National Championship

A dance team from ExtravaDance & Tumble in Kernersville recently claimed a National Championship and the dance studio itself also raised $20,000 for the fight against cancer.
On July 2-7, dance teams from ExtravaDance & Tumble competed in the Kids Artistic Revue National Dance Competition in Pigeon Forge, TN.
“We had dance teams in every division and routines for dancers of every age. We placed in every division and the 8-and-under team won a national title,” said Erica Summerlin, ExtravaDance &Tumble director of competition teams. “There were six days of dancing for the entire team. We were the only studio in attendance that had a routine in every division.”
Rachael McCannon was an instructor for the team and Nina Schulte was the choreographer.
The ExtravaDance & Tumble 8-and-under team, consisting of 12 girls with an average age of seven, won the National title in the Lyrical Dance division. They performed to the song “When She Loved Me.” Dance teams competed from all over the nation, including California, Texas, Michigan and Georgia.
“They are judged on technical ability, technique, performance, choreography and costuming. They really hit that routine for that final performance,” Summerlin said. “I think their technical ability, technique, the routine and the age appropriateness of it all stood out. They had the total package.”
While at the Kids Artistic Revue National Dance Competition, ExtravaDance & Tumble presented a check for $18,000 to Dancers Against Cancer. The dance studio has raised a total of $20,000 for Dancers Against Cancer this year.
“Dancers Against Cancer is an organization that gives money to dance communities that are affected by cancer and all of the money goes to that. The big fundraising event we had for it was “ExtravaDancing with The Stars,” said Summerlin.
ExtravaDance &Tumble Owner Sara Walser was proud of the dance teams from the studio, but was even prouder of the fundraising efforts.
“We had the ‘ExtravaDancing with The Stars’ event and we expected to maybe make $5,000. We ended up raising $18,000. You had to nominate people and it cost so much to nominate them. We had video and it culminated with five finalists,” Walser said. “We really like supporting that charity and we were really glad to present the check at the event. We have a child here that is a beneficiary of Dancers Against Cancer. Everybody that works for Dancers Against Cancer is a volunteer. There are no paid positions. I was proud of the kids, parents and teachers.”
Summerlin said people voted online for $1 for “ExtravaDancing with The Stars” and people could vote multiple times. Summerlin said the biggest donation they got for Dancers Against Cancer was $500.