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COLUMBUS, OH – Two local youth, Reese White and Shelby Evans, received national recognition at the Assembly of God National Fine Arts Festival held Aug. 5-9 in Columbus, Ohio.

Together, dancing in duet competition, they won second place in the worship dance troupe, and White won fourth in solo competition.

Held annually, the “Fine Arts Festival is a discipleship tool of the Assembly of God Youth Ministers designed to help students discover, develop, and display their ministry gifts and to learn about their God-given abilities and talents.” Locally, White and Evans are members of The Carpenter’s Shop Church, located at 903 South Catherine Creek Road, Ahoskie, and periodically present their worship dance routines there. They have assisted with worship at Christmas and Easter services and Mother’s and Father’s Day Sundays.

Both young women have danced practically their whole lives–White since she was two, and Evans since five years of age. Both have studied at Hope’s School of Dance in Ahoskie. White has also studied and performed with the Allonge Dance Academy in Suffolk and the Virginia Beach Ballet Academy. Evans has studied in Elizabeth City at Got2Dance as well as at AJDC Studio in Gates County. Both will continue their study of dance at East Carolina University.

White, daughter of Doug and Meghan White, first began dancing at the age of two, attending classes with Hope Miller in Ahoskie. Obviously not actually remembering the initial lessons, she says her parents enrolled her for “physical therapy” as a method to release energy while not adversely affecting her asthma.

Evans, daughter of Stacy Harrell Evans, was old enough to remember her first lessons at age five and her desire to participate a year earlier because a friend was doing so. Her mother insisted four was too young, that she must wait a year to begin, thinking it was a phase she would outgrow and not be interested in another year, but 14 years later she is still dancing.

Both speak with gratitude about the contribution their parents have made in allowing them to pursue their passion.

According to Evans, “When a sport consumes a child’s life, parents become just as consumed.”

Regarding travel, White recalls her mother driving her to Suffolk and waiting the four-six hours for her lessons. During some of that time, her mother might use a public library while she was pursuing a master’s degree. Other days she might just remain in her car.

Evans similarly recalls her mother taking her to Gates County and either staying in the car or using the time to visit with relatives. As well as time, finances are also committed, and both girls have taught dance themselves to help defray their own tuition costs.

Having taken advantage of the opportunity afforded by Hertford County Early College High School, each already has an Associate’s degree as they enter ECU, thus meaning that they have completed their general education courses and will concentrate on their dance studies. The rigorous and nationally acclaimed program is highly selective with only twenty-six students becoming part of the entering class.

As high school graduates, they are “aging out” of the National Fine Arts program but want to see others at Carpenter Shop embrace it because they have found it to be a wonderful opportunity, saying “It encourages love and positivity.” In fact, Evans can say it was attending National that led her out of shyness. It is also an opportunity to make connections with people outside this geographic area.

Just as they noted they will be studying with others from New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and even the State of Washington, so they have competed against persons from throughout the nation in the seven years they have attended the National Fine Arts Festival, with this past year hosting some 300 performers. In order to advance to the National, they had to compete and win in the district or statewide competition, held in Greensboro.

In addition to the National competition, both girls recently participated in a mission trip to Mexico as a group of nine from The Carpenter’s Shop. This trip, a memorial to Aidan and Keeton Hawks, permitted the dancers to join a team of 23 who participated in a kids’ ministry. There, they immediately discovered that “Dance is something everybody speaks.”

These two young women, poised and mature beyond their years, represented The Carpenter Shop Church and all of Hertford County well and will continue to do so whether in the country of Mexico, the state of Ohio, or the city of Greensboro or Greenville.