Ancramdale dancer stretching out the competition

ANCRAMDALE — Sorry, Alyssa Cleveland often has to tell her friends, she can’t go out tonight. There are more important things on her schedule. Like dancing.

Alyssa, who is 17, has been studying dance since the age of 3, taking her first steps at Stissing Loft in Pine Plains. She’s got a few more years under her belt now, and is a member of the Columbia Elite All-Stars, a Kingston/Albany based team that practices in Hudson.

Competitive dancing is a popular activity where participants perform dance routines in a number of permitted styles ranging from ballet to hip-hop. The Columbia Elite All-Stars, which has well over a dozen members, performs collectively in the hip-hop style at meets against other teams in their age bracket. Team members can also perform individually or as part of a duet, often in other styles of dance.

To say the team travels to their competitions is an understatement: they compete in national tournaments, like one held in Orlando in early February, and recently headed down to Maryland for an east coast-based Reach the Beach competition in Ocean City.

Alyssa competes as part of the team, with a partner and  competes in the solo category. The styles and themes from the competitions vary. The Black Eyed Peas’ hip-hop song “Boom Boom Powâ€� set the backdrop for the team’s routine, while more subdued, and as Alyssa calls it “lyricalâ€� music sets the tone for the duet and solo performances.

“Hip-hop is fun but I think lyrical is my favorite,� Alyssa said. “I can work on so much more with a lyrical solo. You start off with pirouettes and then go to doubles. You can work on a lot more.�

The Ancramdale teen, who attends Taconic Hill High School, learned some of her moves from being on the cheerleading team, but said that cheerleading and dancing ended up being two different worlds.

“Cheerleading is more of the tumbling, and everything has to be sharp. Dancing is more like flowing,� she explained.

The Columbia Elite All-Stars, coached by Tanya Phelps, aren’t too shabby when the results are posted either. In Maryland, Alyssa and her partner finished second in the duet program and the team finished third with its hip-hop stylings.

Alyssa, who said she would like to stay in dancing even after she’s stopped competing, to stick around to show some of the younger students the ropes, is committed to the sport. She practices at least 10 hours a week, and can usually be found at the studio working on her routine.

The competitive dance season runs from September to April, but because of the high costs associated with entering events, including  travel expenses, the team fundraises all year, holding breakfasts, dinner, face painting at nearby fairs and whatever else will keep the team on the dance floor.

“When she did her first duet I cried,� admitted Alyssa’s mother, Sharon. “She had her first recital at 3, and she’s just kept going ever since. I’m very proud of her.