Legacy Senior Elisabeth Housley started taking dance classes when she was just three years old. Those first few years of dance, most little girls are going through the motions, learning technique, and just generally enjoying themselves. They use that time to gauge their interest, ability, and excitement all while getting a small taste of what life is like on the stage. Let’s admit it, there is nothing cuter than a little toddler in a beautiful recital costume. As fun as dancing at the introductory level is, for many girls, once the required dedication reaches the next level, they tend to move on to a another activity or drop out altogether. Then there are girls like Elisabeth.
Elisabeth’s love of the art form blossomed right from the start. She has continued her dance studies over the past fifteen years, just as long as she has been a student at Legacy. She is drawn to dance due to its perpetual evolution. Dancers are constantly required to adapt and grow as they continue to perform. Elisabeth embraces this aspect of dance wholeheartedly, and it is part of what drives her passion.
To say she is dedicated is an understatement. Elisabeth trains six days a week. She has been a senior company member of the Chamberlain Performing Arts dance company for four years. Last summer she spent a month in Chicago studying modern dance at the Hubbard Street Dance summer intensive. Elisabeth doesn’t just spend her time honing her skills, she also shares her love of dance with the community. She is president of the Chamberlain Service League which is an organization that provides free dance classes and community performances to the underserved in Plano. For the past four years, she has helped teach special needs dance classes every Saturday morning with Chamberlain’s Shining Stars program.
When Elisabeth was in seventh grade she was accepted to her studio’s student company. It was at that point that she began to realize the potential for a future in dance as she watched older dancers go through the college audition process. Elisabeth was recently admitted into the modern dance program at the Oklahoma University School of Dance. She is deciding whether she wants to major in dance performance or in communications and journalism which would allow her to pursue either working for a professional dance company or writing for a dance publication.
Legacy Christian Academy offers students a college preparatory education; central to that education is fine arts. 100% of students in Pre-K through high school participate in a fine arts course, and many upperclassmen continue with their fine art study. For the latest information on Legacy fine arts, subscribe today. For more information on Legacy, visit our admissions page.