Sophomore Alice Moriarty is no stranger to the spotlight. Beginning her dance career at two years old, Moriarty skillfully entertains audiences while flawlessly executing show-stopping routines.

Moriarty is a senior team member at Impact Dance Studio in La Grange, Illinois and regularly trains 15 hours a week. She acknowledged the multiple outlets and experiences dance has afforded her.

“I love the competitiveness, the self-discipline I have learned, all of the friends I have made and most of all that dance is a fun way to express emotions and stay active,” Moriarty said.

Moriarty competes at numerous elite competitions throughout her competitive season. Impact attends Velocity, Revive, Jump, 24 Seven, Nuvo, Radix and Hollywood Vibe. For the past four years, her team has traveled to Las Vegas to round out their season at the highly-competitive Radix Nationals.

“My favorite competition memory is winning nationals with my team. The whole season everyone worked so hard and stayed driven for the whole season. When they called our dance I was filled with so much happiness and pride; it made all of the long practices and sacrifices worth it,” Moriarty said.

She trains in all styles of dance at Impact, which prepares her to not only learn and compete her competitive routines, but also handle and embrace unexpected challenges.

“My favorite dance I have done is called “Bang Bang” choreographed by Logan Lipton at Impact Dance Studio; I was put in the dance as a replacement for someone who got injured. It was a challenge for me and I had to push myself to be an asset for the team. I grew a lot as a dancer, and it became one of my favorite dances I’ve been in,” Moriarty said.

Moriarty also dances on the Fillies, the varsity dance team at DGS. Varsity dance coach Dawn Jovic confirmed her studio training played a large role in her ability to make varsity as a freshman.

“Alice’s studio training has helped her immensely on Fillies. She was such a strong dancer from her studio before even entering high school that she was able to be placed onto the varsity team as a freshman without having to go through training on our jv team. Her studio training has helped to prepare her for the difficult choreography and skills that are expected on Fillies,” Jovic said.

In addition to her strong technical foundation, Moriarty exhibits dynamic movement quality.