Dancing for the spotlight; Student at NH dances for years

Noel Bailey

 Sophomore Collin Morse has been dancing for 8 years and the “overall goal” is to pursue it as a career. “Not 100% sure it’ll happen but that’s what I would like to happen,” Morse says about taking dancing to the next level, college. 

     The performer has been dancing for 8 years. He said he dances for The Rage Box Dance Center, a studio he’s been at since he started. 

     “I do hip hop, jazz, tap, and contemporary,” but adds when he first started dancing he learned hip hop first. He added that ballet is his least favorite style of dancing.

     Morse started dancing when he was a kid “my mom put me in cause I was really energetic.” Since then he adds, he’s just “stuck with it since.”

     The dance studio has multiple recitals a year for different ages. Morse performs in “usually 2 a year,” and goes to “4 competitions normally” in a year. 

     The competitions are local; the furthest they’ve gone is “I think West Virginia.” The performers of the studio “stick with base level competitions. “We normally win,” Morse adds.

     The different types of classes you can take are an hour long, according to the dancer, who adds, “except for ballet, which is an 1:15.” Collins’ latest night of dance lasts 3 hours with “tap, jazz and contemporary.” 

     He finds dancing “definitely fun” and not something that makes him more stressed. Dance has “affected me positively” mentally Morse says. “[He] hasn’t gotten any injuries from it; if anything it’s positively affected me physically,” the dancer says. 

     Sweats and T-shirts are worn to classes, but sometimes he and his friends will “dance a little bit extra for hip hop or different classes to take pictures.”

     Costuming “really depends” on what class they’re taking. He comments, “ for girls it’s a lot different.” The guys’ costumes are “very straightforward, usually a t-shirt and pants.”