Pattonville Dancer Makes Finale in Talent Competition

Ciara Glenn is the missing link.

When two students from a St. Louis high school earned second place at last year’s Teen Talent Showcase Competition, they knew they needed to amp it up to win this year. That’s when the recruited Ciara, a junior on the varsity drill team, to join their troupe.

“I was a little nervous because I didn’t quite know what to expect, but with them having already gone through the competition, it kid of comforted me,” said Ciara.

Ciara said her goal is to propel herself and her dancing partners— Intisar Faulkner and Ashlee Renee Pegues from Hazelwood East High School—into the first prize position that slipped through their fingers last year.

So far, they are on the right track. Ciara’s act is one of 11 competing in the final round of the St. Louis Teen Talent Competition on April 27 at the Fabulous Fox Theater.

“If we won, it would mean a whole lot to me,” Ciara said. “Everything that we’ve been through, all the hard work we put into it, it would all balance our once we won. It would just be really exciting.”

Ciara, Intisar and Ashlee will perform what Ciara calls a “sassy jazz dance” to a remix of Toxic by Britney Spears. Allana Glass, an alumna of The Underground studio in St. Peters, where the three girls study dance, choreographed the routine with lots of input from Ciara and her fellow dancers.

Ciara is used to competing. She’s been dancing competitively since she was six, and for the last three years, she’s been a member of the Pattonville Varsity Drill Team, which has gone to nationals and placed in the top ten for hip hop each year.

“Before I go onstage, I’m more nervous than excited, but once I hit that stage, I’m excited and my adrenaline starts going,” Ciara said.

While they may not be dancing with her, Ciara said she was grateful to her parents, who have supported her, encouraged her and, most importantly, kept her and her dance troupe on track.

“We get sidetracked a lot,” Ciara said laughingly. “We’re just really goofy people.”

A high school junior, Ciara plans on going to college out-of-state where she can major in sports medicine or training and minor in dance.

Mike Isaacson, the executive producer of the Muny Opera and a judge in the competition, said he’s excited to show St. Louis how “ferociously talented” its teens are.

“They are finding their voice artistically,” Isaacson said. “They are finding their voice as young people. It’s kind of pure. There is nothing false about it. It’s coming from their hearts and spirits and who they are as young people. We live in a very cynical time, and there is nothing cynical about these kids.”

If you’d like to cheer Ciara and her teammates on, The St. Louis Teen Talent Showcase Competition finale starts at 8 p.m. April 27 at the Fabulous Fox Theater. Tickets are free.