The thumping beat of the music pounds in her chest as she uses her body to tell a silent story. Junior Grace Charpentier is a jazz, hip hop, ballet, contemporary and theatrical dancer who recently won the highest award she could receive at her age.

Charpentier has been dancing before she could even walk. She attends Larkin for dance practice one hour every day for seven days a week. On Nov. 23, Charpentier participated in the Jump Dance Convention which consists of a room filled with a total of 500 girls and guys. Everyone danced for 16 hours total in a course of two days, all of whom are trying to get the judges’ eyes to fall on them in order to win the top scholarship consisting of one free year of tuition and a free trip to New York.

Charpentier put her sweat into the scratched wooden boards of that stage for those two everlasting days, and it all payed off when the winners started to be announced.

“They started with the minis, then the juniors, the teens and then finally the senior group. Once they got to teens the nerves started up, but it made me feel better because I was standing next to one of my best friends” said Charpentier.

Best friend Tia Tumbleson said, “We were all nervous. Though, Grace and I knew that whoever won really deserved it. Our nerves were making us sweat a little bit simply because it was such a huge deal.”

The dancers danced until their feet throbbed and their legs felt like two elephants were coiled around each leg weighing them down. The judges based their decision not only on how well the performer danced but on how the dancer performed. They looked for a well-rounded dancer with the ability to showcase a production on top of a fabulous dance routine. The results were in.

“When they said my name, my heart just started racing. I just remember running up to the front of the stage and they asked if I wanted to say anything. Of course I thanked my parents, my dance teachers, my friends and the judges.” Charpentier said, “You have to focus on your show. Too often of the time people just worry about how high their leg can get, or how many turns or jumps they did.”

“Dancing is very self-motivated, and I am very competitive. It is also my mom who motivates me a lot too. She puts so much time and effort into it, so I feel like I should pay her back. Also, it is having that one thing that you’re good at, and nobody can take that away from you,” said Charpentier.

“I am so proud of my Grace. She has worked very hard to be the best dancer she can be,” said Jane Charpentier, Grace’s mother. “She now has the great opportunity to go to New York and compete with the big wigs”.

Charpentier won not only an award, but also a great experience and opportunity. After the show Charpentier’s cheeks were about to pop from her not being able to stop smiling. Her friends and family all wrapped their arms around her and she squeezed back like she was a little kid again.