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Family and friendship bonds set him on the path. Once there, an individual passion took hold, setting now-Anoka senior Layne Wayman on a path to history.
The first boy to dance at Anoka High School, Wayman will continue his journey at the home of one of the top collegiate powerhouses, signing this month to dance at Arizona State University, which just won a repeat national jazz championship.
The start in dance began simply enough, following in family footsteps. From there, it quickly developed into a passion.
“I started dancing because my sister was in dance, so my parents kind of threw me into dancing too,” Wayman said. “And I just fell in love with dance. I first started dancing at Dance Revue Studio in Ramsey, and then I moved over to Northern Force Dance Company in fifth grade. There, I really progressed in my dancing technique and strength. I’ve been with them ever since. I’ve taken a bunch of private lessons to gain strength and improve my technique too, and I’ve taken summer classes. When I was 13, I went to New York with a ballet company for about three weeks. That really helped me grow as a dancer.”
As Wayman progressed, he began competing as well. One of the elements of the sport he enjoys the most is the ability of athletes to compete against one another, while at the same time learning from each other.
“I really enjoy competition and to see other studios’ dances, being on stage and expressing myself and getting to show other people what I love to do,” Wayman said.
Wayman eventually joined Anoka dance, again following family tradition.
“I joined the fall dance team because my sister and one of my best friends did as well, so it was easier to be a part of that team and to get to know people,” Wayman said. “I really liked being a part of the team, and performing in front of football games was really fun, getting to cheer on the team. Then we also got to do showcases, where we got to go to other schools, and other schools would come to ours and we would show each other our halftime performances, such as jazz and pop, hip hop, and that was also really fun.”
With graduation upcoming this spring, Wayman wasn’t sure if he wanted to make dancing a career path.
But knew he wasn’t ready to give it up either.
“Before I wanted to try out for a dance team, I thought I was going to go out to L.A. and continue dance there, but then I realized I didn’t want to dance the rest of my life as a career,” Wayman said. “I still wanted dance in my life, but I didn’t want to do it my whole life.”
That narrowed his decision down to a pair of schools.
“I was deciding between San Diego State and Arizona State – I went to the clinics and I found the fit at Arizona State was better for me. I went to more of the ASU dance clinics; from there, you get to know more about the team and what it’s like. After the third clinic, I auditioned for the dance team – I did a virtual video submission in the first round. After I found out I made it to the in-person audition, that was very exciting, and then I went out to Arizona and did the in-person auditions, hip hop and jazz, and then I found out I made the dance team, which was really exciting. I’m excited to perform.”
SOURCE: Hometown Source
