MUNCIE, Ind. — Cole Academy dance team has students ranging from ages one to 18. They have been working hard for their upcoming Cole Christmas Spectacular 2025 which will be held on Friday, Dec. 19th at 6:00 p.m. at Emens Auditorium.
“This year's winter recital has been really fun. I think our theme this year is joy,” said artistic director Terressa Sipes. “All of our songs are centered around joy and cheer and just having lots of fun and enjoying the season.”
This dance team is known for their outstanding recitals and competitions. The Muncie community has voted Cole Academy Dance Studio the number one studio in Muncie for four years in a row.
There are around 300 total dancers performing in this year's recital. They started practicing at the beginning of October and are still going strong. These dancers are not only having fun and creating friendships along the way, they are carrying on a tradition of Cole Academy Dance Studio that has been going on for 77 years.
“It really does mean friendship,” said dancer Caveri Wilson. “I have grown up and watched some of the girls I dance with grow up. I'm leaving this year so it's kind of different, but I feel like they are my family and I feel like that is a really big part of the Cole Academy atmosphere.”
Wilson is a senior and has grown up dancing at Cole Academy, so she has very bittersweet feelings about this year's winter recital. However some of the junior dancers, like London Braun, are pumped for the upcoming recital.
“This year rehearsing for the winter recital has been a lot easier because we are just doing our hiphop as one of our dances so we don't have to learn any new dances,” said Braun.
The hiphop dance the junior dancers are performing is one of the routines they performed this past year at one of their competitions. Cole Academy Dance Studio offers dance, cheerleading and gymnastics here in Muncie. It is a year round commitment, but it is the place you can meet your best friends.
To get more information you can check out their facebook page.
Contact Lauren Bell with comments at lauren.bell@bsu.edu
