Local dance center Aspire Dance Studio will perform at a Clippers game this Sunday, Oct. 8.

The studio will be presenting its Company, a group of 32 dancers ranging from ages five to 19, including three WHS students – Sophie Robson ’21, Yenaiah Smith ’20 and Makenzie Titcomb ’21.

“We’re the pre-game performance right before tipoff,” said Alexia Liavas, the studio’s owner and director as well as the choreographer for the routine. “We started the new Company season in September, so we’ve only been working on the dance for a month.”

The dance is specifically catered to a stadium audience; Liavas used her expertise in sports game choreography to build off of the fun, the visuals, and the entertainment that would work in a basketball game’s atmosphere.

The routine will be five minutes long and is split into sections according to the Company’s different age groups, or crews: the younger crews will perform a jazz section, the older crews will perform segments in tap, hip-hop, and jazz, and then all the crews will perform together.

“We’ve never performed something so early in the season – usually competition season starts later in the spring,” continued Liavas. “The team has worked so hard and they’re so strong and it’s come together so quickly. I’m just really excited to see it on Sunday.”

Robson, who has danced at Aspire for a year, shares Liavas’ anticipation.

“I am very excited to be performing in a basketball stadium because I have never done that before,” she said. “You don’t have one audience in front of you – they are on every side of you, which adds a lot of difficulty.”

The studio’s motto is “We nurture and feed the soul, body, and mind through dance.” Robson echoes similar sentiments.

“My favorite thing about dancing there is how welcoming and kind everyone is and how much of a family you really become – especially on Company,” she said.

Liavas affirms this with a smile.

“No matter if you’re somebody that just takes one class a week for fun or if you’re somebody who’s on Company and you’re trying to be professional one day, we care about every dancer equally the same and want everyone to grow and be the best they can be.”