Live to Dance – DPAC Attack!
Hello again! Well, through the magic of reality television, we were transported to the New York auditions last night…lol! Sorry you missed it, if you gave up after LA.
They were the tap team in red shirts with black jackets and pants. Two shots of them
dancing and then three shots of their reaction (some crocodile tears) when they received three red stars (gold stars was good.)
HERE IS WHAT YOU DIDN’T GET TO SEE AND WHAT WE COULDN’T TELL YOU UNTIL NOW…
After the first round of auditions, there were even more tears from the sheer excitement of making it into the second round.
At the second round auditions, the dancers were held in “stand by” area for longer than
most other dancers. We didn’t understand why, but out of nowhere Paula shows up on the
set. The dancers got the opportunity to chat and take pictures and then she did a cheer
with the dancers before they auditioned in second round. Paula was not suppose to be in
second round auditions but she did watch DPAC Attack and then leave. I have attached the
picture of the team with Paula. Pretty special for the girls!
After second round, most dancers were told they might receive a call anytime during the
weekend to come for the taping of third round (that’s what was televised last night.)
After all the acts were seen, the judges then decided at the end what acts would make it to
the taping. The producers told our dancers that they were not waiting for a call, but
made it directly to the third round. Pretty exciting! After 3 hours of processing,
meeting with different producers for stage needs, story lines, etc., we met with the
music department. It was then we were told that our music “Control” by Janet Jackson was not cleared, meaning she did not give permission for us to use it on television.
HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED NEXT…
We had 24 hours to change music, choreography and costumes and be ready for the television show! WOW! We had a team of 19 tappers to change everything they had worked on for 6 weeks straight. So we went to last year’s Mr. Pinstripe Suit and with the help of agenerous costume donor and dedicated dancers and parents, we did exactly that….changed it all and headed back to LA.
What an amazing journey it was in the span of 72 hours! The highest of highs and lowest of
lows, but I am so proud that despite every obstacle they NEVER gave up! That’s what
this is all about! These dancers have grown so much from that experience. I truly
believe it is not the end but only the beginning for each of them. We are headed to
our first competition of the year this weekend, “Hollywood Connection” in Santa
Clara and I have never seen our kids more ready and focused. Also in the last 8 weeks,
our studio was given the opportunity to choreograph a music video for artist Kwanza
Jones that will be coming out this month AND a team of dancers are headed to Carnegie Hall in NYC to be featured in the Turn Up the Peace International Concert in just 2 weeks.
WOW, who could have imagined…
The second picture I have included is what we did when we returned from Paula. You see a
red star is part of our DPAC logo, so we couldn’t leave the kids with a negative
memory of a “red star” and especially didn’t want them to be afraid of 3 red stars. So
Mr. D painted 3 red stars and our motto of “Faith Not Fear” below them. Three red stars
will not stop our kids and we will not be afraid. God has proven himself so faithful
to us and for whatever reason we were not meant to be on the show…this year…
Thank you again for all of your love and support! I hope our story can be an inspiration to each of you. I pray that you will take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way and live each day with “Faith Not Fear.”
Much Love,
Johnna Clark
DPAC
