Montpelier dancer tries out for America’s Got Talent

One of the next “America’s Got Talent” stars could be from Idaho.

A young dancer from Montpelier recently auditioned for the show.

Jade Turner, 15 years old, loves to dance.

“Dancing is literally my life,” Turner said. “It’s my heart, my soul. You need air to live, I need dance.”

But it wasn’t always that way. Turner said she started out dancing when she was younger but hated it. Her mom had to take her kicking and screaming to lessons, so it didn’t last very long.

Then about three years ago, Turner decided to give it another shot and this time, had a different result.

But she quickly topped out of her dance class and wanted to be able to learn more and keep working on her dancing.

Her grandpa owned a building that wasn’t being used so he decided to let Turner use it for a dance studio to practice and grow in her talent.

“I come in every single day, Monday through Sunday and I just watch Youtube videos and dancers that I look up to, and I just record their videos and rewind and think, ‘Oh how does she do that?’ and I just figure it out myself,” Turner said.

Turner mostly dances contemporary and lyrical. She has won numerous awards including seven queen titles, two national titles, and more first place finishes than she can count.

Recently, she decided to take her talent to a bigger stage. In December, Turner auditioned for the t.v. show “America’s Got Talent.”

“It was so much fun, you name it, it was there,” Turner described. “There were singers, contortionists, belly dancers, there was a hip hop break dancing chicken. For me, I love to be around people that have the drive that I do. There were so many other people there who just live, breathe, eat, sleep their talents.”

But Turner doesn’t just keep herself dancing. She also uses her studio to teach 25 younger girls how to dance. Turner said it’s a way for those who can’t afford regular classes and the costs that come with them, to still be able to learn to dance.

Turner knows what that’s like because she pays for her dancing costs herself.

“I don’t even know to begin how to say how blessed I am to have a daughter like her,” said Shannon Chavez, Turner’s mom. “Being a single mom, I have these two little kids that rely on me and I try to do the best that I can and I try to help pay for dance as much as I can, but it’s usually $5,000 to $6,000 a year and that doesn’t’t include hotel, food, gas, things like that. And she just stepped up and starting picking up these jobs.”

“I worked at soda shops, I babysit for literally half the town, I stock Pepsi at the local grocery store,” Turner said.

And those are just a few of her many jobs that keep her earning money to compete.

She said she plans to keep working hard because she has big plans.

“I want to have my name in lights, I want to be dancing on Broadway,” Turner said. “And my biggest dream ever is to be on the Ellen show. Mine and Ellen’s birthday are on the same day and so that’s like my biggest dream ever.”

Turner said she finds out in March if she gets a call back to advance to the next round of AGT. She said no matter the outcome, it was a great experience.