INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — A Northeast Ohio dance group has been stepping and gliding into trophies and national championships, and now they’re teaching their creative outlet to as many people as possible.
“I think boredom and an imagination is a good combination for creativity,” says Howard Bruce, the creative director and founder of Elevated Dance Headquarters in Independence. “I think you get to a point as a creative, where it just pours out of you and it becomes just who you are.”
For Bruce, dance is more than just a means for expression, it’s a way of life. There’s a saying, if you can’t say it, sing it. If you can’t sing it, dance.
“I love it because it is another language," Bruce says.
Bruce and the rest of his traveling dance group from Elevated have been using that other language for years -- and using it at a high level.
“We said we wanted to go to World of Dance and we wanted to win a lot of local competitions and so that’s what we did,” Bruce says. “So, we actually won World of Dance in 2017 and 2018.”
Elevated Dance Headquarters has gone on to start many different dance groups and classes to share their passion with Northeast Ohio. Their latest endeavor is aimed at uplifting those who may need it most.
“So DanceUp, the whole point of it is we want dance to uplift people,” Bruce says. “It’s for the less fortunate, those who can’t, you know, get the funding or the parents are a little strapped and they can’t do the whole studio life. They can’t get the financial backing to support their dreams and their endeavors.”
It’s just another way to make sure everyone, no matter their means, gets a chance to be creative.
“Create to heal, create to escape, create to live and die creating,” says Bruce. “It makes you feel, so you feel something. That’s the best part of it.”
To learn more about DanceUp and Elevated Dance Headquarters, click here.