A week ago, I attended the National High School Dance Festival in Miami, Florida with my school’s dance company. The five-day experience was one that I will not be forgetting any time soon!

    The National High School Dance Festival is rather self-explanatory: It is a dance festival where high school students from around the nation can take dance classes, and, if they qualify, they can perform their pieces. Nearly every high school that qualified or even attended was a performing arts school. Back in November, my dance company submitted three videos of our dances to the National High School Dance Festival. Of the three, two dances were selected to be performed in Miami. This was incredibly exciting for two reasons: One of our own students had choreographed one of the pieces, and we are not from a performing arts school.

    The dance company departed on a Wednesday and arrived in Miami after a 3-hour flight. Some of us tried to make up our homework on the plane, but most of us were too wound up to focus on studying chemistry or history. A bus took us to our hotel in downtown Miami, and we spent the first couple of days soaking up the incredible sunshine.

    Starting on Friday, we began to attend classes and lectures throughout the day and performances at night. I took ballet and modern dance classes, but there were countless of options offered. Almost all of the teachers were associated in some way or another with some of the top dance companies in the nation. The classes were crowded, some with nearly 60 dancers in one room.

    Every day, I’d wake up with sore muscles and new bruises, but that was a good thing — I was pushing myself. I was in awe at the talent of some of the dancers there — and what really left me starstruck was that some famous dancers I follow on social media were there, in the flesh, taking classes right next to me. I nearly fainted when I realized that one of the top dancers in the entire country of Australia was in the same modern dance class as me!

    Each night, we attended performances, and on Friday and Saturday, we performed our qualifying pieces for the audience of fellow dancers. The pieces we were able to watch were all breathtaking — some were graceful beyond compare, others incredibly intense and dark.

    I believe that when we performed, we each danced harder, stronger, and better than we ever had before. Our dance teacher was so proud of us at the end of the festival.

    Attending the event was the most fun and enriching experiences I’d had in a long time. I couldn’t believe that there were so many extraordinarily talented teens out there, living and learning and dancing just like me. It was such an eye-opening, humbling experience to take class with nationally acclaimed dancers and watch the best dance companies in the region perform before my eyes. I absolutely cannot wait to return in the future!