A new dance camp attracts future Red Raiders hopefuls, providing a week of collegiate-level dance instruction.

Saige Conquest’s alarm rings at 7 a.m.

She and her mother, Heather, have set up camp at a hotel near Texas Tech University so Saige can attend the Wildwind Summer Dance Intensive hosted by the School of Theatre & Dance. 

Saige bypasses the snooze feature and springs out of bed; she has a full day ahead. 

Music plays from her cell phone while she gets dressed and puts up her hair. Then she grabs breakfast from the hotel lobby, and she and Heather make the short drive to the Creative Movement Studio on campus. 

Saige is beginning her senior year of high school this fall at Hyde Park High School in Austin, Texas. Dance has been a constant in her life since age 3 when she began ballet and tap. While she certainly has the talent to go straight into a dance career, Saige intends to earn an undergraduate degree, and her first choice is Texas Tech. 

“I feel like I would improve so much getting a degree from Texas Tech rather than just going into the performance industry,” she says. “And this program is hands-on, so I’d still get a lot of performance time.” 

But one of the most compelling reasons Saige wants to attend Texas Tech is for its American Sign Language (ASL) program. 

“I’ve found it difficult to find universities that offer degrees in ASL, and Texas Tech does,” she explains. 

Removing Barriers

The summer intensive is the first offered through Texas Tech. For many years, the J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts has hosted music and theater camps, but faculty were looking for ways to add dance to the mix. 

“We thought this would be a great way to engage with local dancers and dancers across Texas and neighboring states to showcase the strength of our program and the training our faculty provides,” says Head of Dance Kyla Olson.

For some families, summer camps feel impossible due to costs – many camps totaling beyond four-figures. The faculty looked for ways to make this experience different. They approached the REA Charitable Trust and applied for a grant, outlining the experience they wanted prospective students to have, regardless of household income. 

They were approved and offered the camp at $25 per student.

“People couldn’t believe the camp was so affordable,” Olson says. 

The grant aided in registration numbers, with about 40 students participating from around the state, with various levels of skill and experience. 

Each student stood out with their own style. Saige was putting in extra effort since the intensive was doubling as her audition for Texas Tech’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance program. 

“I am interested in attending Texas Tech because it has an incredible dance school as well as an amazing American Sign Language major that would allow me to become a better interpreter, which is another career path I want to explore,” Saige says. 

Feels Like Home

Saige’s mother says she knew Saige was an empathetic soul early on.

“When Saige was in elementary school, she had a classmate who was deaf,” Heather says. 

Rather than assuming she couldn’t communicate with the boy, Saige used it as an opportunity to learn ASL. 

“She really loves to help people, and she doesn’t like it when others are singled out or bullied for being different,” Heather continues. 

Because the family lives in Austin, Saige found ways to visit and volunteer with the Texas School for the Deaf. When she started high school, she was able to enroll in ASL as a foreign language. Her private school does mission trips each spring, and for the past two years, Saige has traveled to Jamaica to serve at a deaf school. 

“The emotion and facial expressions Saige harnesses in dance have made her a better interpreter,” Heather says. “Saige can do so many things; she is a helper who makes friends with everyone.” 

She’s even combined dance and signing before, incorporating ASL into a performance. For Saige, they’re not two separate passions, but similar languages she wants to fuse into a calling. 

“When I began looking at colleges though, it became apparent it would be challenging to find a university that excelled in both areas,” Saige says. “But then I found Texas Tech.” 

Back in the creative movement studio, Saige lights up as she sees Anthony “YNOT” Denaro walk into the room. A professor of practice, he’s scheduled to teach a hip-hop technique class. 

Saige walks up to him with the confidence of someone beyond her years. 

As Denaro turns the music on and gets the class moving, Saige moves through the combinations, her ponytail swinging back and forth keeping time with the beat.  

When Denaro teaches the class a move called the dolphin, Saige is one of the first to grasp the technique. The movement requires a jump before the dancer dives toward the floor, catching themselves with their arms. 

For Olson, watching students like Saige move through the week was exactly what faculty had hoped for. 

"She throws herself into the material, unafraid and open to learning new things,” Olson says. “We certainly look for students like that because they grow so much from that curiosity.” 

Many attendees said they’d be back next year. Others said they’d be recruiting dancers from their home studios to attend. And a $25 registration fee with a week on campus did what no brochure can do – it made Texas Tech feel like home for Saige before she even applied. 

“Dancing is what I love,” she says. “And this is where I want to do it.”