Junior Kadance Hagen has been dancing her way through life since she was two years old, growing as a person and a dancer a little bit each year. Although Kadance is not affiliated with the high school for her dancing, she is making her mark in the dance industry by giving it her all.
Kadance dances for Rockford Dance Company. Her mother, Angela Hagen, is her instructor and inspiration.
“I’ve been dancing since I was two, so that’s all I remember doing,” Kadance said. “My mom has been dancing for her whole life, and she’s actually a dance teacher now, so she sparked my passion for dance.”
Being both mother and dance teacher, Angela Hagen holds Kadance to a higher standard than the average student.
“I have high expectations for Kadance,” Angela said. “I see her as a leader as well as a strong team player.”
Kadance recognizes that the dance world has a lot of negatives that many dancers have to face in their dance career. These aspects can take a toll on dancers’ mental health.
“The dancing world has gotten super competitive as the days go on,” Kadance said. “When you go to competitions and see all these amazing dancers, their techniques and their skills, you get stuck comparing yourself to them, you’re constantly analyzing your body, how it moves and what it looks like, so it’s easy to get stuck comparing yourself to other people and other dancers.”
For Kadance, it takes relentless pursuit to be a dancer. She has to be creative and know how to work her face and body in order to grab people’s as well as the judges’ attention. Kadance has found this comes easiest to her in the contemporary dance catergory.
“Contemporary is between jazz and ballet. The movement is so pretty and so freeing, which is why it’s the one I’m most passionate about,” Kadance said.
Kendal Gould, a senior at Tri County High School, also dances at Rockford Dance Company. She knows Kadance as a best friend but also as a valuable teammate.
“[Kadance] acts as a strong leader of our team and is always making sure we stay focused and working hard,” Gould said. “She is also so supportive of everyone and hypes them up when they’re dancing, which really lightens the vibe of the room.”
Gould also feels that Kadance excels in the contemporary dance style.
“She looks great and confident doing them all, but something about contemporary really brings out her performance and storytelling side of her dancing,” Gould said.
Gould is not the only person who views Kadance dominating the contemporary style; her mother sees it as well.
“[Kadance] is most passionate about contemporary and really feels the music,” Angela said.
Kadance’s teammates and friends look up to her as a dancer and a person.
“I see [Kadance] as someone who is always optimistic and positive,” Gould said. “She’s nice to anyone she talks to, and she’s the type of person that anybody on our team knows that they can talk to her about anything.”
