Our April Dancer of the Month, Kristen A. Pickens, describes herself as “just a happy 10-year-old girl who loves to dance, make slime, play with American Girl dolls, and make musical videos. Kristen says her mom thinks that she is an over active Diva because she performs in competition dances, is in Girl Scouts, and plays the flute in her school’s band.
Kirsten’s name is pronounced Keerstin but people usually call her Kristin or Christian. She lives in Belleville, Illinois, is in the 4th grade and is a very good student. She always makes the Honor Roll and has been nominated for the Do the Right Thing award twice. This is a special award given to students that always behave great in school and that do the right thing at all times. Believe it or not, her favorite color recently changed to pink. She thinks the solo costume she got from Bdancewear had something to do with changing her favorite color to pink. She says that she is very competitive in everything that she does. Whether it’s in dance or at school, Kristen loves to win!
She became involved in dance when she followed in her older sister’s footsteps. When Kristen was 4 years old, she started taking ballet with her sister but Kristen didn’t dance for very long. Then when Kristen was 7 years old, she told her mom that she wanted to dance again. They saw a video of Ms. Tonya’s BEDA (Belleville Elite Dance Academy) dancers and Kristen found that they were amazing! As a result of viewing the video, they ended up going to see BEDA’s recital and Kristen fell in love with BEDA’s dance studio. Shortly after, her mom enrolled her there. For the first year she just took regular classes, she later joined BEDA’s competition team.
Kristen’s happiest moment relating to dance would be when she performed a solo for the very first time this year and she won first place. She performed a sassy jazz solo performing to the song Fergalicious by Fergie. She was ecstatic when her name was called for 1st place. She almost couldn’t believe it! Making new friends is also a happy moment for her. She has many new friends at dance and their friendships are the best!
Kristen has always wanted to go to Disney World or to New York and hopes to do so some day.
As far as her experience with Bdancewear, it was actually her dance teacher Ms. Tonya who bought her solo costume from Bdancewear and Kristen loves the costume. The costume was a simple hot pink sports bra and high-waisted shorts. Ms. Tonya blinged the costume out with stones and it is just beautiful! Kristen not only loves the hot pink color but she also loves the way that it fits.
This year, Kristen hopes to become the best dancer that she can be. She wants to show everyone her talents and skills. She also wants to make her parents and her dance teachers (Ms. Tonya & Ms. Morgan) proud of her!
Kristen hopes to someday become a professional dancer. She loves watching dancing shows and would love to appear on Dancing with the Stars, America’s Got Talent, or any Disney show. She just wants to someday appear on television so the world can see her, Kirsten Anaya Pickens, dance.
