While most people ended up spending their winter break at home with their families or vacationing some place warm, Orono High School senior Cassie Renckens got the unique opportunity to fly to London, England and dance in the New Years Day parade.
“Over the summer our dance team went to the St. Thomas UDA (Universal Dance Association) camp, and at this camp there was an audition for an award called ‘All-American Dancer,’” said Renckens. “My coach nominated me to audition for the award and I ended up becoming a finalist and actually received the title of ‘All-American Dancer.’”
It was this award that allowed Renckens the opportunity to go to London and perform as a dancer in the New Years Day parade.
“When I found out that I was going to be dancing in London’s New Year’s Day parade I could barely contain my excitement,” Renckens said. “I hugged my coach so hard and it was all I could think of for a week.”
Renckens has loved dancing ever since she was little, however, she didn’t actually start dancing until she joined the dance team in eighth grade. She is now in her fourth year of dancing and is a captain for the varsity dance team.
“I have been Cassie’s coach for two years now,” said Kim Johnson. “It’s always exciting to have one of our Orono Dance Team dancers honored for her talents. Cassie’s very deserving of the All-American recognition, and I was thrilled for her to have the opportunity to travel to London to perform. It was a very proud moment for me as a coach.”
According to Johnson, Renckens was one of 180 All-American dancers who got to perform in the parade and the only one chosen from Minnesota, “which is a remarkable testament to her skills as a dancer.”
As for the actual dance itself, Renckens was sent a DVD in the mail three weeks before she departed for London. The DVD contained the choreography that Renckens was to remember for the dance.
“I had to learn the choreography on my own at home,” Renckens said. “The dance was not really difficult at all for me, and the only hard part of it was really just having to make such big movements so that the people that were really far away could see us.”
Despite being a very good dancer, Renckens was originally pretty nervous to be dancing in front of such a large number of people. However, once the parade started, Renckens found that not only was she no longer nervous, but that the hardest part was actually waiting for her routine to start every time the dance started over.
“With so much adrenaline rushing in me from the giant crowds shouting, I had a ton of energy performing and so I danced my very best,” Renckens said. “Waiting in my first dance pose in anticipation for the music to start was the hardest because I just wanted to start dancing already. I was feeling immense joy and happiness the entire time I was walking and dancing in the parade.”
