Southern Strutt Sweeps Starpower World Championships

MYRTLE BEACH, SC-July 24, 2008 – Southern Strutt, Central South Carolina’s premiere dance studio, swept the Starpower World Championships at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center July 10-14. Seventy-three Southern Strutt dancers took the top two awards and numerous others in a competition that had more than 1,200 dance routines.

Southern Strutt dancers won both the Junior and Senior Victory Cups, winning giant trophies that literally towered over some of the dancers.
These routines included dancers from all the companies of Southern Strutt. The company also won the Studio Excellence Award from Starpower.

Because of this monumental win, Nancy Giles, owner and creative director of South Strutt will be invited to Las Vegas for the Federation of Dance Competitions. For more images of Southern Strutt in action, check out the website at www.SouthernStruttDance.com.

The newly revamped website features information on Southern Strutt’s Boot Camp. The growing popularity of dance shows makes it important for interested dancers to sign up for Boot Camp quickly. With 2008 shaping up to be another year when America’s interest in dance is peaking, Southern Strutt has invited Mandy Moore and Travis Wall of the hit television series So You Think You Can Dance to Columbia to lead Boot Camp instruction. These celebrity dancers will join more than a dozen professional dancers and choreographers from New York and Los Angeles to teach jazz, hip-hop, ballet, lyrical and contemporary at the Annual Southern Strutt Boot Camp, an intensive training opportunity for intermediate to advanced dancers. Dancers and choreographers also include Mark Meismer who danced with Reba McEntire, Celion Dion and Justin Timberlake and Justin Giles of Nuvo Dance Competition.

This is a rare chance for dancers to be exposed to the techniques and routines of some of the country’s top creative dance minds, Nancy Giles said. This is always the grand kickoff for our coming season, but this year we have a particularly strong faculty.

While Boot Camp is geared toward dancers who have experience, Southern Strutt welcomes all ages and ability levels, from three-year-olds to recreational dancers to those who dance competitively. Dance is not only a fun, invigorating form of exercise, but it is also a way to instill self-confidence and develop drive and discipline. A new season of dance classes starts on September 2. Check the Southern Strutt website for a complete schedule of upcoming classes for dancers of all ages and levels.

While it’s nice to win competitions I stress that dance is about much more than performance. All our dancers know that how we prepare and how we conduct ourselves is important, Giles said. I encourage all dancers to make friends and cheer for other kids at competitions.

For more information on Southern Strutt contact Nancy Giles or Dawn Edwards at 803-781-3980. The studio is located at 90 Ashbourne Road, Irmo, South Carolina 29063. Also visit the web site at www.SouthernStruttDance.com.