Minneapolis dance team Dance City wins national competition in Las Vegas

By SUSAN-ELIZABETH LITTLEFIELD

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    MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (WCCO) — In March, WCCO profiled Dance City, a north Minneapolis dance team on a mission: to raise money to make it to a dance competition in Las Vegas.

Thanks in part to WCCO viewers, they raised enough to cover the costs. Now, the girls are back home, and do they ever have a story to tell.

The girls from Dance City have the choreography, the footwork and the confidence of champions.

“These girls are passionate, they love it, they work hard and I am just so honored to be their teacher and to be able to pull their passions out of them,” coach Cierra Burnaugh said.

Those passions recently ignited the brightest city in the world — Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We went and we came back national champions,” Burnaugh said.

They have the hardware and the memories to prove it.

“Screaming, screaming, jumping, crying. Dance moms and dads almost doing cartwheels,” Burnaugh said.

“It was like I was going to heaven and I was really excited,” dancer Nyla Williams said.

And they should be. They went toe to toe with some of the best of the best.

“They are literally diamonds in the rough and to be able to showcase their talent on the west coast against dancers that dance on Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, we still come out national champions, it just shows, do not discount little Minneapolis, OK, there’s some talent here,” Burnaugh said.

Talent and support.

“I would like to say thank you for everyone who helped us get to Las Vegas, helped my dance moms and the dancers get there completely free, such an amazing blessing and we’re so grateful for the support from the community,” Burnaugh said.

It was an experience these movers and shakers maximized.

“I think we showed that we can do it,” dancer Drekeyiah Walker said. “It doesn’t matter where you come from or what circumstances you come from, you always gotta believe in yourself and believe that you can do it, if you put in the hard work and time, and you’ll get a good outcome.”

And sometimes that outcome is great.

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