On the back of a successful round of performances of The Nutcracker, five In Motion dancers are headed to the US for a popular competition and workshop.Tajante Wainwright, Jada Pearman, Taylor Railton, Samantha Hollis and Haley Cantarella will compete at the Nuvo Dance Convention in Orlando, Florida this weekend.The Bermuda dancers, all between the ages of 13 and 15, will compete against some of the best up-and-coming performers in their age group.They will also get training assistance from recognisable names in the business including Travis Wall, a past choreographer for the TV show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’, and Stacey Tookey, who regularly performed with Celine Dion at Caesar’s Palace.“It’s not so much of a dance mom’s competition,” said In Motion director Lizz Pimentel. “When people hear ‘dance competition’ they think automatically it’s not high-end, it’s like Dolly Dinkles dance school competition. We chose this one because the dancers will get to take classes and workshops with some amazing choreographers and teachers.“This is the first time we are going to the competition and convention [and] the girls will be competing against other dancers in their age group.”The Royal Gazette spoke with the teenagers as they trained for a two-day run of holiday classic The Nutcracker. Ms Pimentel said they would likely keep dancing throughout the Christmas season.“I don’t like to give my dancers, especially those at a more advanced level, too much time off from their classes because taking a few days off as a dancer, just like any other athlete, you really notice it. It usually takes a few days to get back to training so we were looking for something over the Christmas holiday when I found out about Nuvo.“We usually travel to New York to do a workshop there, but I am always looking for new and exciting things for them to do [and] to expose them to as many different things as we can internationally.”She said dance competitions were now a “big thing” in the media and she wanted to challenge her students to see how they would make out.“I also wanted to expose the dancers to other students their age in a healthy competitive environment,” Ms Pimentel continued.“I hope they come back with a better understanding and knowledge of where they are in their dance training and a better understanding of their weaknesses and strengths so they can improve on them.“I also want them to make new connections and meet dancers that have the same passion they do so they can hopefully connect with them for the future. You never know where you will need those connections later on or see them again.”All five girls will be taking part in a group piece together; 15-year-olds Jada and Taylor will also perform solo dances.Taylor said: “I’m excited because it’s the first time I have done this sort of thing. It’s going to be a good experience to see all the other dancers.”She started dancing at age three and has attended workshops in New York, Washington, Orlando and North Carolina. This will be her first overseas dance competition.Jada said she was excited but also a bit nervous as she didn’t know exactly what to expect and felt the pressure to nail every move.Thirteen-year-old Haley, the youngest of the five, said the thought of competing was a little intimidating but the other girls frequently helped her “get through things that I have trouble with”.Samantha, 15, said she was looking forward to the challenge.“I feel the experience is going to be worth it and good for us. We can learn a lot of new things from it and it pushes us to get out of our comfort zone because there are people judging us this time.”She has wanted to be a professional ballerina since she was a small child, but began taking the art more seriously after attending a dance intensive in Washington State.“That’s where I fell in love with ballet. I was the youngest of the four there and I tried to challenge and push myself and I have loved it ever since.”The routines the girls will be performing were choreographed by local dance teacher Candice Musselman and Ashley Lindsay, a teacher from the University of North Carolina’s School of the Arts.Ms Pimentel said she felt “super proud” of the budding dancers and hoped the competition would give them the push to move deeper in their study of dance“It’s a huge accomplishment. It’s probably a bit scary because it’s unknown and they will be the first from our dance school, but we are very excited that we have them at the place we feel they are will fair well in the environment.“All their hard work has paid off and it’s a reward for all the time and effort they put in. It keeps that excitement and energy alive for dance and their drive to continue it.”Useful website: www.gonuvo.com