For a few select dancers, this dream became a reality - and then some.

Eryn Harris, dance instructor, took 10 of her dancers to not just see Hannah Montana (aka Miley Cyrus) but to perform with her, as well as with the Blue Man Group, over the Fourth of July weekend.

The show called Stadium of Fire is one of the biggest fireworks and patriotic shows in the West and takes place at  Brigham Young University  Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah.

“This is something that no other dancer from Charleston has ever done before and it is something that is every little girl’s dream,” Harris said. “After all, it is Hannah Montana.”

Rare opportunity

Harris, a Utah native, used to dance in the patriotic show when she was a kid.

She wanted to take her 9-year-old daughter, Blaire, a Belle Hall Elementary student, to the show. But then she thought about the possibility of including all of her dance students.

Harris called the choreographer to see if the show would consider having a group from outside Utah perform. Harris’ dancers are mostly comprised of Mount Pleasant and Daniel Island residents.

 All were ecstatic when they discovered that they were invited. This was the first group to come from South Carolina or any other state outside of Utah.

Harris said that over 300 girls had to be told they could not participate because there wasn’t anymore space.

“It was so fun to show my dancers where I grew up and for them to meet my former dance teachers and my family,” she said.

Rehearsal

The girls landed in Salt Lake City on July 2.

Dancer Brittany Wetzel said she was glad to see what real mountains looked like.

It was time to get to work.

Harris said, “Ninety percent of the trip was spent rehearsing.”

Blaire and McKenzie Glasgow started rehearsing from  5-11 p.m., the day they arrived.  

They rehearsed all day  July 3, outside in the grass in the middle of the football stadium.

The temperature was a record high, 95 degrees.

The girls were constantly drinking water and were misted off to avoid dehydration and heat exhaustion.

From 6:45 a.m. to 10 p.m.,  July 3, the girls perfected their routines.

They woke up early on the Fourth of July and continued rehearsing.

Showtime

The theme was Olympic.

“The choreography was awesome, especially how they tied in all the sports of summer olympics,” Harris said.

To fully emulate the summer olympic sports, the performers used basketballs, soccer balls,  and volleyballs.

Equestrian came on field during the performance; there were live horses.

As there were many stages set up on the field, various athletes came on stage: wrestler’s,  cyclists,  even boxers pretending to spar. There was synchronized swimming with a large blue tarp to represent the water.

For the gymnastics part, there were 10 total picked, two of which were chosen from Harris’s team.

Out of the 1000 dancers total, there were 150 girls chosen to perform the “red, white and blue opening number,” dancing with enormous flags.

Harris explained that this was to show how the colors represent America.

They got to be a part of that too.

Dancer Tori Beach said that the highlight was when she saw how big the crowd was, and how energetic they were to see them before Cyrus came out.

Fireworks filled the sky after her performance.

The feeling of cheering

Dancer Carmen Trull said, “The best part of our trip was running out onto the field, looking up, smiling, and seeing 50,000 people  cheering for me. It was the most magical feeling of my life.”

Harris said, “This trip was one of the best dance trips I have ever experienced. I know that I was the proudest dance teacher in the stadium that night. To watch their faces when they came running onto the field and hearing the crowd roaring for them was something I will never forget.  

“They exceeded my expectations and I am so grateful that I got to share this memory with them.”

Dancer Emily Molinari said, “the rush we got when we were performing was amazing [especially] knowing that everyone was cheering for us.”

Dancer Julia Shealor agreed.

“The best part of our trip was the crowd cheering for us when we started to dance.”

Harris said, “All the girls agreed that the performance was the highlight, even more so than seeing Miley Cyrus - although she was great. 

“They couldn’t stop talking about the ‘feeling’ they got hearing the crowd roar - and roar it did - and feeling like rockstars in their own right.”

And as these “rockstars” settle back into their lives back home, they know they will be remembered for their performance. 

But also they will remember their unforgettable experience.

Helen Ravenel can be reached at helen@moultrienews.com.

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