<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2kqPlD_1GqiJMv700" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2kqPlD_1GqiJMv700" width="1500" height="1100" >A chance conversation backstage at a dance competition in Great Falls has turned into an international opportunity for 15-year-old Madi Needles of Corvallis.The Corvallis High School sophomore will represent the United States at the International Dance Organization’s World Jazz Championships, November 26-29, in Podčetrtek, Slovenia.It started when Madi was preparing for a solo performance with Groovz Studio of Dance in Hamilton. She struck up a conversation with dancers from a Great Falls studio who had previously been involved with Team USA. They told her about their experiences and encouraged her to audition.After her performance, Madi returned to the dressing room, where her mother, Valisha, was busy steaming a costume. Madi asked if she could try out for the team.Valisha agreed, although she admits she wasn’t paying much attention to what she’d just agreed to.Madi, however, took her mother’s answer seriously.Auditions had already closed, but rather than give up, she contacted Team USA head coach Zach Kelley and asked about submitting videos of her dancing. Kelley agreed, and Madi sent in her audition.After reviewing the videos, Kelley told Madi the coaching staff was impressed. Then he asked for her jacket size.That was how she learned she’d made Team USA.When Madi excitedly told her mother the news, Valisha wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about. She hadn’t remembered their conversation in the dressing room.Madi began dancing about five years ago, first studying ballet at Ballet Bitterroot Dance Academy before joining Groovz. She credits instructor Michelle Post with helping her develop her love of dance and encouraging her to pursue opportunities beyond the local studio.Soon, Madi was preparing to travel to Arizona to rehearse with dancers she’d never met.“To say I was scared would be an understatement,” Madi wrote about her first rehearsal weekend in August.She was joining a group of talented dancers from across the country, learning unfamiliar choreography and working with new coaches. She recalled initially being intimidated by coach Ahna Bonnette’s demanding style, but soon came to appreciate the high expectations.The other dancers and their families quickly made her feel welcome. By the end of the weekend, she said, the team already felt like family.The training, however, has been demanding.Madi now travels to Scottsdale, Arizona, approximately every three weeks for rehearsals. Between trips, she’s expected to practice independently, submit videos to her coaches and make corrections before returning for the next session.She’ll compete in two jazz routines, a formation featuring 10 dancers and a smaller seven-member group. She earned her place in the smaller group after joining the team in Arizona.Back home, Madi balances the training with regular classes at Groovz and her schoolwork. She attends school on an alternating in-person and online schedule, often spending five hours practicing dance on her online school days.Despite the demanding schedule, she maintains straight A’s.The commitment has meant missing some of the activities most teenagers take for granted.“I’ve had to miss out on a lot of social experiences and dances because I’ve been other places training,” Madi said.For Valisha, the experience has meant coordinating travel, keeping up with her daughter’s schedule and adjusting to a different kind of competition.“Well, I’m really struggling,” Valisha joked, explaining that she’s accustomed to cheering enthusiastically for her daughter, sometimes with a cowbell.She asked Team USA’s coaches whether she could bring her usual noisemakers and be a “loud and proud Montana mom” but learned that spectators at the world championships are expected to remain quiet during performances.“I was told that I have to behave myself, and I have to be a little bit soft-spoken and just clap at the end of the performance,” she said.The championships bring together dancers from around the world. Unlike many American competitions, where dancers perform once and receive their scores, the event involves preliminary rounds, semifinals and finals.Madi understands the importance of performing well, but she also recognizes that one performance doesn’t define a dancer.“It’s like two minutes of your life, and if you don’t win, it’s not the end of the world,” she said.She hopes to continue dancing after high school, possibly on a college dance team and eventually with a professional National Football League dance squad. She’s also considered opening a studio of her own someday, inspired in part by Post’s influence.Madi has incorporated her Montana roots into a custom denim Team USA jacket featuring patches from local businesses that have supported her journey. She hopes her experience will encourage other young dancers in the Bitterroot Valley to pursue opportunities beyond their hometowns.“Even though we’re from a small town of not very many people, you can still go and do big things and be a part of big things,” Madi said.A few months ago, Madi had never considered auditioning for Team USA. A chance conversation backstage in Great Falls changed that, but it was her decision to pursue the opportunity, even after auditions had closed, that brought her this far.Now, with her mother’s support and months of hard work behind her, she’s preparing to take the stage in Slovenia, a long way from the dressing room where it all began.</div></body>

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A chance conversation backstage at a dance competition in Great Falls has turned into an international opportunity for 15-year-old Madi Needles of Corvallis. The Corvallis High School sophomore will represent the United States at the International Dance Organization’s World Jazz Championships, November 26-29, in Podčetrtek, Slovenia. It started...

Corvallis student earns spot on world dance stage

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A chance conversation backstage at a dance competition in Great Falls has turned into an international opportunity for 15-year-old Madi Needles of Corvalli

Corvallis student earns spot on world dance stage

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