Oak Park High alumnus becomes pro dancer

HIGH STEPPER- Christian Denice, an Oak Park High School graduate, soars at the New York City Dance Alliance last year. Denice was named Outstanding Male Dancer in that national competition. He also appears in the newly-released Disney movie "High School Musical 2." A little more than a year ago, Christian Denice was triumphantly tossing his cap in the air at the Oak Park High School graduation ceremony. Now, he's reflecting on a year of travels with the Odyssey Dance Theatre, a professional contemporary jazz dance group.

At an audition last summer, Denice was offered a position in the Salt Lake Citybased company. Right away he was thrust into company life, eight-hour days training and endless traveling and performing.

Despite the hard work, Denice, 19, said it's been the most amazing year of his life.

"This was my first year transitioning as a professional dancer in a professional company," he said. "All the traveling and learning how to get my stamina up without collapsing, it's tough. It's definitely a transition, but it's an amazing company with an amazing director and people, so that made it a lot easier for me."

Christian Denice Denice, a lifelong Westlake resident, has studied all areas of dance for 11 years, including jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, modern and hiphop. After high school graduation, he immediately set off to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional dancer.

"Last summer I had just graduated and I heard about an audition in L.A.," Denice said. "I had heard about them. They've been called best in the state (of Utah) for years. I went and auditioned, and they offered it to me on the spot."

The Odyssey Dance Theatre company is made up of 23 dancers. They train in ballet and jazz for about two hours Monday through Friday mornings. Then for six hours during the day, the dancers rehearse their numbers, practice for shows and train with guest choreographers.

"Every day was definitely a challenge," Denice said. "I think that's why I choose to dance: It's so fastpaced and always changing. You always have to be on your game."

The company puts together three shows each year: a Halloweenthemed show, a theater adaptation of "It's a Wonderful Life" at Christmastime and the finale, the spring repertoire.

The group tours all over Utah before heading to New York and a month in Europe. Last year, the company did a 13city tour in Germany. The itinerary varies annually.

"Each piece can be 10 to 15 minutes long, and you can be on stage the whole time," Denice said. "The stamina you have to build is amazing. When you have eight-hour days of dancing, it definitely pushes your body and your endurance."

With just days left before he begins his second year with the company, Denice is relaxing before the whirlwind nine-month season starts.

"I've gotten a lot of teaching and choreography jobs, and I travel with (youth dancing) conventions some weekends," Denice said. "But during time off, it's nice to relax and hang out in Salt Lake. It's not a fast-paced city, but it's still a nice place to be."

As for the future, Denice has big plans.

"In the near future, I hope to stay in companies, doing as many shows as I can," Denice said. "I want to learn as much as I can in company life and be involved in it as much as possible. In the next few years after that, I hope to branch out and start my own company.

"Choreography is my main passion right now, so I want to dive into that and explore. One day I hope to produce my own show."