Live. Love. Dance. Repeat! Freshman Lexyn Blankenship has been a dancer at Lisa’s School of Dance for about 10 years now, and if that’s not enough already, she’s also been cheerleading for 12 years. Out of all the dance types, such as the hoedown, boogie, and the all too famous waltz, Lexyn currently has her feet moving to the rhythm of jazz, modern, lyrical, tap, hip hop and ballet.

“She is an amazing dancer,” said fellow freshman dancer Liz Newkirk. She is hardworking, and always gives everything her all and tries her best.”

“It makes me feel like I can be myself, and when I’m dancing I don’t worry about anything,” Blankenship said.

Her hope, she said, is to inspire the little girls who are also enrolled in dance at LSD. On Saturday April 28th, Lexyn will be dancing on stage for the upcoming Wizard of Oz play, directed by Mr. Boardwine.

“I’m excited to see how the whole play comes together and Wizard of Oz is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I think it’ll be great,” Blankenship said.

“I am a dancer in the play, and I dance in the scene “Guardian of the Gates” when the main characters finally arrive at the land of Oz,” Lexyn said.

According to Lexyn, she practices every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, for anywhere between two to four hours at a time.

“The rehearsals are a lot of fun, all of us dancers get to work with the actors and actresses in the play and we get to become more comfortable around them and just have fun,” Blankenship said.

“There are many challenges in dance,” Blankenship said. “You have to make sure all of your technique is right to be able to do a certain move the right way, so you have to strengthen yourself to be able to perfect every technique, and it isn’t always an easy thing to do.”She said her biggest goal is to never give up, no matter how difficult it is for her to grasp a dance routine.

“When I perform, I get an adrenaline rush and I love it, because it pushes me to not be scared once I start dancing on stage,” Blankenship said.

Her role model is a famous dancer, Michaela DePrince, who she described as  “a very talented ballet/pointe dancer.”  Fellow freshman and another LSD dancer, Sarah Ekron, said: “Lexyn is a very graceful dancer and is very persistent. When she can’t pick up on something, or is injured or any case that is an obstacle from being able to carry on, she tries and doesn’t give up.”  Blankenship said when she is performing in front of a huge crowd during a competition, she feels confident while dancing, and is able to let all of her worries go, which is why stage fright has never gotten to her.

“When Lex dances like, at a competition or recital, you can see all her emotion in every dance,” Ekron said. “She takes herself to the stage and forgets her problems away from the stage.” “She is always doing everything she can to do better herself as a dancer and she performs great,” Newkirk added. “She always looks like she loves what she’s doing.”