TRUMBULL - The warm weather is not the only thing getting everyone at Rockwell Dance Center (RDC) excited. It is also time for Company Dance Auditions and Scholarship Auditions.

On Saturday, May 12, anyone interested in receiving a dance scholarship can audition. Rockwell hires degreed and experience adjudicators, who have never been to their studios, to select from more than 100 dancers and decide who will receive scholarship awards. Awards will range from $100 to $5,000 per student.

RDC feels having objective adjudicators makes the process of auditioning as fair as possible.

In 2017-18 - its first year - RDC awarded more than $75,000 in scholarships to dancers from Newtown, Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Milford, Monroe, New Haven, Stratford, and Trumbull. The goal of RDC is to give back to the community and offer students the chance to take classes in as many disciplines of dance under the tutelage of a professional, degreed, and educated faculty.

According to RDC Administrative Director Catherine LaChioma, four Newtown dancers received scholarships last year.

It is difficult to refuse a student in financial need and/or one who has innate talent when there is room in a class and when the result of taking that class can improve self image and open doors in the future for college and/or a successful dance career. It is not about the money at Rockwell, it is about the art of dance and providing the best education with as many performance opportunities to allow growth in a positive and nurturing environment. It is also about a faculty vested in the artistic and academic development of all students, who are encouraged to become productive responsible members of their community.

The audition schedule has been set as follows:

RDC Ballet Company: Thursday, May 10, at 4 (ages 9-12) and 6 pm (ages 12 and over);

RDC Modern Company and Scholarship Auditions: Saturday, May 12, at 10 am (ages 10-12) and noon (ages 13 and over);

RDC Tap Company: Tuesday, May 15, at 8 pm (ages 9-18); and

RDC Hip Hop Company: Saturday, May 19, at 2:30 pm (ages 9-18).

There is a $10 audition fee for each company audition.

Supporting and awarding scholarships to dancers/students is not a new concept for Rockwell Dance Center Owner and Artistic Director Nikole LaChioma. Her family owned and operated the Performing Arts Center of Connecticut for 11 years before stepping back and retiring. In those 11 years they awarded more than $880,350 to their students who went on to become Young Arts Scholars, Princess Grace Award Recipients, and received many scholarships to Juilliard, NYU Tisch, Cal Arts, Ailey, Marymount, Ohio State, Townsend, Pointe Park, Montclaire, and many other prestigious university programs.

Rockwell Dance Center invites dancers and parents to take a tour of their facility, take free trial dance classes, and meet the faculty.

RDC is at 18 Lindeman Drive. For more information about scholarship and company auditions, classes and summer programs call 203-502-8315 or visit rockwelldancecenter.com.

[naviga:img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-316466" src="https://newtownbee.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Rockwell-Dance-Center-auditions-local-dancers.jpg" alt="Rockwell Dance Center auditions -- local dancers" width="472" height="371" /]

Rockwell Dance Center - whose roster of male dancers currently includes, clockwise from upper left, Ian Hidalgo and Rowan Huber of Monroe, Lincoln Gray of Newtown, Pedro Lima-Lopes and Patrick Silva of Bridgeport, Harrison Jarit of Trumbull, and Aiden Andrade and Cheddi Dillon of Stratford - will begin welcoming dancers for 2018-19 auditions in mid-May.

-Gregory Kirkpatrick photo

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