TNT Dance Studio in Morris succeeds at competition

MORRIS – TNT Dance Studio walked away with the Highest Scoring Studio Award at a competition in Davenport, Iowa, earlier this month.

The dance company is made up of students at TNT Dance Studio in Morris where owner Cindy Olznoi teaches an array of dance classes.

“I was in shock,” Olznoi said. “Another studio took 95 dances. I thought they would win it.”

However, much to their surprise, it was TNT who won, along with four choreograph awards, and 11 personal judges awards to dancers including perfect timing, clearest taps, and two platinum plus awards.

A group of 9- to 11-year-old girls tapped their way to a platinum plus win with their performance titled “The Walker” in the Junior Large Group Intermediate category.

The group, chosen by Olznoi to compete based on their overall performance in their classes, are in the studio on average of six to eight hours a week taking anywhere from five to seven types of dance classes.

Sophie Hipes and Sydney Walker of Morris competed for the first time and were thrilled to be able to compete with other classmates.

“I was kind of not nervous, more excited,” Hipes said. “I didn’t expect to win the first time.”

Walker said she’s wanted to compete since she first walked into dance class, and the performance didn’t let her down.

While some teammates felt excitement, others felt nervousness too.

Alexa Edwards of Morris said she gets nervous because everyone is watching – the audience and the judges.

Kiara Wesseh of Lisbon remembers what it’s like to have jitters before a dance and her advice to new dancers is to just do their best.

“You just go and do your best. If you mess up, you just keep going,” Wesseh said.

One way to battle the stress leading up to a performance is to practice, practice, practice, and be prepared, said Madeline Luke of Morris.

“When you are performing ,you do your best that you can do, and then your best gets even better each time you perform,” Chloe Jany of Morris said.

The girls giggled as they sat in their dance studio talking about the excitement of the regional competition, all with a sense of accomplishment and pride. Olznoi said the girls put in a lot of extra work, coming in on Sundays leading up to competition, and she was pleased that 25 out of 29 entries placed at the regional competition. Her daughter, Maisie Olznoi of Shorewood, was part of the winning tap routine. She said her favorite part of the performance is the formations the group makes throughout the routine. Doing something they love on stage made the excitement of competing that much more rewarding.

For Sunshine Farmer of Morris, all of the hard work and hours of practice leading up to the performance seem worth it with the start of the music.

“When you hear your music coming on, it’s the best feeling you’ve ever had,” she said.

Olznoi was awarded a free cruise for her studio being named the highest scoring studio.