An intelligent young woman takes the stage, expressing her love of dance and the skills it takes to create and perform such beautiful choreography.
Dance is an art, a sport and an escape. It has been a style of expression for centuries, depicted in carvings, stories and documented rituals. Today, dancing can be anything you want it to be – recreational, celebratory, competitive. For dance star Danielle DeCaro, it’s everything; “From when I was little, I always knew I wanted to make dance my life and career. Dance has always been the one thing I could count on; it was my escape when things were hard. I believe that it helped make me the person I am today. It has taught me so much, experienced so much and has been offered many opportunities from it. Dance provided me with my second family and where most of my memories are from. I don’t know what I would do or where I would be if I didn’t have dance in my life.”
Since she was 2 ½ years old, Daniella DeCaro has been a dancer. She began at Mary Ann’s Dance Studio in Springfield, Massachusetts, but moved to a different studio two years later. DeCaro danced with The Dance Studio in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, to begin her career as not only a recreational dancer, but a competitive one. At 8 years old, she stepped onto the stage for her first competition. Throughout her years with The Dance Studio, DeCaro competed for 10years in a variety of categories: groups of modern, jazz, hip-hop, musical theater, solos in the style of modern and musical theater, as well as open productions. She has won many first-place awards, national invitations and specialty awards.
Danielle DeCaro graduated from high school in 2024 and started at Central Connecticut State University the following Fall. DeCaro is currently studying Dance Education to receive both a bachelor’s degree and a license to teach grades Pre-K to 12 when she graduates in 2028. For her major, she has to take many dance classes, but she is also part of the dance company there. Dancentral is CCSU’s largest and longest-running dance club. DeCaro also dances with the CCSU line dancing club.
With Dancentral, she has been elected the secretary, which she says is “truly an honor.” She also mentions how she “[has] been a part of showcases with them and plans on performing and hopefully choreographing in many more.” The styles of dance she prefers are contemporary and musical theater. “I love storytelling and emotion when dancing and both of these styles allow me to do that. I’ve always said I may not be the best dancer technically or be able to do a ton of turns and flips but I can put on a performance and tell a story. I can either make someone cry or smile with my dancing and these styles allow me to do that.”
Her daily routine consists of “[a] company class consisting of warm up and technique refreshers to start our long day of rehearsals. Then we move into all our practices for our dances, each practice can range from an hour to two and a half hours.” These days are long and tiring, filled with tons of cardio and not much rest. DeCaro has rehearsals nearly everyday along with her college course, “At the end of a long rehearsal day I like to take a nice hot shower and then lay flat either on my bed or on the floor to just release any pain, stress, or tension from the long day, as well as adding my holy grail biofreeze on any areas that may be hurting a bit more like my knee and back where I have previous injuries.” The day in the life of a student athlete is no small feat! She has recently begun assistant teaching at her home studio’s location in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
Inspiration can come from anywhere, but specifically for Danielle DeCaro, some dancers include Martha Graham and Debbie Allen. Graham is a modern dance pioneer. “Her technique, choreography and storytelling are just so fascinating and intriguing to me.” Debbie Allen’s “The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker” is DeCaro’s favorite performance by her. DeCaro says, “This version incorporates other styles of dance like hip-hop, tap, and even cultural dances as well as having its classic ballet…amazing and iconic.”
The future of dance is in the hands of the young ones. Some advice of Danielle DeCaro to the next generation of dancers is “to just have fun.” She says, “Yes, dance can be very stressful and hard on you both mentally and physically and you have to be dedicated to it, but if you’re not having fun while doing it, what’s the point?”
An art, a sport, a sense of fulfillment. Dance has been here for as long as we can remember and will continue to be an inspiring aspect of life. During her time at CCSU and the years after, we hope the best for Danielle in her dancing career!