Dancing to first place

Mia Dixon-Slaughter, Co-Editor-in-Cheif

April 19, 2013

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.”

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.

About the Contributors

Mia Dixon-Slaughter, Co-Editor-in-Cheif

Mia Dixon-Slaughter, Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Downey Legend, stepped into the world of journalism 3 years ago as a sophomore. After a great deal of persuasion from her two best friends, who were on staff at the time, Dixon-Slaughter submitted her application at the semester and was welcomed shortly after. “I love writing and always have,” Slaughter said, “but I’ve always stuck strictly to literature so branching out into a different style and type of writing has helped me develop as a writer.” Although writing essays and covering stories can be polar opposites, the writer adjusted without much trouble. During her time at The Downey Legend, she has covered numerous stories, fiddled with the camera, and established the newspaper’s credibility on social media. She is competent enough to know what it takes to have efficient deadlines; all Slaughter has to do now is to guide her staff in that direction. 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.

Amanda Lira, Photographer/Photo Editor

Among the returning members of The Downey Legend is Amanda Lira, who had personal motives to join the online newspaper. Lira who currently holds the position of Photo Editor was in junior high when she began to take an interest in photography and decided her dream was to work for a magazine. However, as time passed her gears began to shift toward medicine; but in spite of that, she never lost her passion for photography. “I joined ROP for sports medicine; my goal is to be in Skills USA this year,” Lira said. “I also decided to return to newspaper to meet new people and to feel like a part of something; we are like a little family.” Lira’s current dream is to attend San Francisco State and major in physical therapy. 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.”