By Kelli Saunders
Staff Writer
From performance to performance, Olivia Wymbs won’t stop until she makes it to the top.
Mira Costa sophomore Olivia Wymbs performed at Locke High School on April 28 with hip hop artist RJ Pacheco through a nonprofit organization called The School Tour Performances, which encourages kids interested in the entertainment industry to achieve their goals.
“It was fun to be able to perform with my friend and in front of all of my friends from dance,” Wymbs said. “Most of the time there is a lot of pressure but for this performance I was doing what I love with the people that I love.”
La Vista: Freshman Wymbs continues to strive toward dream career as a professional dancer
Wymbs found this opportunity through her fellow dancer Josh Korkin, the choreographer for the dance, who she met at her dance studio. They rehearsed for three hours in total, two hours two days prior to the show and one hour the day before the show. The performed to two of Pacheco’s songs: “Who Really” and “How We Rockin.”
“Seeing the other kids from the school enjoy the performance as much as we did was truly amazing because that’s what it’s all about for me,” Wymbs said. “I want to share my love of dance with as many people as I can.”
Watch one of Olivia’s performances
Wymbs trains at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy five days a week for 22 hours. She has been dancing since she was two but started taking it more seriously five years ago when she joined a performance team and was mature enough to appreciate the hard work and discipline of dance, Wymbs said.
“I dedicate my time to dance because I love it and I know it is what I’m supposed to be doing in my life,” Wymbs said. “Every time I dance I feel fulfilled and I feel like when other people watch me dance they feel inspired and fulfilled as well because they can see how passionate I am about dance.”
Wymbs has also been a part of Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s annual Hot Chocolate Nutcracker twice and performed at the Special Olympics’ opening and closing ceremony in 2015. She also performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC for the centennial celebration of John F Kennedy and the Skirball Cultural Center for a fundraiser to help support Haitian families in extreme poverty.
“My biggest accomplishment was performing at the Kennedy Center because Debbie Allen herself asked me to be a part of this event,” Wymbs said. “I hadn’t been dancing with her for that long but I had been working hard in class so it was a really rewarding experience.”
Photo essay of Wymbs and her performances
In the future, Wymbs plans to pursue a career as a professional dancer. She hopes to one day go on a tour with a music artist and be casted into music videos and commercials for dance.
“I am looking forward to exploring all different types of dance and getting better everyday,” Wymbs said. “For the next couple of years I am going to try my best to build connections and train hard now so that after high school I can be ready to be in the professional world.”
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