Swampscott dance group hits Boston

SWAMPSCOTT – Local dance students will be showing off their dance routines this evening at the Boston Celtics game in TD Banknorth Garden.Students from The Dean School and Dance Exclusive “A Performing Arts Academy” will perform a Hip Hop routine during the game.This will be the second performance at a Celtics game for Swampscott High School junior Kelsey Wharff.”I’ve been dancing since I was eight,” she said. “We danced at a Celtics game two years ago and it was a lot of fun. I’m really excited. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I like the Celtics especially this year because they are good.”Lynn resident Ryann-elizabeth Murphy, who is a senior at St. Mary’s High School, has been dancing for 15 years, but she said this her first big Hip Hop performance.”I usually do ballet, jazz and tap,” she said. “I’ve been practicing a lot. We’ve practiced every weekend for six weeks. I’m not nervous because I danced at a Celtics game two years ago. I’m excited.”Katie Morgan, 17, is a senior at Salem High School and, like Murphy, she said she had a blast two years ago when she performed at a Celtics game.”I’ve been dancing for 12 years,” she said. “I dance mostly jazz and ballet. This should be a lot of fun because it’s Hip Hop. I’ve done a lot of types of dance but this is the first time I’ve done Hip Hop. It’s so much fun.”Seanna Chmura, a co-owner of A Performing Arts Academy, is co-director of the New England Ballet Ensemble, co-director and choreographer to the New England Broadway Connection.Chmura said 35 students from the school would be performing at the game. She said the students, who are in grades four through 12, would be clad in black jazz pants and “A Performing Arts Academy” t-shirts.Susan Byrne, the artistic director of Dance Exclusive, is also a graduate of the Dance Teacher’s Club of Boston’s Teacher Training School. Byrne trained under the direction of Helen Deane and Cynthia Marnik at the Deane School of Dance for 20 years and went on to perform professionally. Byrne also teaches at the Deane School of Dance where she is an advisor and choreographer to the Tap and Jazz Corps. She is the assistant director of the New England Ballet Ensemble. Byrne is also the co-founder of the New England Broadway Connection, which is made up of students of the Deane School of Dance and Dance Exclusive. The group has performed at Walt Disney World, Swampscott’s 100th anniversary celebration and Boston Celtics games.