How I Got My Start:

As a kid, I loved dancing around my house and begged my mom to record home videos of me doing dancing and singing performances for my family. At the time, my grandfather, Sonny Elia, owned the 76ers Basketball Camp. He partnered with Debbie Apalucci, a choreographer from the movie Standing Ovation (2010), to start the 76ers Dance Camps and build the 76ers dance programs. Ms. Debbie encouraged my grandfather to sign me up for baby dance classes when I was 2-years-old, and he did! I immediately fell in love with dancing and looked up to the 76ers Dancers as my first inspirations and role-models. When I was old enough, I could attend 76ers dance camp for a half-day dancing with my age group. I absolutely loved it, but there was one problem—I wanted to stay for the entire day! At the time, the dancers who got to stay for a full day of dance camp were the big girls and had to be a certain age. My Pop came to pick me up from dance camp one day, and I told him I was having the best time and I didn’t want to leave. My Pop looked me in the eyes and said, “Mia, if you want something…you have to ask for it!” He encouraged me to gain the confidence to tell my teacher I loved camp and wanted the opportunity to stay and train the whole day with the big girls to become a better dancer. I learned from this point on that “Closed mouths don’t get fed,” and that “If you want something, you have to go for it!” I also learned something super important about myself and my character…I am a driven individual!

Around a year later, I had the opportunity to audition for the 76ers Mini Dream Team when I was 6-years-old. At the time, the 76ers were only taking dancers ages 7+. Since my grandfather was involved with the organization, Mrs. Debbie told him I would be allowed to attend the audition, but there were no promises I would make the team. After the audition, the judges decided to allow me to practice with the team, but they said I couldn’t perform at the games because I wasn’t performance-level ready yet. However, I worked my butt off every single Sunday in 76ers dance rehearsal. When it was time for our first game of the season, Mrs. Debbie and my other dance teachers recognized how well I was doing and allowed me to perform and join as an official member of the team–the youngest dancer to be a member o the 76ers Mini Dream Team! Being the youngest dancer in the room became a theme throughout my life.

Beginning of My Dance Training:

After dancing on the 76ers Mini Dream Team for 4 years ages 6-10 it was time for a change! I enrolled at The Brandywine Ballet Dance Center in West Chester, PA. I received amazing technique training in ballet, contemporary, and jazz, but I was missing doing the hip-hop style I loved so much! After a couple years of primarily taking technique and classical dance styles, I decided to leave the studio. I signed up at Carousel Performing Arts Center where I not only got to dance, but also got to take acting, singing, vocal, and guitar lessons. I got to star as Jojo in Carousel Performing Arts’ Production of Seussical the Musical and was a cast member in Hansel and Gretel as well. After a year at Carousel and focusing on theater, I wanted to dive deep into dance training and start to really push and challenge myself. That summer, I signed up for Anthony Burrell’s Breaking Barriers Dance Intensive in Philadelphia, PA, at Philadanco. During the three-week summer dance intensive, I received training in Horton, jazz, ballet, Dunham, technique, hip-hop, street jazz, contemporary, modern, across the floor, and more. I learned from Anthony Burrell, John Silver, Rennie Harris, Michael Sheridan, Kim-Bears Bailey, and many other talented and experienced choreographers. At Breaking Barriers, Anthony shared his motto that “Dedication, Determination, and Discipline, are keys to reaching your goals” and that has stuck with me ever since. I went on to attend Breaking Barriers twice more and learned so much about movement quality, how to be a good performer, how to have a presence, how to command an audience, how to improv, and so much more. That program shaped a lot of who I am as a dancer today. The following fall, I auditioned and made the Touch of Class Dance Teen Competition Team in Broomall, PA. I received various scholarship awards from 24/7, Nuvo, JUMP, Radix Dance Convention, and more. I competed for Best Dancer at The Dance Awards in Orlando, Florida, in 2017 as a Best Dancer Finalist. At Touch of Class, I met my dance teacher, Lina McMenamin. That summer, I attended Long Lake Performing Arts Camp in New York, where Ms. Lina served as the dance director for the summer camp. At Long Lake, I auditioned for the role of Victoria in our camp’s production of the Broadway Musical, Cats. I got the lead role of Victoria and got to sing, dance, and act on stage! I took private lessons from her in contemporary and ballet dance the following year. I also got to attend Dancer Palooza’s KaMotion Dance Intensive in Long Beach, CA, with a scholarship! I was selected to lead “Da Gurlz Grew” in Phil Wright’s dance in the KaMotion music video we put together! At this time, I also got in contact with Main Line Models and Talent in Glen Mills, PA, where I got to attend different acting and modeling workshops. I booked my first paid dance job in New York City that year from auditioning and getting picked to be in a Stranger Things Juju On that Beat Dance Video that went viral. On that job, I met my friend GiaNina Paolantonio, who has went on to dance in Matilda on Broadway and appear on Dance Moms: Season 8. I also appeared on the show Divorce on HBO, where I played an extra as a basketball player.

