Since last May, Infinity Dance Academy has been preparing to compete at the “Battle on the Seas” by Starpower International. This is the first ever competition on a cruise ship for this company and the entire dance competition industry. This was completely optional for Infinity’s competitive team and 16 dancers took advantage of this opportunity. Forty-eight additional people tagged along to support their dancers, making it a total of 64 people sporting their Infinity shirts among the cruise ship.

The competition took place on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas, which included a full performance theater, an ice rink, a mini golf course, and many other amenities for the dancers to enjoy. Along the cruise, the ship docked at CocoCay and Nassau, which are both located in the Bahamas.

The competition was held in the theater throughout two days. Among 15 other studios from Rhode Island to Las Vegas, our small western New York studio brought 17 routines. From those routines, 13 placed first in their direct category and 5 placed first in their overall category. Their youngest dancers received a costume award for the routine “Big Bad Wolf” along with a golden ticket to SDA’s dance worlds in the Meadowlands. The oldest dancers also received a golden ticket and had the highest score in their age and level with their routine “You Don’t Know Me.”

All 16 dancers participated in a “cruise” theme routine, which included sunglasses, a telescope and sailor costumes. This routine received 5 stars, the Outstanding Entertainment award, and our third golden ticket to dance worlds. Infinity had several soloists and duets compete along with their group routines, all with amazing performances, high scores and overall placements. Emily Bowers, an Infinity soloist was selected for a Power Pak scholarship. She is the first dancer from Infinity to receive this achievement and opportunity. The Infinity staff are beyond proud of their dancers and thankful for the support of their families. They are much looking forward to the rest of their competitive season full of fun and success!