Dancing to first place
During The World of Dance Tour at the L.A. Convention Center on April 6, Cassandra Garcia, 12, won first place for her hip-hop dance routine. “It felt amazing while performing,” Garcia said, “We put so many hours to practice and it paid off.”
April 19, 2013
Downey dancer and ROP assistant teacher Cassandra Garcia, 12, took the next step in her dancing career by competing in the World of Dance competition in Los Angeles on April 6.
World of Dance is a competition that focuses mostly on street dancing and choreography. The competition takes place in only 14 states in the United States but is the largest competition in the country.
Garcia auditioned for a place on the 18 and under team. The auditions included learning an entire routine during a one-day workshop with about 100 other dancers auditioning for the same team.
Under the eyes of experienced studio dancers, Garcia felt intimidated but didn’t let that get to her.
“I’m more of a street dancer,” Garcia said, “while the other dancers have been dancing in studios for years or in companies, but I put myself out there and took a chance.”
The dance team coach, Ms. Patterson, thinks highly of Garcia. Once she heard that Garcia was considering it, she told her to audition for the team.
“I encouraged her to audition for the team that took her there,” Patterson said. “I think she needed the reassurance that she was talented enough to be a part of such a prestigious team.”
With the encouragement of her coach, friends and family, Garcia danced her way to the top with the rest of her team.
“I spent the entire day in the dance room with my assistant coach,” Garcia said. “She helped me prepare for almost five hours straight.”
Samantha Cid, 10, heard Cassandra talk about the competition when they were in dance and said she seemed excited to try out.
“She seemed very motivated and she prepared a lot,” Cid said. “You could tell she was serious about doing it.”
Garcia said her motivation came from striving to get ahead in the dance industry.
“I’ve always wanted to do something in an outside dance crew,” Garcia said, “because you get more opportunities and it teaches you more.”
The dancer’s ambition is what got her onto the team and led her all the way to first place in the competition. She now has more experience in dance than before from being taught by professionals that helped her improve. Garcia exposed herself, that ended up paying off for her in more ways than one.

If the writer is not covering stories happening around school, she is still somehow always somewhere on campus. Juggling AP classes, an ASB position, and her role in newspaper, Slaughter often finds herself with a hectic schedule. This being said, when genuine free time presents itself, she takes full advantage of it. “I love getting lost or ending up in places spontaneously because it feels so great to not have an agenda sometimes,” Dixon-Slaughter said. While the senior is busy getting ready for college and balancing out the rest of her responsibilities, she hopes to provide the staff with an exemplary example of the amount of greatness that can rise from commitment.

Aside from photography and medicine, Lira enjoys going to the beach with her cousin Lupe and watching Johnny Depp and Bradley Cooper movies. Lira’s aspirations have guided her decisions, from choosing to apply for newspaper, and taking ROP sports medicine. “I think it’s a big achievement¾becoming Photo Editor, and this year I plan on giving it everything,” Lira said. “It’s my senior year and the first step to getting where I want to be.”
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