The weekend of November 11, Lexi Lewis, junior, began her tour with LA Dance Magic in Houston.
“I have gone to one city so far, but I will go to 16 cities and travel to LA with the dance convention for a week over the summer for Nationals,” Lewis said.
Lewis said the tour lasts until April, and by that time she will have toured all 16 cities including Denver, St. Louis, Orlando, New Jersey, Chicago, Baton Rouge and many more.
Each weekend Lewis will perform in front of a crowd of 200-400 students, as well as a junior room with 8 to 14 year olds, and a jump start room with 3 to 7 year olds, which depend on the weekend she performs, Lewis said.
Last year at a dance convention, Lewis was asked to join the tour by one of the owners of the convention, Lewis said. The owner wanted to know how old Lewis was and mentioned to her mom how she should be an apprentice for the following year, Lewis said.
“They said I was young, and that there was something about me that caught their eyes, and they wanted me to be working with them the next year,” Lewis said.
Lewis began dancing at age three and has danced at four different studios over the years but now dances at a studio called Dance Connection, she said.
“I think switching dance studios and becoming an independent dancer has helped me the most,” Lewis said. “When I was doing competition team, there was always drama and stress. Now that I am just dancing for myself, I see myself growing more as a dancer and beginning to love dance more. I now dance for myself and because I love it.”
Lewis learns the dances for the tour throughout an entire day where there is close to 5 or 6 classes a day, she said. Lewis also said the number of dances that weekend would depend on how many classes there were that day.
“I do all styles of dance: jazz, contemporary, hip hop, ballet, tap,” Lewis said. “The music is all different styles depending on who the teacher is and what type of dance style it is.”
So far, Lewis’ favorite dances to perform have been the jazz, contemporary, and hip hop dances, she said.
Two girls from California tour with Lewis every weekend while a dance company made up of members from all different studios and states tour with the convention but only travel to four cities and must audition for the company, Lewis said.
“Me and the two other girls have been asked to be apprentices and are given the privilege to tour with the convention to all the cities and while we get to be in charge of the company, we have many more tasks that we have to help out with,” Lewis said.
Lewis said the best part of the whole tour is getting to make friends from all the different cities and being able to learn from them.
“I love getting to meet people from all the different cities,” Lewis said. “I get to see all the other dancers and make close friendships with the company I am touring with.”
The LA Dance Magic tour could help with furthering a possible career for Lewis in dancing, she said.
“I would love to have a career in dancing, and this would definitely help me have a better chance in making it as a dancer,” Lewis said.