In middle school and high school, I attended frequent hip-hop dance classes in New York City. My first ever dance teacher in NYC was Jona Biddle a.k.a TheJonaShow. Jona was super influential to me as a dancer and I had the opportunity to assist him in teaching a class and creating choreography for the competition at Dominique’s Dance Creations in Syracuse, NY, when I was just 15 years old. I assisted Jona again with choreographing the “Jam Junior Holiday Dance Video ft. Boss Kids NYC” for Columbia Records. In 2019, Jona offered me a scholarship to attend Joffrey Ballet School’s Summer of HipHop Dance Intensive in New York City for 3 weeks. I learned all the foundations of hip-hop including popping, breakin’, waacking, voguing, locking, and house. I trained under Casie “Tynee” GoShow, Curtis “Trix” Pearson, Charles Smith Jr. a.k.a. @KingChuckADuck, Carlos Netos, Neil Schwartz, and more. At the intensive, I was chosen in a select group to perform at Sybarite 2019 with Joffrey in NYC. I performed in a flash mob at Union Square and danced in Daytona Rose’s “Joyride” music video. One of my favorite experiences at Joffrey was being a part of a social media commercial for Hydroxycut Energy Drink with my good friend, YungBBQ. The following fall, after Joffrey, I attended Jona Biddle’s Boss Experience 2019, where I entered and competed in my first Freestyle Battle. I was nervous, but had a great time! I made it through the first couple rounds and placed 2nd overall. Next, I took classes at Rock School West and then joined the competition team at Angela Bates Dance Company. While being on Angela Bates Dance Company, we got to attend Bella Moxi Dance Convention and take classes from different teachers. At this convention, I won a scholarship when I was 16 to the Institute for American Musical Theatre a.k.a “Broadway’s School”. It is a post-secondary, two-year professional training program for students 17+. I had to make it through a dance and singing round, and the judges were very impressed with me. I attended Joffrey’s Summer of Hip-Hop the following summer on a full scholarship and had the best time training! Joffrey has been a huge part of my dance career, and I’m so thankful for the teachers I connected with and the amazing friends I made!

