Sophmore Nolen Petty, along with his dance team, The Force, has claimed some of the highest awards in the competitive dance world. Competing in events such as “The Imagine Dance Challenge” and the “Backstage Competition” where they performed “A Chorus Line and Laborer,” The Force has earned platinum, high gold and diamond awards.
Competitions are not the only place Petty displays his dance experience. In Del Val’s theater department, Petty illustrates his deep understanding of dance and theater. He performed major roles in shows such as “Little Women,” “The Play That Goes Wrong” and “Newsies.”
Petty’s had a drive for tap almost his entire life. His passion for the sport began at the age of five, after his mom entered him into a tap dancing class. Ever since, he has been hooked on the sport, and he started his lifelong passion for dance.
“I’ve always taken dance seriously because it’s just something I love,” Petty said. “I want to do well, but three years ago, when I joined my dance team, was when I started competing, I knew I needed to step it up and do even better.”
His desire to do well led to Petty practicing often, whether he is was one of his dance studios, in school, or at his house. Petty belongs to two dance studios: Epic Dance Company in Flemington and Broadway Bound Dance Center in Lebanon. Petty focuses on tap, but he has recently been dabbling in other dance forms, such as ballet, which allowed him to become an increasingly diversified dancer.
With Petty’s ever-growing dance background and dedication to taking musical theater classes outside of school, he brings lots of experience to the table. He often assists his peers in plays and musicals.
Even with previous theater experience, Petty still struggles with vocals when performing. With the help of the choir director Adrian Camano, Petty has improved his vocals, which enables him to hit higher notes than ever before. While Petty isn’t perfect yet, he continues to strive towards improvement.
In the future, Petty has aspirations to debut on Broadway, and he hopes to one day open up his own dance studio. Heather Fleischman, the dance teacher at Del Val, is a big inspiration for him to do that.
Through all of Petty’s success and hard work, he highlighted one thing for others to remember.
“Everybody is at different points in their life, and everybody learns at different paces,” Petty said. “They shouldn’t be discouraged by that fact.”