Senior Sydney Crane has proven to be an exemplary role model to all aspiring young dancers in her community. She began dancing at the young age of three years old, and never looked back. Inspired by her grandmother, dancing has shaped her into the person she is today.
Crane is a dancer at Dance Maina, and spends around 15 plus hours at the studio each week. From the beginning of June to early December, her team practices for the competitions. During this season they travel to competitions on the weekend. “Most of them [the competitions] are in Orlando but we have two out of state in Louisville and Nashville,” Crane said.
Crane is planning on pursuing her dance career into college. “Right now I’m in the recruitment process for a few colleges, and then I’m planning on applying for a dance minor too,” said Crane. The colleges she is currently in the recruitment process for are University of Michigan, Vanderbilt, and Florida State. However, she also has her options open to audition for other schools as well.
Although dance has always been a focal point in her life, she suffered a neck injury in 2020 which eventually led her to realize how much she loved dancing. “Back in 2020 I had this really bad problem where my neck kept spasming and I could not move it so I would have to sit out a lot,” said Crane. “Injuries and having to sit out reminds me of why I love to dance and the fact that I can’t live without it.”
In 2019, Crane and her team won Worlds (a major competition that lots of all-star teams go to at the end of the year), and this was the second time a team at her studio had won. That same team that won in 2019 won again in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Along with these accomplishments, in 2022 Crane won Dancer of the Year at her studio. “That was also really important to me because that’s when my coaches are judging our character and she has known me for a really long time, so that one I felt really proud of,” said Crane.
Along with all her accomplishments at dance, Crane has to find time to accommodate all her school work. “It’s definitely hard to balance school and dance but because I’ve been at Holy Trinity since sixth grade I’ve gotten into a good rhythm. I have to make sacrifices, but it’s a matter of knowing what you’re driven to do and what you love. Making sacrifices isn’t that hard when you enjoy your sport and you’re enjoying your education.”
Overall, one of her most favorite things about dance is her team. “I love my team, I’ve known these girls since I started at Dance Mania 11 years ago. So we’re all really close, and we all really understand each other. I think you can definitely see this when we are competing on stage, that we’re all really tight knit,” said Crane.
