This week’s life in the spotlight, Portage junior Arianna Scott, leaped onto a unique opportunity over her winter break with a recent trip to England to dance in the London New Year’s Parade.
Scott has been dancing since she was in the 5th grade and joined Willowcreek Middle School’s dance team her 8th-grade year.
“I just wanted to be a part of a school sport, and I thought that sounded like fun since I danced studio for a while, so I was like, ‘Oh I’ll just try it,” and I fell in love,” Scott said. “You create a sisterhood with your dance team members, and I love it.”
Since then, she has grown close with her teammates.
“I have so many memories with Dance Team, the stupid little stuff we do at practice and the funny insiders we have,” Scott said. “I just love them all. We all know so much personal stuff about each other, I’m with them all the time.”
Through the dance team, Scott was introduced to Varsity, the company that took her, 300 other dancers and approximately as many cheerleaders to London. She first had to audition at a summer camp before making the cut.
Scott, who said she has never traveled alone before, had mixed feelings about leaving for the trip, which took place from Dec. 26 to Jan. 2.
“We had some bad turbulence on the plane, and I was really scared, [but] it kind of felt nice because I felt independent and on my own so that was kind of nice,” Scott said.
Once there, however, Scott forgot all her fears and focused on the experience of being in another country.
“We got to tour all around London and I got to be with all girls that were dancers that won the thing from [Varsity’s Universal Dance Association,] UDA, so I got to be with other dancers, and we would talk about our dance teams and we practiced every night at the hotel leading up to the performance day, and it was a lot of fun,” Scott said.
After touring the city of London and practicing all week, it was finally time to walk in the parade.
“It was amazing,” Scott said. “Everyone was cheering for us and they were so excited, and it was just so cool.”
With all the excitement for the Americans, it was weird to think she was in another country that day, Scott said.
Once she returned to the States, Scott began preparing for her next big dance adventure: the dance team’s first Indiana High School Dance Team Association competition.
Since her freshman year, the team has participated in invitational competitions, but none with the official organization.
“We got to watch so many other HS dance teams from around the area, so it was kind of school to see them come together,” Scott said. “As a team, it’s so much fun because we’re all excited and riding the bus there we get all ready. There’s a lot of energy and it was just a lot of fun.”
The team placed first for their kick routine.
Overall, Scott’s favorite type of dancing is contemporary/lyrical.
“I feel like you can put so much passion into it and you can really express yourself through it, and I think that’s really powerful,” Scott said. “It’s something that words can’t express. It can be a song with literally no words and you can create a story out of it with your body and movement, and I just think that’s amazing.”
After high school, Scott wants to attend either University of California, Berkley or Valpo University to major in Psychology and minor in Biology. Wherever she ends up, she hopes to continue dancing on a dance team.
“I want to continue doing dance for the rest of my life because I feel like my life would be boring without it,” Scott said.