It requires a lot of training to hit the target in front of a live audience.
“There’s a lot of pressure and you only get one shot,” Bella notes. “You
have to make sure it’s perfect.”
She practices about five hours a day almost every day of the week.
Bella attends the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, which makes it
easier to study and train. Between school and training, she still finds
time to visit with her friends and enjoys playing with slime.
“I can study whenever I want,” Bella says. “I can even go to school on
Saturday, and I can take my school work when I travel.”
She practices with real arrows and some collateral damage has
occurred, including smashed vases and broken windows. Bella now
practices her archery outdoors but once accidentally shot an arrow into
the neighbor’s house.
Although a resident of Greensburg, Bella trains at the Dance
Extensions Performing Arts Center in Canonsburg. Co-owner Betsy
Shuttleworth is her coach, and among other things has taught her the
importance of stretching to avoid injuries. Often, Bella practices so
hard that it hurts to walk afterward.
“That’s just part of being an athlete,” she says. “They always say that
if your muscles don’t hurt after a workout, that means you didn’t do it
right.”
According to Shuttleworth, Bella is a uniquely determined and
focused athlete. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” she says.
Shuttleworth praises Bella’s humility as well: “She’s handled the fame
like a champ, like she was meant to do it. She turns 10 shades of red
when somebody recognizes her from TV.”
Bella also deals with criticism well. “Bella has to be very mature to
handle all the stuff she’s handled,” Shuttleworth says. “She handles it
very well for a young girl.”
Later this year, Bella will receive a bow that is customized to suit her
body and will improve her accuracy. Shuttleworth also helps design
new routines for Bella to perform. “People copy it, so we have to step it
up,” she notes.
Bella’s mother, Krissy, never expected to have a daughter who
wanted to become a circus performer. “When I was pregnant with her,
never in a million years did I think I would have a little girl who stands
on her head and shoots arrows better than a man can with his hands,”
she muses. “It’s all very surreal.”
However, Bella’s passion for contortion and foot archery is no longer
as shocking as it once was, Krissy adds. “Seeing a person holding a bow
with her feet awes most people. I’m a little desensitized to it.” n
All the
Right Moves
DEPAC brings all aspects
of movement to students.
By Paul Glasser
D
ance Extensions Performing Arts Center offers a
focused and friendly approach to dance instruction.
Co-director and contortion instructor Betsy
Shuttleworth says she often has to remind students to
stay focused while training. However, she also knows that
sometimes dancers need to take it easy, especially after a
challenging competition.
“Some students call me their second mom, but
that doesn’t mean I let them get away with anything,”
Shuttleworth notes.
She has more than 25 years of experience as an instructor,
and minored in dance at Point Park University. Dawn Bercini
Churney is the other co-director and has been dancing
since she was 14. DEPAC also employs other experienced
instructors, including a former tumbler from Cirque du Soleil.
Based in Canonsburg, DEPAC offers classes in jazz, ballet,
tumbling and hip-hop, as well as other genres. About 100
students are enrolled at the studio ranging from beginners to
experienced competitors.
Shuttleworth says the studio offers a very friendly
atmosphere because the students never compete against
each other.
“We make sure the kids get along together and look out
for each other,” she explains. “We want to be a good support
for them, and I think that’s important in this day and age.”
Instead of competing against other students, dancers
should try to improve themselves, Shu ttleworth adds. “Don’t
worry about anybody else,” she advises them. “Just be better
than yourself.”
Her years of experience as a contortion trainer also makes
DEPAC unique. Having good core strength is the key to
becoming a good contortionist. Stretching is also important
in order to avoid injuries.
“If you don’t have the muscles to compress it all together,
you have no support for your spine,” Shuttleworth says.
Ballet is a good starting point for anyone interested in
becoming a contortionist because it teaches stage presence
and poise.
Shuttleworth originally taught ballet, but felt like her
classes were becoming stagnant and decided to learn more
about becoming a contortionist. “I wanted to go above and
beyond what we were doing,” she explains.
Eventually she earned the respect of her fellow contortion
trainers. “The most eye-opening moment was when a friend
from Germany called me a contortion trainer for the first
time,” Shuttleworth says. “It jolted my body.”
She would like to offer classes on partner acrobatics in the
future. “It’s good for kids who like the acrobatics of contortion
but don’t want to be very flexible,” she notes.
Shuttleworth also tries to find ways to make sure students
who want to attend classes can do so even if their family
doesn’t have a lot of financial resources. She grew up in a
family without much money and her father paid for her
classes by doing repairs on her instructor’s house.
“Dance gave me a lot and kept me out of trouble,” she
says. “If these kids are out on the street, what good is that?”
If parents can’t afford to pay for classes, Shuttleworth will
find chores for the student to perform around the studio.
Other tools include payment plans and scholarships. “I believe
in paying it forward,” she says.
A number of Shuttleworth’s students have found success,
including Bella Gantt, who recently performed on the show
“Little Big Shots” hosted by Steve Harvey on NBC.
“Walking into that setting was pretty humbling,”
Shuttleworth says. “I am grateful every day because it could
all end tomorrow. That’s just the way it goes.”
For more information visit: danceextensionspac.com.
Greensburg Salem | Fall 2017 | icmags.com 11