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Rochester adolescents travel to Buffalo to further dance training

Apr 19, 2017 | Entertainment, Events

By Lauren Kirchmyer

Stepping away from your comfort zone is a scary unknown, but with the right support system it can lead to great success.

Last summer, six Rochester adolescents traveled to Buffalo to audition for LIV Travel Dance Team. They weren’t sure what to expect, but they wanted to give it a shot in hopes of furthering their passion for dance.

“It is a great team to prepare us for becoming professional dancers,” shared Julia Nuccitelli, a senior at Aquinas Institute who was accepted to Marymount Manhattan College and AMDA LA.

If they made the travel team, the group would have to travel three hours every day to train 20+ hours a week with LIV in Williamsville.

Matt Lipschitz, a senior at Brighton High School, said the audition was more than what he could have imagined. “After the audition, the whole team came up to the Rochester kids, welcomed us and introduced themselves,” he said. “It was one of the most impactful moments in my dance career so far.”

Joining Nuccitelli and Lipschitz, who was accepted to SUNY Pace on academic scholarship as well as NYU, are Tommy Gonzales, an eighth grade student at Calkins Middle School; Skye Parsons, a sixth grade student at Northwood; and Macey Herbison, a third grade student at The Harley School.

“The opportunities and chances I get to have as a young dancer have become possible because of LIV,” Gonzales said.

“I chose LIV because I wanted a studio that focused on technique and performing so I could keep improving as a dancer,” added Herbison. “I wanted to be challenged and I love being around dancers that love dance as much as I do.”

The sixth Rochester dancer is Anthony Tette. “I chose LIV because I needed a serious program that would help me accomplish my dance goals.” It looks like the program helped him exactly as planned as he is graduating a year early to train at Masters Ballet Academy in Scottsdale, Ariz.

See these six dancers and the rest of LIV Travel Dance Team perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 13 in the Drama Theatre in the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts. Tickets are available at the CFA box office (716-654-ARTS) or at tickets.com.

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