Jun 27, 2016 By Luke Campbell 4 min read

In Jessica Spencer’s 22 years of teaching, the ingenuity and creativity of dancing has continued to evolve.

Something that Spencer, the artistic director at Thomas Dance Studio in Bridgeville, hadn’t seen was a dance that incorporated a rock-climbing wall.

Now, standing seven feet tall and equally as wide, is a wall that hides, hangs and has allowed 14 local dancers to flip their way into being nominated for the Best Acro/Open Routine in 2016 by the Industry Dance Awards for their performance of “Surfacing.”

The group is made up of dancers between ages 11 and 17 from Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon, South Fayette, Bethel Park, Chartiers Valley, Carlynton West Allegheny and Montour school districts.

“It’s like a Rubik’s Cube, trying to get all of their schedules meshed together,” Spencer said. “They still do other activities, too, and it’s really interesting to see people from all different school districts coming together. Places like Upper St. Clair and Peters Township are like bubbles. It’s important for those kids to know there is more out there.”

The nomination is the studio’s second since being associated with Industry Dance Awards, the first coming in 2013 when co-choreographer of this year’s routine Emily Koch was performing.

“With this particular dance, nobody else should be able to do it,” said Koch. “Only the 14 of them should be able to work together and complete this dance because of how much they have done it together. I feel lucky to be a part of it. It’s a humbling experience.”

Defined by their athletic character, Acro dances combine classical dance technique with precision acrobatic elements to allow unique choreography to blend them together.

For “Surfacing,” the purpose of the rock wall is to serve as a spaceship that just landed on an unknown planet. The dance continues with stunts, tricks and skills with the theme of either staying on the planet or being sucked back up into the spaceship that controls them.

What’s interesting to Spencer, whose grandmother founded the studio, is the group aspect of the routine and the camaraderie of the dancers, some of whom have been performing with one another for many years.

“Dancing can be a very individualized thing,” she said. “That is what’s so cool about an experience like this. It’s so important to have chemistry, especially with something like this, because there is a lot of partner work and risk taking. They have to trust each other. They learn to collaborate, share ideas and are 100 percent there for each other. You succeed and fail as a team.”

Members of the team are Hailey Bair, Samantha David, Anna DiPasquale, Marissa Furfaro, Kelsey Halloran, Sammy Koller, Alexis Linn, Makayla Linn, Camryn Peters, Jessie Santucci, Kelsey Spath, Elena Vitale, Sophia Vitale and Rachel Wolff.

The Industry Dance Awards Show, held Aug. 17 at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, Calif., will reveal the winner among the eight nominees for that particular category. The award show also partners with five separate charities and has raised over $250,000 toward cancer research.

“When you do something like this that you love and you’re so passionate about, you just work harder,” said Spencer. “It’s hard not to take it home with you. It’s hard to not become personally invested. It’s all a very personal thing.

“When opportunities come up and you are recognized amongst hundreds and thousands of dancers and choreographers, it’s really rewarding,” she explained. “It gives you a reason to keep pushing forward and to come up with new concepts. It reminds me that I’m doing the right thing.”