Long Grove Dancer Will Share the Stage With Ciara at WE Day (UPDATED)

UPDATED (9:27 p.m. Wednesday, April 27): Includes dancers from Off The Ground dance studio.

A group of 12 north suburban dancers―including a Woodlawn Middle School eighth-grader from Long Grove―will perform as part of Thursday's WE Day event at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

The dancers―three from Highland Park's Off The Ground dance studio and nine from the Buffalo Grove-based Fusion Dance Company―will perform onstage during the opening number for the event, which brings together inspirational speakers and musical performers as part of the WE Schools program that encourages kids to make a difference in their communities and around the world. This year's event will feature Ciara, Martin Luther King III, Paula Abdul, Henry Winkler and others.

RELATED: 'Best Night of My Life': 2 North Suburban Girls Dance With Justin Bieber (VIDEO)

WE Day events are held throughout the year across the country, and local dancers are hired to perform for each of those shows, Alissa Deutsch, owner and director of Fusion, told Patch.

These are the girls who auditioned with more than 300 dancers April 17 and made the cut:

• Laney Smith, a Northwood Middle School eighth-grader from Highland Park
• Sydney Kessel, an Edgewood Middle School eighth-grader from Highland Park
• Kaitlyn Soloway, a Deerfield High School senior
• Taylor Bondy, an Edgewood Middle School eighth-grader from Highland Park
• Rebecca Ohel, a Woodlawn Middle School eighth-grader from Long Grove
• Liza Greenberg, a Northwood Middle School eighth-grader from Highland Park
• Eden Kawer, a Northwood Middle School eighth-grader from Highland Park
• Hannah Ohel, a Country Meadows Elementary School fifth-grader from Long Grove
• Aliyah Strauss, a Northwood Middle School seventh-grader from Highland Park

Hannah Ohel―who Deutsch said was "having a great April―also had the opportunity to dance with Justin Bieber Saturday, April 23, during one of his two shows in Chicago.

The three Off The Ground dancers―all from Deerfield―who will perform include:

• Jessie Peck, a Shepard Middle School sixth-grader
• Gabi Donenberg, a Caruso Middle School eighth-grader
• Cassandra Cokefair, a Caruso Middle School eighth-grader

Six of the girls―Laney, Sydney, Kaitlyn, Taylor, Rebecca and Liza―also will work double duty as backup dancers for Ciara, one of the show's headliners, Deutsch said.

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Auditions to be hired as Ciara's backup dancers were Saturday, April 23, and rehearsals began Monday, April 25, Deutsch said. Deutsch's students also are the only backup dancers for Ciara's who aren't adults, she added.

"Both myself and my assistant director, Ali Fishman, are incredibly proud of their hard work and perseverance," Deutsch said of all nine of her students performing at We Day. Those students have been studying hip-hop dance with her and competing with the company since they were about 8 years old, she added.

The event will be streamed live on the We Day website, and Deutsch said that the event might air on TV in the fall. Last year, an hourlong, commercial-free broadcast about WE Day aired on ABC.

PHOTO CAPTIONS

First Photo: Rebecca Ohel

GROUP PHOTO

Top Row: (From left to right) Laney Smith, Sydney Kessel and Kaitlyn Soloway

Middle Row: Taylor Bondy, Rebecca Ohel and Liza Greenberg

Bottom Row: Eden Kawer, Hannah Ohel and Aliyah Strauss

(Courtesy Alissa Deutsch)