Dancing has been in Joey Moore’s family for many generations.
His parents, Christopher and Anne Moore, have co-owned En Pointe Indiana Ballet in Noblesville since 2016. His uncle and aunt, Robert Moore and his wife Pollyana Ribeiro, are the studio’s co-directors.
Joey Moore performed the “Male Swan Lake Classical” at the 2023 Youth America Grand Prix competition March 16-19 at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. He earned top honors in the men’s senior classical solo.
Youth from Hamilton County presented the award-winning performances.
Moore, 16, began dancing at age 9. After his first year of dancing, he won his first competition at a BellaMoxi dance competition in Kentucky. Since then, dancing has been a passion.
“I was kind of at this spot (BellaMoxi) where I was like, ‘Do I really want to keep doing this or is it just a hobby of mine?’” Moore said. “Winning first place for my category really pushed me to understand that this is what I want to do.”
Moore, a Noblesville resident, said his dream is to join a ballet company and be either a principal dancer or a soloist.
John Paul Pack, a Carmel resident, took first place in the 2021 and 2022 Midtown’s Got Talent competition in Carmel. He finished second in CarmelFest Has Talent in his age division in 2022. At the 2023 YAGP, he performed the “Paquita” dance and placed in the top 12 in the junior division.
Pack, who was 13 at the time and is now 14, said he has been dancing for seven years. The YAGP was his first dance competition.
Pack said he fell in love with dance after seeing “The Nutcracker” at age 7. He has trained at En Pointe for six years. He said he loves dance but has little interest in performing competitively.
“I’m not really a competition dancer, so I haven’t really looked into any competitions,” Pack said. “But I really enjoyed this one.”
Pack will appear in “The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland” May 12-13 in Anderson, performing as the door mouse. He plans to return to YAGP in 2024.
