THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 6, 1996 TAG: 9609060063
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUMMER SHTAY, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 71 lines
WHEN KATIE SMALL isn't leaping onto the honor roll at Edenton's John A. Holmes High School, she's taking charge in tap, jazz, lyrical and pointe ballet classes.
At the tender age of 14, and after more than 10 years of dancing, Katie has made it to the ranks of the Proteges of North Carolina. For a young dancer in northeastern North Carolina, it doesn't get much better than that.
Katie Small, despite her surname, is of average height, but slender. Since November 1995 she has been a member of the Proteges, a dance team of promising students who compete nationwide.
``Being in this group really means a whole lot to me,'' said Katie, a sophomore. ``To be chosen is . . . a really, really high honor. I was thrilled.''
``For tryouts, we went to this really big dance convention in North Carolina with some of the best teachers from the state,'' she added. ``They teach you routines for a few hours, and the last hour, you perform the dances in front of five judges. There were like 80 or more girls trying out.''
It took a while before the acceptance letter came, but last Nov. 22, Katie finally received that much anticipated memorandum in the mail. Now she's a bona fide Protege and this July traveled with the troupe to New York.
In addition to dancing with some of the best young dancers in the state, Katie has studied under some of the best in the country as well. During the tryouts, for instance, she got to work under some famous instructors like Karen Hebert, Allen Arnett and Sharon Bullock.
Back home, Katie says her 18 dancing colleagues are down to earth. ``They're just like everyday people, kind of like you and me,'' she said. ``I mean, they're not a bunch of snobs or anything.''
Katie says she was greatly influenced by Broadway musical videos. However, when she was younger, her motivation came from her mother, Susan Small. Now, Katie said, ``it comes from my teacher Terri Black.''
Katie said that dancing ``gives me something to do and keeps me out of trouble. I mean . . . I enjoy it because it brings out the competitive side in me. When I'm dancing, I just try to forget my worries and do my best.''
Katie spends about 20 hours a week practicing at Danceworks! in Elizabeth City, N.C., and finds time for cheerleading, piano lessons and making the best grades she can. She doesn't have much free time, because after school she dances.
``Some nights I don't get home until 11 o'clock,'' she said.
And what about grades?
``I still study when I get home,'' Katie said. ``I like block-scheduling though, because you really don't have to worry about that much homework.''
With block scheduling, which is gaining ground in North Carolina and Virginia, students take four 90-minute classes instead of the traditional six 55-minute classes. Subjects are taken one semester instead of two, leaving students with a lighter homework load but more intensely concentrated lessons.
Katie plans to continue dancing in college, perhaps at Duke University on a dance scholarship.
``I'd like to someday be a physical therapist or a lawyer,'' Katie said. ``Probably a physical therapist, because I know a lot about the muscle groups and stuff from dance.''
Through dance, Katie says, she also has learned a lot about herself.
``Dancing really brings out the best in me,'' she said. ``The most important thing about dance is to try to do your best, to work really hard and to laugh at your mistakes.''
She added, ``Even if you don't accomplish your goals, just knowing that you did your best should be good enough.'' MEMO: Summer Shtay is a sophomore at John A. Holmes High School in
Edenton, N.C. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JIM WALKER/The Virginian-Pilot
Katie Small, 14, Edenton's John A. Holmes High School by CNB