Cutting the Rug all the Way from Lantz to a Toronto Basketball Court
Pat Healey
Enfield Weekly Press
Annalise Morash is proving even small town girls can live out big time dreams.
The Lantz native is enrolled in the Commercial Dance Studies program at George Brown College in Toronto, Ont. On July 20, the captain of the Toronto Raptors Dance Pak, Katherine (Kat) Stefankiewicz, visited her class.
Stefankiewicz e-mailed Morash the next day seeking her feedback on auditioning for the Pak at tryouts on July 24. While that would excite any other girl, the 18-year-old Morash kept a level head; she knew she still had a hill to climb to earn one of the 14 spots on the NBA club’s dance squad.
“I wasn’t really expecting a lot,” Morash told The Weekly Press from her apartment in Toronto. “I was more so going for the experience of auditioning and some of my classmates were going as well. The Raptors dance captain felt her coach would want to see what I have to offer. But I didn’t want to allow that to get my hopes up because I knew there would be a lot of girls auditioning.
“I had honestly never thought of doing this before, but after being there and seeing the Air Canada Centre, it’s pretty amazing.”
After being asked to audition, and being a tad hesitant to make an appearance, she decided she would go for it.
“I also have never been to an audition before,” she said. “I wanted the experience under my belt before graduating.”
The former Dance Zone Performing Arts Centre student has always been the type of person to dream big and follow that dream, no matter the hurdles or jumps that may be in her way.
“I have always known I wanted to be a performer,” she added. “Whether that meant dancing, singing, acting or all three, I have said since I was 15 that I wanted to be famous. Although this isn’t exactly Hollywood, it’s certainly a memorable chapter in my life.”
As she walked into her apartment on July 25, Morash heard her cell phone ring. She didn’t recognize the number. She said the conversation was surreal. It turned out she beat more than 100 other girls to land a spot on the dance team.
“I got butterflies almost immediately,” she recalled. “After the phone call I went out to the living room and told one of my roommates, Nicole Sandalis. We both started jumping up and down and then I ran back to my phone and called mom. She said she had to be the first to know, and she technically was.”
She doesn’t consider herself a one-genre music-lover. Instead, she said, she enjoys a variety, including getting up and dance, pop, hip-hop, RandB, top 20, as well as indie/coffee house.
Morash credits Dance Zone for getting her to where she is today.
“If it wasn’t for my mom (Laurie Morash), Erin (Hopewell) and the school I wouldn’t be the dancer/performer I am today,” she said. “I think my entire family deserve thanks, as well as all of my dance teachers throughout the years.”
She said her short seven months at George Brown Dance helped prepare her for the audition process. The one person she looks up to the most is her sister Rebecca, who also has a blossoming career in the dance industry.
“Without this formal training, I wouldn’t know half of the things I know,” Morash explained.
Meet the 2010-11 Dace Pak here.
