“Dance is my life.”
Lyra Murray’s not kidding. Outside of schoolwork and sleeping, the rest of Murray’s time is spent dancing.
Murray is the only freshman on the Highland Dance Company (DCO). Between studio and competition, tours with national dance conventions to help teach most weekends, and Highland DCO, it adds up to at least 30 hours a week. It’s even more during convention season.
This previous competition season, Murray was selected from a vast pool of contestants for an assistant position at national dance conventions. Beyond the competitive aspect of these events, dancers participate in classes with more than 100 girls in a single room. As an assistant, 14-year-old Murray provides as an example to other students, participating closer to the teacher and even touring around the country (practically weekly), while fulfilling her position.
When she leaves the studio, her dance life isn’t over either. Murray’s mother, Hilary Murray, is her competitive dance teacher, as well as the coach for many other girls on Highland DCO. Murray’s entire family (including her two sisters) also dance, making the sport a constant conversation in their household.
Murray’s dance journey began around the age of three, where she initially focused on honing technical skills and basics through ballet. When her mother bought a dance studio in Murray’s kindergarten year, she began exploring new styles and had her first taste of competitive dance. She eventually found a love for contemporary and lyrical genres and notes that she “trained in every style” growing up.
Murray auditioned for Highland Dance Company while still in middle school, and the pressure of “seniors running it” was certainly nerve wracking for the rising ninth grader. After a few days, however, getting to know the team and familiarizing herself with the new environment, Murray said that she enjoyed the experience much more.
Despite the nerves, “I felt impressed with myself and accomplished that I did that,” Murray added, recognizing the pride she felt in her accomplishment.
Most people might be stressed by a 30- plus hour dance week. Murray believes the life compliments her.
“It’s where she wants to be,” Hilary said.
When given the opportunity to travel in eighth grade, Lyra jumped at the chance in spite of knowing she would surrender much of her free time and social engagements.
Whether that’s physically moving, watching dance performances on the internet, going to a Broadway show, or seeing a ballet, Murray is constantly “consuming” dance in one way or another. Despite the business of her schedule, it’s actually where she finds the greatest stress relief.
“I get to let my body do its thing,” Murray said.
If she’s feeling unmotivated at school, groggy through her first periods, or stressed to catch up on work she missed during travel, the prospect of dance at the end of the day is enough to excite her. Once she enters the studio, it’s “like a weight lifted.”
Hilary said the times she notices Murray most stressed is when she’s suffering sleep deprivation (the exhausting truth of Murray’s commitment to the craft).
“She dances all day, finishes late at night, and then has to rehearse at 6:30 AM,” Hilary said.
Muscle aches and tiredness are just one challenge. With constant exercise from dance and Murray’s need to improve and push herself, also comes injuries. She had to balance recovering from knee surgery along with her schedule earlier this year.
While the addition of DCO to her schedule has cut out even more time (something most might find too challenging to balance), Murray has enjoyed dancing at Highland and believes it to be incredibly fulfilling.
“For me, [school dance] is about having fun and making connections,” Murray said. “Outside of school dance is not stressful, but more competitive and strict.”
Dancing for Highland is a far cry from competitive dance, where she’s spent her life being nitpicked. When Murray dances at school she’s “performing for people that aren’t dancers, people simply enjoying movement and art who don’t notice what’s wrong,” she said.
Murray’s also appreciated the new community she’s found at Highland.
“We want to be there and dance,” Murray said, referring to the motivation she receives from teammates and the spirit of dance company.
Her fellow DCO members encourage her to show up every day despite exhaustion and distractions.
“Her friends are a huge part [ of her life],” Hilary said.
Murray has a very “sociable personality”, which, she and her mother agree has led to a network of companions.
However, with long dance hours and her absence over weekends, Hilary knows her daughter misses out on social events. She’s had to sacrifice the somewhat normal teenage experience for her passion, though she’s managed to find community through dance as well.
Murray stays in contact with girls she’s met across the country.
“She has friends that she talks to all the time and friends that she will run into unexpectedly at other dance events,” Hilary said.
Murray said her mom has always been there, highlighting her role in Murray’s growth and development over her dance journey. For Murray, her mother’s studio is a second home.
“I’ll get one-on-one dance training that a lot of people don’t get,” Murray said. “It’s kind of like my house … I go over there whenever.”
While the perks of private training sessions and empty dance studios certainly pay off, when other girls go home, the can escape dance. Not so much for Murray.
“I can’t really leave the studio because my mom obviously lives in my house… I don’t really hear the end of it,” Murray jokingly added. “But it’s nice. It’s an extra push, in a good way.”
And, don’t be fooled. When she’s dancing for her mom Murray knows she has to live up to the standards of a dance teacher, never going easy on herself or receiving shortcuts
Murray appreciates that she doesn’t have to read through the lines with her mother either.
“I want to come off stage and not have my mom lie to me and say ‘ you did so good”’. Instead, her mother’s blunt nature as a competitive dance trainer assures Murray that comments are honest, genuine, and educated, something Murray finds most beneficial as she grows as a dancer.
While Murray’s surely going to miss Highland Dance Company when she graduates in 2029, she doesn’t plan to stop dancing after high school.
“I want to join a college dance team and keep competing” Murray said.
In addition to college, Murray has her eyes set on commercial dance which could include dancing for a touring artist.
After that, Murray hopes to potentially teach other aspiring dancers, instilling in her pupils similar qualities to those her mom has given her, Highland DCO friends, and the countless other valuable contacts she’s met throughout her dance journey.
