“Dancing with the Stars”: Zendaya Tops Competition at age 16

Zendaya, the youngest competitor ever to grace her presence on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”, tops the competition two weeks into Season 16 and America is loving it! Partnered with Valentin Chmerkovskiy, a professional US champion dancer, this dancing duo has set the bar high for the rest of the talented dance competitors, which include Dorothy Hamill, Jacoby Jones, Aly Raisman and Kellie Pickler. Although she is only 16, Zendaya is far from shy when it comes to dancing and performing in front of video cameras and a studio audience. 

Zendaya got her start in performing at an early age, like most talented professionals do. In her case, Zendaya’s mother was the house manger at the California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda, where she was able to help her mother seat patrons, sell raffle tickets to benefit the theater and experience the power of live performances, first hand. Zendaya was inspired by all the theatrical performances she was surrounded by and decided to develop her craft in the arts to express her passion for life. In her early beginnings of becoming the incredibly talented actress and dancer she is today, she studied at the Oakland School for the Arts, CalShakes Conservatory Program and at the American Conservatory Theater where she constantly performed and danced on stage.

Currently, Zendaya is working as an actress, singer and dancer for Disney’s successful comedic television show called “Shake It Up”. Ironically the story premise for “Shake It Up” is similar to Zendaya’s real life adventures in “Dancing with the Stars”, where  she co-stars along side actress Bella Thorne, as one of two teenage girls living up their dreams as dancers, trying to reach their ultimate goal as superstars.

So far, Zendaya is making that dream into reality. Two weeks into “Dancing with the Stars” and she is ranked number one in the competition, receiving the highest scores for her dance performances. The best part about Zendaya is that she represents the fact that, no matter your age, you can work hard, be dedicated to your goals and come out on top. Zendaya has impressed “Dancing with the Stars” judges and fans and polity reminds us all, that she “can do what the big kids do” (Zendaya).

Look forward to watching Zendaya perform on “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC Mondays at 8:00pm (pacific) and Tuedays at 9:00 pm (pacific).

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