Luke & Lizzie talk dancing dreams

It might seem a little unusual for someone working the front desk at Custer’s YMCA to be wearing metal-tipped tap shoes, but not for Lizzie Anderson who has been dancing her way through life with her big brother, Luke, since both were in grade school. 

Hoping to get in a little tap dancing between helping the folks using the Y, that’s exactly how Lizzie was shod Friday morning when I caught up with her and Luke to talk about their dancing careers: where they’ve come from and where they hope to go.

The dancing siblings are home on a break from Oklahoma City University (OCU) where both are studying dance as well as singing and acting and looking forward to careers hopefully doing all three. 

As a junior, Luke has already chosen his major which is dance pedagogy. He wants to eventually teach dance and be a choreographer. 

“It’s focused a lot on teaching the methods of practicing teaching,” said Luke. “I’ll be teaching and choreographing in the community dance center which is in the dance school on campus.” He will do that as part of his senior capstone course, which is a practical equivalent of a senior thesis.

He got to put his years of dancing and his education into practice last summer when he worked as a dancer in the long-running production “Texas” which is presented six nights a week in an amphitheater in the scenic Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, Texas. 

Arriving in Texas in early May, Luke went through two to three weeks of rehearsal for the show’s summer-long run which closed in mid-August.

He said it was a great opportunity for networking and learning the business and he enjoyed the daily ballet classes before every show. 

Meanwhile, Lizzie, a sophomore at OCU, came back home to Custer where she taught dance twice a week for eight weeks at Kids And Company in Spearfish. 

“That was really a different experience and a new one for me,” said Lizzie, “just getting to be a teacher for a class of adults all the way to 4-year-olds. I really enjoyed it. I would love to do that again, but I’d also love to perform in some summer experience.”

It was in Custer where the two initially got their feet wet in the dance world, with the help of Jodi Larabee at the YMCA and Robin Prior at Lo-Ru West Dance Studio, who Luke says instilled a love for dance in them that followed them to their college careers.

Lizzie will choose her major next semester and wants to be a dance management major focusing more on the technical theater side of things. 

“Managing studios, managing [dance] companies, casting, directing...that kind of thing,” explained Lizzie. “Something that will make me more employable for longer.”

While both are focused on majors that will provide opportunities for them in the long run, their short -term goals are to be dancing, singing and acting on stage before an audience. 

In addition to their dance studies, both take private voice lessons on campus and are working on their acting skills to make them more employable as entertainers. They said having experience in all three disciplines opens doors.

“Instead of hiring a singer and a dancer, you can just hire one person,” said Luke. 

For instance, Lizzie sat in on a casting for a cruise ship last year and learned that in addition to hiring singers and dancers for cruise shows, companies also hire magician’s assistants. 

“I have experience already,” thought Lizzie, “and I hadn’t even gone to college yet. That was a major blessing.”

She is referring to the siblings’ employment as young teens with Duane Laflin’s Grand Magic Show and the Grand Jamboree at the Buffalo Ridge Theater in Custer for several years. 

Lizzie performed a pre-show dance routine during the 2013 season and the next year both Andersons were hired as dancers and magician’s assistants. Mom Jennie helped out in the concession stand. 

Luke said through that association they learned many valuable truths about the entertainment business and performing. 

“This has a lot to say about Duane,” said Luke, “the way rehearsals are run...it was very good training as far as what was expected of us at college. Just kind of those professional standards. I’m glad we had that experience, not only performing, but also the part of it that not everyone sees.” 

Both are grateful to have that experience to put on their resumes. 

Through their time with the magic and music shows, the Andersons got to know Rapid City singers Orion and Stacey Potter and have become an important part of several of their shows. 

Just before Christmas, the pair were featured dancing, singing and acting in the Potters’ Christmas show which was presented at The Custer Beacon and several other locations. 

Luke said last fall while still in Oklahoma, the siblings rehearsed with the Potters over FaceTime several times, then got together with them a couple of days before the first of six performances. 

“It was kind of an application of what we’re learning in school,” said Luke.  

While planning and educating for the long-term, both Luke and Lizzie said their dream post-college is to get out there on the stage and perform.  

“A lot of dancers right out of OCU go on cruise ships or get cast in Broadway touring shows,” said Luke. “It’s very common for graduates of our school to do cruise ships right out of college and I really want to do that because it’s a good way to save money, travel and gain performance experience, as well.” 

Luke is also eyeing a possible move to New York City where dancing, singing and acting work abounds, and Lizzie has her eyes on Radio City Music Hall. 

“I plan to audition for the Rockettes when I graduate because I’m tall enough,” said Lizzie. 

At 5 foot 8 inches, she is the perfect height to be a member of the world-famous dance troupe. Rockettes must be between 5 foot 6 and 5 foot 10.

And perhaps someday you’ll be able to see them on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.” After all, they are the only brother/sister duo in the dance program at OCU right now. 

“We’ve even had professors say hopefully we’re the next Derek and Julianne Hough,” said Lizzie.