High School and College

During my junior year of high school, I tested my luck and auditioned for Creative Reaction Dance Company in Philadelphia, PA, founded by Akia Deyvon, when I was 16-years-old. At the time, Creative Reaction only accepted dancers 18 years old and above. I was accepted onto the team and remained a member for the following 2 years. During my time on Creative Reaction, I had the opportunity to dance in Sevndeep’s “Break My Back” Music Video and compete and win 4th Place in the Country, and 9th Place in the International Division of World of Dance Championships 2022 with the team. I also appeared in multiple Creative Reaction Dance Company visuals on Instagram and YouTube. I also competed with Creative Reaction at Prelude New York April 2022, where we won 1st, and at World of Dance New Jersey 2022 Prelude East Coast Dance Competiton 2022 in our Usher LIVE set, where we won 1st, and were invited to compete in Hip-Hop Internationals 2023. I also performed in Creative Reaction’s Next In Line: Choreographers Showcase in 2021 and 2022. One of the experiences I’m most thankful for was the opportunity to take Jeremy Green’s master class multiple times at Creative Reaction Dance Studio. I absolutely loved Jeremy’s class so much that I signed up for his Behind the Movement Dance Intensive in Atlanta, Georgia, at Crossover Entertainment Studios a couple months after. At Behind the Movement, I trained under Jeremy Green, Anthony “Redd” Williams, Shanorris “Skootah” Pollock, Chris Luck, and Shameka Ann. I learned hip-hop stage choreography and heels routines. We put a full show together in a week and performed at Crossover Entertainment Studios, and I had the best time! I got selected for a lead part dancing Jeremy Green’s choreography to Chris Brown’s “Iffy”! I had such a great time at Behind the Movement 6, in February 2022, that I came back to attend Behind the Movement 7, in August 2022! At Behind the Movement 7, I performed in Alive: The Live Intensive at Emory University. I got to dance right next to Skootah center stage on a platform and was opposite, Sammy McFadden, who danced for the LSU Tiger Girls and currently choreographs their award-winning routines. Behind the Movement 7 was amazing, and I can’t wait to attend Behind the Movement 8! In December 2022, I attended Charles Smith Jr.’s Winter Recess Dance Intensive, and took dance classes from Naeemah MC, Jeremy Green, Ava Bernstine-Mitchell, and Asiel Hardison. I also got to take an acting class from Marc John Jefferies. That same week, in the morning, I attended Joffrey Ballet School’s Elevate Winter Workshop in NYC, where I took dance classes from Luam, Carlos Neto, Tynee, and Trix.

After graduating high school an entire year early, I started college as a media studies and production student at the Klein School for Media and Communications at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. I joined BAMN Dance Company my first semester of freshman year of college and got to choreograph a jersey-club dance routine to “Gyalis” by Capella Gray Jersey-Club Remix for the Temple University Drag Show! I continued dancing on Creative Reaction throughout my freshman and sophomore year until I left the team in February 2023.

What I’m Doing Now

I currently take dance classes in theatre jazz, hip-hop, contemporary, jazz, heels, and pro dance team style at Powerhouse Dance in NJ! I recently attended the Pro Dance Workshop at Powerhouse, where I got to learn from Vanessa Fattizzo, former NFL Cheerleader for the New England Patriots and former NBA Dancer for the Boston Celtics, and Angelica Bua, Former West Chester University Dance Team Captain and Current Squad 76 Dancer for the NBA Philadelphia 76ers. I got to attend a panel discussion and hear from Warner B, a current NFL Cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles, Danielle Dinote, current coach of the Wings Dance Team, and Kendall Gilbert, the first male dancer of Squad 76. I am looking to audition for Pro NFL and NBA Dance Teams in the near future! I’m currently dancing backup for Lay Bankz as a member of the #777Dancers and I can’t wait to see what’s next! My first performance with Lay was on the Nick Cannon Future Superstar Tour 2023 at the Fillmore, in Philadelphia, PA. Next, I got to dance for Lay when she opened up for Glorilla at her show in Norfolk, VA, at Chartway Arena, at Old Dominion University. Most recently, I performed with Lay Bankz at the 2RARE & Friends LIVE Event at the MET in Philly!

My Choreography/Teaching Experience

I first found a love for choreographing in elementary school, where I created a dance group during recess and taught the girls different dances each day. My parents encouraged me to sign my group up for the County Fair Lip-Sync Competition. I taught the girls a dance to Taylor Swift’s “Never Getting Back Together”, and we won 1st Place and Best in Show. I assisted Jona Biddle on a variety of choreography projects in New York. In 2020, I worked at the Brandywine YMCA as a hip-hop dance teacher, dance camp counselor, cheer camp counselor, and summer day camp counselor. Recently in January 2023, I got to substitute and teach four hip-hop dance classes to all different levels at Betsy Daily School of Performing Arts in Berwyn, PA. I also taught my choreography to Temple University’s BAMN Dance Company.