Charmaine is currently a freshman at Lane Tech College Prep High School. Her favorite subject is art, which allows her to express creativity in many different ways. This love of art started at a young age and fueled her passion for dance as she got older. Charmaine discovered her love of dance at the age of 12 during the covid pandemic, when she began teaching herself through watching and following along with ballet videos on youtube. She then had the opportunity to take a weekly ballet class at her local park district and discovered dance was something that she was passionate about, as it blended her love of art and listening to music. She has always been active and athletic, but never found her passion in other sports.  Once Charmaine discovered dance she loved it because she was able to use her athleticism but make it graceful and beautiful. She was able to use dance as an outlet to express an array of different emotions through music and movement.

One year later, in the fall of 2022, she met Lizzie and discovered Extensions Dance Company through their summer program. She instantly knew it was a supportive and hardworking environment that would help her grow and achieve her full potential, especially after being awed by the grace, precision, and dedication of the other more advanced dancers. After one year of training in ballet, hip hop, contemporary, and jazz, she is now beginning her first year as an Extensions company member and she loves it. Her current favorite style is jazz as she is drawn to its fun and upbeat movements and moves, but she also continues to train hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, ballet and just recently started dancing on pointe! Dance has also helped develop Charmaine’s personal growth in many areas such as increasing her confidence, developing a strong work ethic, learning to stay organized, and pursuing excellence. She is very appreciative of Lizzie and all of the faculty members for being so supportive of her dance journey. Charmaine is very excited for this new season of dance and all of the many opportunities yet to come!