Dancers take big step -- to China

The studios at Northland School of Dance in Champlin are always bustling with dancers who practice after school, late on weeknights and early on weekend mornings.

This year, many of these students will spend even more hours every week at the dance studio to prepare not for the season of competitions and recitals, but for a trip to dance on a global stage at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The school's owner, Teresa Rolf, said she believes they are the only Minnesota dance studio invited to dance at the Summer Olympics.

"The opportunities they've given these kids are very cool," said parent Tammy Lynch. "We're a small school but they've got this great opportunity to travel the world and dance."

Sara Hemmer, 15, has been dancing at Northland since she was 5 and said she won't be too nervous at the Olympics because she will be dancing in front of strangers. The group of 34 10-to-18-year-olds will dance throughout the Olympics at scheduled performances for the athletes and visitors.

"I'm not worried about getting [the routine]," Hemmer said. "I just want to practice a lot so I don't screw up in front of millions of people."

The studio is beginning to establish a reputation for being invited to high-profile international events.

A group of Northland students were among about 20 schools selected from about 250 schools who auditioned to dance at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. In 2006, dancers from the school performed at an international dance festival in Austria.

Rolf has run her dance studio for 22 years, and along with her daughter Corrie Rolf, has tried to make connections to be able to expose their dancers to the international dance world.

"It's definitely an opportunity to see things that you only hear about," Teresa Rolf said.

For many students and parents, the trip is a chance not only to dance in front of an international audience, but to meet dancers from other cultures.

"What I want them to see is what reality is like in other parts of the world," Lynch said. "I want them to experience that culture and gain something from it for their own lives."

The dancers will be accompanied by 41 parents, grandparents, teachers and choreographers on the trip. Two parents, Lynch and Angie Zajac, are spending the year before the trip serving as liaisons to the parents and students and to the Utah-based company, Heritage Festivals, that is coordinating their involvement with the Olympic festivities.

"We've been trying to find out ways to be acclimated to the country's history and culture," Zajac said. "It'll be up to us to know the customs over there."

The students will raise money to cover most of the approximately $4,000 cost of the trip, which Zajac said was a priority for many parents who wanted the dancers to work for the opportunity.

"It was a big deal for the parents that the kids do the work themselves so they're invested," she said.

The students will spend the next several months practicing their routines but also preparing themselves for the cultural differences, which seemed to be their biggest concern.

"I'm really nervous but excited for the food," Hemmer said.

Lora Pabst • 612-673-4628

Lora Pabst • lpabst@startribune.com