The first time Quinn Koch ’22 stepped into a dance studio was 11 years ago. She first began her dancing career because of her parents, but what started as a casual after-school activity later became a lifestyle for Koch. At three years old, she could barely read or write, but there was one thing that she did know how to do and that was dance. Now 14, Koch is a dancer at Nolte Academy of Dance in Coralville.

At Nolte, Koch practices five times a week for up to two hours each day. “The hardest part of dance is being sore a lot of the time. When you stand up you feel like an old lady,” Koch said. Although dance can be grueling, Koch’s dedication and devotion help her through tough practices.

Every week Koch practices many types of dances including ballet, jazz, modern and contemporary. Although Koch enjoys other types of dancing, her favorite genre is contemporary. Koch uses contemporary dance, a mixture of jazz, classical ballet, and modern, to express emotions and actions through fluid movements. “In modern, I feel like I have to stay in one spot and keep my legs stiff, but in contemporary I can just move around and be free,” said Koch.

Along with regular dance practice, Koch is also on the competition team at her academy, and regularly attends contests. A dance competition usually entails a dancer doing up to four or five dances, each separately judged by a panel of dance experts. Koch usually wakes up early to get makeup and costumes done, and then she meets with her team and coach to warm up and get ready to go on stage. It’s a lot of waiting for other people to dance which is an ideal environment for nervousness to take over. “Right before I go on I get really nervous, but once I get onto the stage it just feels like nobody is really watching me, ” she said.

As Koch has learned, dancing in front of judges is not always smooth sailing. Koch remembers one dance competition vividly. She had just started to dance when her feet slipped out from underneath her and she felt her knees graze the stage floor. Koch had never fallen during a dance before and she was traumatized. Her fellow dancer and best friend Cosi Barry ‘22 recalls the event with humor. “ I remember thinking ‘Oh my god is she going to get back up?’ but she ended up recovering from it really well.” Berry also remembers comforting Koch after the dance was over. “I was really embarrassed about it after the dance, but I got over it and now I just think it’s funny,” said Koch.
She now knows that one mistake won’t ruin her whole career.

Dance will always be there for Koch, but she doesn’t know if she wants it to be her future profession. For now though, Koch is intent to keep on dancing throughout high school because it is something that she loves. “Dance makes me feel like I’m free,” Koch said.