul feels so full knowing that my work has impacted the world around me.

Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, I trained extensively in all genres at Chesterfield Dance Center and attended Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for dance. I then began teaching tap at CDC when I was 17 years old. After high school, I continued to teach at the studio, and moved to New York every summer to train with world renowned hoofers and immerse myself in the tap community.

When you grow up dancing, it’s hard to just give it up. But for most of us – dance classes just stop when you become an adult. Few of us go on to do anything professional with it and that means all those dance lessons at Miss Susie Sunshine’s Dance School, just get dusty and the next thing you know – you’re on some treadmill in some big box gym, hoping to lose weight and blasting Madonna thinking you could make your own OK Go video if no one looks.

That was kinda what got me to open my own fitness studio.

Ingrid Pettus Lorenzo has been teaching, educating, dancing, and choreographing for over 40 years. Originally from New York and raised in Philadelphia, there has never been a moment or year she hasn’t learned something new, inspired herself or others. Growing up, she began singing at the age of 7. From 3rd grade, she auditioned and performed with the All City Choir through high school. When she first saw Singing in the Rain at the age of 11, she began to emulate the singing and dancing she saw on TV. By the age of 14, Ingrid would start her career and love of the theatre arts in high school. With no prior dance training due to her family’s inability to afford dance classes, she would go on to audition for Philadelphia’s first public MAGNET high school called The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. With the help of a fellow auditionee loaning her a pair of ballet shoes and quickly showing her the 5 basic positions of ballet in the arms and feet, with determination and a passion to pursue her dream in the arts world, she was accepted.