Clovis High School Junior wins big at international dance competition

Jessica Harrington Image
Tuesday, November 19, 2024 1:34AM
Clovis High School Junior wins big at international dance competition
A Clovis High Student is being recognized for her dance skills on an international level.

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Clovis High Student is being recognized for her dance skills on an international level.

It's the kind of dance that'll keep you on your toes.

It'll make you dizzy with emotion and, somehow, Hayden Olson balances it all with ease.

She spends hours in a room at Dolce Dance Studio in northeast Fresno, throwing herself into her moves.

"I'm mostly lyrical, contemporary and then ballet," Olson said.

The owner and director of the studio, Kendra Primavera, helps choreograph and enhance each move Hayden makes.

She says Hayden is one of a kind.

"She's stunning, and she's beautiful, and she's graceful, and she holds herself with the utmost confidence," Primavera said.

Hayden has been dancing since she was seven.

Her countless hours of practice took center stage recently in a regional competition held by the Thunderstruck Organization in Fresno.

Her talents stood out so much that she was invited to the national competition in Las Vegas.

That competition was for an all-expenses paid trip to London for an international competition.

It was this dance choreography that struck the judges.

Hayden earned first place in her age group and was the highest-scoring performer in the competition.

"It just kept happening. I just kept getting shocked like over and over again as it kept happening," Hayden said.

When the Clovis High Junior isn't at the studio, she's dancing with the CHS SuperPep Team or taking one of her three AP classes.

Now, she's teaching the next generation of dancers at the studio.

Primavera says she's thankful the students have such a great role model.

"I couldn't have asked for a better person for them to look up to. I mean, she's got straight A's, she works very hard in the classroom as well as the dance floor and she's very humble," Primavera said.

Hayden says that having the international competition win under her belt confirms that her countless hours of work are paying off.

"It just makes it that much more rewarding to know that everything I'm doing has like a reasoning, and I'm getting something out of it," Hayden said.

Her next performance will be the Nutcracker.

She hopes to get a scholarship for college and continue dancing.

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