I've been going the BYU Youth Ballroom Camp for three years now, since 2016, and this summer will be my fourth year attending. I'm from Southern California, so you can imagine the road trip my family and I make each year to go. The BYU Ballroom Camp is one of the highlights of my summer! The campus is absolutely beautiful, and the training is incredible. It's some of the best intensive training I've ever had, and the variety of dances we learn choreography for each year really helps back home in California.
I started ballroom dancing for many reasons — I thought it looked cool, I was interested in the ballroom team at BYU, I was getting tired of ballet — and my coaches, Kyle and Allie Spinder, were previously dancers on the BYU Ballroom Dance Company. They first introduced me to the camp way back in 2016, and it was my first experience ever with intense ballroom training.
It was so nice being around kids who were just as passionate about ballroom as I am and being around instructors who were excited for their students' success. At the end of those four days, I was exhausted, and I couldn't wait to return next year.
I would even say that BYU Ballroom Camp helped me get into my dream high school, Orange County School of the Arts. Every single little dancer and actor and artist I've known growing up has wanted to get into OCSA. I was so excited when my coaches told me OCSA had a ballroom program. After seeing dancers from Utah, I knew that if I wanted a chance to be on BYU's Ballroom Team, I would have to hone in on my skills. And, after hard work, I was accepted into the school.
If I had never gone to Ballroom Camp, I would've never known how hard I have to work to accomplish my goal, and there have been countless times where I've learned footwork from camp and used it at school. I cannot wait for this August to go again with my little sister.
