Revolution Dacewear "Design Your Dream" | Vote for Elizabeth M. now!

Tiptoz' very own Elizabeth Mayhill is one of the top ten semi finalists in Revolution Dancewear's "Design Your Dream" contest!

Watch this interview with her to learn about the inspiration behind her design and vote now!!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!

Tiptoz 2015 Seniors

Say hello to the this year's seniors -- Matyson Leydig and Elizabeth Baker! 

Maty will be attending Cloud County Community College with a dance scholarship. Elizabeth will be attending Washburn University with a music scholarship.

I had the opportunity to photograph these gorgeous seniors recently. Enjoy!

get to know | Carolyn Fitzgibbons

Ms. Carolyn Fitzgibbons is a Senior Instructor here at Tiptoz. Recently I had the opportunity to ask her some questions about her dancing career. Get to know her in this interview!

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AT WHAT AGE DID YOU START DANCING? WHERE DID YOU START DANCING? WHEN DID YOU START TEACHING DANCE?

I was exposed to dance at a very young age by growing up backstage of the Christmas Spectacular feat. the world-famous Radio City Rockettes. I started dance at the age of 3 at Ozark Dance Academy in Ozark, Missouri, which is where I trained until I graduated high school in 2011. My older sister began to dance before me and, like many younger sisters, started because she was doing it. My training started in ballet and tap and grew to pointe, jazz, contemporary, and modern. I did a little bit of hip hop while a member of the Ozark Tiger Varsity Dance Team the 4 years in high school. I acted as an assistant coach for the team, though never officially hired by the school.

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU START DANCING? WHERE DID YOU START DANCING? WHEN DID YOU START TEACHING DANCE?

Some of my dance accomplishments are being in an All-American under the Universal Dance Association all 3 years I was eligible, performed in the 84th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, being ranked in the Top 15 in the the state of Missouri my sophomore and junior year in high school and broke into the Top 10 my senior year. My latest accomplishments were choreographing a  musical up in Wisconsin for the Mineral Point High School earlier this semester and winning Dancing with the K-State Stars, which has allowed for me to compete at Miss Kansas, a preliminary to the Miss America pageant, this June.

WHERE DO YOU GO TO SCHOOL & WHAT ARE YOU GOING FOR?

Currently, I am a student at Kansas State University working towards a B.A. in Theater, with a concentration in Dance, and a B.A. in Kinesiology, with an emphasis in Exercise Physiology; I am also a Pre-Physical Therapy Student.

WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING THING ABOUT BEING A DANCE TEACHER? WHAT IS THE MOST REWARDING THING?

The most rewarding thing about being a dance teacher is seeing my students understand and apply corrections. This is a skill that can be applied to every part of their lives and allows for them to grow as dancers. My job as a teacher is having them get to that realization, which I would have to say is the most difficult part of my job. Students learn in different ways so in a class of 12 students, I have to remember how each of them "work" in terms of critiquing them.

WHAT IS ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU HAVE FOR DANCERS?

My best piece of advice for dancers is to remember why you dance. I had 2 knee surgeries in high school and a hip surgery last May, along with many health conditions growing up. Dance is what helped me get through it all and gave myself an outlet to express my emotions. Dancers face hard times We just have to remember why we do what we do because we have justified at one point why we wanted to dance in the first place. This reason will change; it may change a lot. However, if we lose track of why we dance, then we lose track of who we are as individuals.

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Thank you Carolyn!