MONMOUTH, Maine — It takes many of us time to find our passion or find something that allows us to escape from the highs and lows of life.
Monmouth Academy senior Hope Zuis is lucky. She found her escape at age two when her parents signed her up for dance.
“I kind of liked the element of it not being involved in school because I’ve made such good friends, and it’s kind of an escape from being [at school],” Zuis said.
There are some misconceptions about dance. Zuis said while many of her friends and classmates don’t see what she puts into her craft, it’s a huge commitment.
“I just want to clear up that it takes as much time as everything else because I don’t really get an offseason,” she added. “Throughout the summer, I’m still dancing at least once a week.”
Like every sport, it takes that commitment and time to excel on the stage. Zuis put in that hard work during middle and throughout high school. She’s now at the point where she performs solos at competitions, the highest honor you can achieve in that world.
It’s her senior season, so Zuis is very much looking forward to returning to in-person competitions. Again, like all sports, the dance world took a hit during the peak of COVID. Zuis said the bond she’s formed with her friends at the studio has grown so strong that they’re like a family.
“Missing them was really hard because we were really close before COVID and that kind of broke all of it,” she said.
The peak of the competition season will be during the spring. Conveniently, that’s when Hope not only has to juggle school and dance but also running the hurdles for Monmouth Academy.
“[I] go to school, go to track, [and] go directly to dance. So that’s from 7:45 a.m. to 9 p.m., so it’s a long day, but it’s worth it in my opinion,” she added.
No one knows more about that time commitment than the people who drove Zuis to and from practice at Dance Unlimited in Augusta for years; her parents. Oh, and it’s a 30-minute drive from home to the studio.
“All worth it. All totally worth it because it’s so important to her,” Cathy Squires, Hope’s mother, said. “And as much as it’s a lot of hours and a lot of time that she’s away, when we see her perform on stage, it’s 'Okay, this is why we’re doing it.'”
The mother and father watched their two-year-old dancing daughter grow up to be an elite competitor on the stage.
“There’s nothing more rewarding for a parent to see a child do something they never could themselves,” Squires said. “But to me, it’s so incredible to be so, so committed to this whole area that is still very foreign to me even after all these years. It’s very cool, very cool.”
Squires would be lying if she said she doesn’t get nervous before her daughter takes the stage. But when the curtain is pulled away, the mother knows she’s got it.
Off the dance floor, the track, and the classroom, where Zuis is an honor student, she also serves her community. As a leader in the dance studio, Zuis teaches younger dancers and helps run community drives and events to support those in need.
Zuis said her life is all about rhythm. While she doesn’t know what her dance future holds, she’ll be rocking to the beat and tempo for years to come.