"It's their time to shine": North Minneapolis dance team fundraises for national competition

MINNEAPOLIS – Memorizing the right steps hasn't been the only challenge for a group of Minneapolis dancers.

At North Community High School, dancing is more than an after-school passion. It's how 13-year-old Journey Clopton finds peace.

"I have stresses with school and everything and I feel like dancing is a way to escape that," Clopton said. "It's definitely my stress mechanism, it's my coping way, and it definitely helps me get my angers and emotions out in a healthy way.

She's one of 25 girls on the competition team for Dance City.    

"We compete, we dance, we win, and we bring home the gold!" Dance City Director Cierra Burnaugh said.

Burnaugh teaches the girls from 3 to 17 years old.

"I'm grateful that we were able to create a safe space for young Black girls to come to a space within their own community and learn, grow, be free, be able to express themselves through movement," Burnaugh said.  

The high school room is a temporary stop on a journey to have a studio to call their own. Last year, they moved out of their old space on West Broadway Avenue because of crime concerns.

"It's more than dance, it's a second home for them," Burnaugh said.

While the girls work on their moves, their mothers work on their costumes. The group is trying to meet their $25,000 fundraising goal to afford a dance competition in Las Vegas this June.

"It's their time to shine and they deserve that," Burnaugh said.

The girls will be bagging groceries at Cub Foods in Brooklyn Center this weekend to help fundraise. They also are gathering donations online.