Combination of movement, exercise inspires Wooster dancer to reach for the stars

Kevin Lynch, Wooster Daily Record
·3 min read

WOOSTER − A Wooster High School junior has earned the title of Mr. Dance 2024 and will represent the state this summer in the Dance Masters of America National Convention to be held June 28-July 6 in Anaheim, California.

Max Stavnezer, 17, competed in the Ohio Dance Masters Scholarship Title Competition, 16-23 year old division, in November, representing Tamala Taylor's Academy of Dance. He went through interviews and scholarship audition classes in Ballet, Jazz, Modern and Tap.

"Max is a really good kid," Taylor said. "He's involved in his school and very involved at our studio as a student demonstrator. He has worked very hard. He started relatively late for most kids and progressed quite rapidly through our studio.

Max Stanezer, a junior at Wooster High School, performs the dance routine that won him the Dance Master competition. His next stop is the Dance Masters National Convention in California this summer.
Max Stanezer, a junior at Wooster High School, performs the dance routine that won him the Dance Master competition. His next stop is the Dance Masters National Convention in California this summer.

"He's in our senior class group," she continued. "He's on the competition team, done scholarship work, and is involved at school with band and the debate team, as well as some other clubs. He's a very good motivator for our students."

Percussionist has the rhythm for tap

As a percussionist in band, Stavnezer admits he likes tap dancing the best out of all the dancing he does.

"I have the drumming rhythm aspect, which is why I've always loved tap so much," Stavnezer said. "But I also really love this style of contemporary and modern dance.

"It opened up a completely new door into dance because it's all about body and physical expressiveness of the art and beauty of dance," he continued. "So I was able to change from just rhythms with my feet to using my whole body and emotions. Dancing is super expressive. It's so free emotionally and physically."

Stavnezer doesn't see many male competitors, which makes inspiration more difficult.

"I have the drumming rhythm aspect, which is why I've always loved tap so much," says Max Stavnezer. He hopes to go study kinesiology in college, which is the scientific study of human body movement.
"I have the drumming rhythm aspect, which is why I've always loved tap so much," says Max Stavnezer. He hopes to go study kinesiology in college, which is the scientific study of human body movement.

"When I go competitions, they usually have some male judge or teacher, and that's where I really feel inspired and pushed to a different level," he said. "I look forward to the opportunity to work with so many great teachers and judges, and get me more versed in experiencing different realms of dance."

He hopes to go to college after high school and study kinesiology, which is the scientific study of human body movement.

"I'm really interested in the idea of movement and physicality in exercise," Stavneser said. "I like the idea of teaching kinesiology to young athletes and how to recover your body and work with your body, specifically dancers, and the stretching process. I felt I was never really taught that, and there are probably a lot of kids who weren't taught that, and it's something I feel is really important."

He began dancing through the Wayne Center and Ballet Wooster when he was younger, doing some introductory classes. In 2017, at the age of 11, he began to take dance more seriously after enrolling at Taylor's Academy of Dance on East Lincolnway in Wooster.

Tamala Taylor, left, owns Academy of Dance in Wooster, and has been teaching Max Stavnezer. She says, "He's a very good motivator for our students."
Tamala Taylor, left, owns Academy of Dance in Wooster, and has been teaching Max Stavnezer. She says, "He's a very good motivator for our students."

Additional accolades

Aside from the Mr. Dance award, Stavnezer also received a scholarship to Point Park University Conservatory of Performing Arts in Pittsburgh for a Summer Intensive in July.

The program is a dance intensive designed to build a students' technique, etiquette, and choreography comprehension.  The curriculum includes daily technique classes in ballet, jazz and modern dance.

Stavnezer is not the first dancer from Taylor's Academy of Dance to enjoy success. Mason Rhode won Master Dance of Ohio for ages 7-10 eight years ago.

This summer will mark the 33rd year of running the Academy of Dance for Taylor.

Other students have gone on to teach and do other programs. One is Alicia Kunkler who is studying dance at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. She has done choreography and assisted in teaching classes at Taylor's  Academy of Dance studio.

Wooster dancer Alicia Kunkler, a student at Slippery Rock University, will be dancing in Guatemala this summer through the JUNTOS Collective.
Wooster dancer Alicia Kunkler, a student at Slippery Rock University, will be dancing in Guatemala this summer through the JUNTOS Collective.

In fact, she choreographed the tap solo Stavneser performed at Ohio Dance Masters Scholarship Title Competition.

In January, Kunkler took a winter dance intensive in New York while on break from school. She auditioned for JUNTOS Collective, a nonprofit organization that uses dance to develop leadership and collaboration building in vulnerable communities. This summer she will be going to Guatamala to dance.

Max Stanezer tap dances.
Max Stanezer tap dances.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wooster's Max Stavnezer is Ohio's Mr. Dance, heads to national contest