In late November, Derek and Kayla Taylor, two Concord students attending Rundlett Middle School, boarded a plane headed for Riesa, Germany, to compete in the International Dance Organization’s 2016 Tap Dance Championships.
They each came home with gold medals draped around their necks.
Kayla, 11, began dancing at age three; Derek, 13, at five. They trained here with the Concord Dance Academy and worked tirelessly to be accepted onto the American team, which would be competing in Germany.
Their practices then moved to Nancy Chippendale’s Dance Studios in Massachusetts, where they spent eight hours each day on the weekends.
“It was a lot of work” Derek said, “but I knew it would be worth it in the end.”
Derek was right, as both he and his sister, Kayla, were able to beat stiff competition from 11 other countries, including the United Kingdom, Russia and the Czech Republic, to take home gold medals from Riesa.
Derek won gold for his formation piece “Bollywood,” which featured members from around the United States. He was also honored as the 12th best male soloist in the world for his age group.
“Standing on the stage and holding the gold medal was really overwhelming,” Derek said. “The whole ensemble worked so hard; I was really happy to see that it paid off.”
Kayla also won gold for her piece “Give Me Some Rhythm Baby,” a duo with partner Kaiden Currie of Massachusetts. Additionally, Kayla became a silver medalist for her solo routine.
“They moved me up to the junior’s division because I am so tall,” Kayla said. “It was intimidating dancing against the older kids, but I had practiced a lot and knew I was ready.”
Kayla had mainly practiced her section of the duo alone, and had not worked with Kaiden often before performing their routine together in Riesa.
“I practiced a lot by myself, so I was prepared,” Kayla said. “It was still different to perform with Kaiden, but we were ready and did a good job.”
Kayla and Kaiden’s duo was selected from more than 1,700 routines to be performed during the event’s closing ceremonies, which were held as a celebration open to the town.
“It was a great honor to be selected for the closing ceremonies,” Kayla said. “There was less pressure because there were no judges, but it was more exciting to dance because the audience was so big and they all paid to come.”
Derek and Kayla spent most of their time in Germany practicing and performing, but they did find time to go out and explore Germany. Neither dancer had traveled out of the U.S. before, and they got to try new foods, see new places and meet people from all around the world.
“We would usually go to different camps and trade with kids from other countries,” Derek said. “We would give them things from the U.S., and get Russian nesting dolls and other new items.”
Maria Iozza-Taylor, Derek and Kayla’s mom, has been encouraging her children to follow their dreams for years now. In Germany, she was applauding in the crowd as Derek and Kayla were draped in the American flag and handed the gold medals they worked tirelessly for.
“Just knowing how hard they worked and seeing it all pay off is such a special moment,” said Iozza-Taylor. “There really are no words to describe how it felt.”
Now back in the U.S., Derek and Kayla get to enjoy their winter break and take some time to relax. Practice will start again soon, though, as two of New Hampshire’s finest dancers prepare themselves for the coming season.