En-Raptored with the Dance

At 14, Lantz native Annalise Morash set her eyes on a dance career; at 18 she’s found a job with the Toronto Raptors’ Dance Pak

By Jennifer Charlebois
The Chronicle-Herald

Lantz native Annalise Morash was never interested in becoming a dancer. Instead, she toyed with the idea of going into modelling, medicine, and a number of other careers.

“I was all over the place,” she says.

Now, however, the bubbly 18-year-old finds herself a student of the Commercial Dance Studies program at George Brown College in Toronto, and a recent recruit of the Toronto Raptors’ Dance Pak.

“I think because my mom owned a dance school, I was in that adolescent stage of ‘I want to do the exact opposite of what my parents want me to do.’ ” she said from Toronto.

Nevertheless, the foundation for Annalise’s career was built in her early childhood. She grew up in a dance studio, says her mother Lauri Morash, who managed the Lauri Morash School of Dance in her home for 14 years. Lauri juggled raising her two young girls — Rebecca, now 22, and Annalise — working from home, and teaching at night. Her business has since expanded to include studios in Clayton Park and Elmsdale, and 300 to 400 dancers per year.

Although she no longer teaches, Lauri still manages the studios, now called Dance Zone Performing Arts Center, the site of Annalise’s formative training.

Described as “awkward” and “lanky” in her younger years, the five-foot-seven teen joined the senior troupe at Dance Zone, and also performed with the DZ Extreme professional/amateur team. Although she was able to pick up a variety of dance styles quickly and easily, she was much more interested in the social aspects of dance school than in the hard work and training itself.

Then something changed. After older sister Rebecca, also a dancer, left to pursue a program at Toronto’s Randolph Academy for The Performing Arts, it seemed the door opened for Annalise.

“Around the age of 14 or 15, she suddenly blossomed, and within six months she was this different child with a different intensity in terms of her desire to be a dancer,” said Lauri.

“Seeing (Rebecca) be so successful, following her dream, seeing that you can make a career out of it . . . I think that kind of helped me,” said Annalise. “Suddenly it was like, ‘Maybe I can do that too.’ ”

She accelerated her studies and graduated a semester early from Hantz East Rural High School in Milford Station. In January of this year, Annalise moved to Toronto to begin her studies at George Brown College in a one-year program that prepares dancers for a career in industrial entertainment productions such as film, television, or musical theatre.

After learning a few routines from a Raptors’ dancer/scout in her mock audition class, Annalise was asked to audition for the Raptors’ Dance Pak with more than 100 other dance hopefuls. Fourteen girls were finally selected for the team, made up of seven returning dancers and seven new girls from the audition — including Annalise. She was offered the job on July 25.

“When I got the call, I was beyond excited. I cancelled work that day. I literally was just waiting all day for my phone to ring,” she said.

Annalise is currently in training with her first pre-season game on the horizon, on or around October 13, just after her 19th birthday. Until then, she is practising three days per week with the Raptors’ Dance Pak, as well as juggling school, and fighting back bouts of homesickness.

“I miss them so much!” she said of her family and friends. It’s her first time living away from home, and sometimes returning to Nova Scotia once every few months doesn’t seem like enough.

“I love the city . . . it’s so convenient . . . but at the same time, the last time I went home, I literally just stood outside and was breathing in the fresh air,” she said, noting that she also misses the unity of her hometown. Despite this, Annalise says she couldn’t be happier with George Brown or the Raptors. “I’m very fortunate,” she said.

Besides aspirations of travel and getting a job on a cruise line, Annalise is a hometown girl at heart. She hopes to return to Lantz eventually. “Of course, I see myself teaching at Dance Zone after pursuing my career here in Toronto,” she said.