By Cate Jewell
Dance has been a part of Andrea Gritters ‘18 life since she was three years old. Gritter is now 15 years old and dances for the Dance Zone.
“I started dancing because my mom made me, but I’ve continued dancing because I love it,” said Gritter.
Gritter dances 5 days a week with classes ranging from one to five hours. In the summer Gritter has to fit in 105 hours of dance to stay on the dance team.
“Whenever I have free time you will find me hanging out with friends, sleeping, or doing homework,” said Gritter.
Acro and fierce jazz are Gritters favorite style of dance.
“You need a lot of flexibility and sass for fierce jazz, and it’s really fun showing off both of those skills to the audience,” said Gritter.
After high school Gritter is not planning on majoring in dance in college, but she wishes to join her school’s dance team.
“Joining the dance team in college would be a fun way to keep dancing and a good way to make new friends ,” said Gritter.
The Dance Zone does not allow their students to participate in other sports or musicals. Gritter plays no other sports so this rule has never affected her.
Dance is an all year round sport.
“A perk of having dance all year is that I never have to worry about getting out of shape for the next season. Another perk is that you can do a lot of things the average person can’t even dream of doing,” said Gritter.
Dance is an out of school sport that allows people from different schools to join. This allows Gritter to make friends from all over the place.
“Dance Zone is in Mattawan so I’ve made a ton of friends not from this area that I wouldn’t have met if I didn’t dance,” said Gritter.
Gritters favorite memory of dance was when she was eight. Gritter competed her solo against a famous dancer Jordyn Jones and beat her.
“I was so excited when I beat Jordyn, it made me feel special and helped me realize how much I love dancing,” said Gritter
“Dance is not only a sport but a lifestyle. Dance helps me grow in class and in real life. I’ve made so many unforgettable memories as a dancer, and I have so many more to come. Dance has helped shape me into who I am today,” said Gritter.
