SAUGUS DANCER TAKES TOP HONORS SHIPLEY GETS SCHOLARSHIP AND TROPHY.

Byline: Daily News

Saugus High School senior Kaitlyn Shipley, 17, was awarded top honors at the 2005 National Dance Alliance U.S. Championship held March 6 in Las Vegas.

Kaitlyn was awarded a $1,000 college scholarship and a 4-foot-tall first-place trophy designating her as the NDA's 2005 U.S. Championship Best Dancer.

Performing a two-minute high-energy jazz routine to the Tina Turner rock 'n' roll classic ``Proud Mary,'' Kaitlyn impressed the judges in the 17- to 22-year-old solo scholarship division.

In addition, Kaitlyn achieved the highest final point score of all solo categories, ages 7 to 22, during the dance competition. She personally choreographed her own winning routine.

Judges for the NDA Dance Championship represent various parts of the country, so style differences are balanced in evaluating the performances.

The dancers were judged in six categories: technique (leaps, turns and kicks); execution (style, control and body extension); projection/expression (showmanship and emotion); choreography (use of floor, creativity and flow); degree of difficulty (level of skill, pace and performance); and performance impression (overall audience appeal).

The scoring process for the NDA Championship is similar to that of gymnastics and figure skating, with scores for each category ranging from zero to 10. All point deductions and/or penalties are deducted from the average score to get the final score.

Kaitlyn is a member of the elite Santa Clarita STARS Showteam, which trains under the direction of Holly Diaz at The Dance Experience in Canyon Country. Her training coach for this solo routine was Elisa Garcia.

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(1 -- 2 -- color) Kaitlyn Shipley does her prize-winning dance, right, then collects her honors, above. She won a $1,000 college scholarship and a trophy naming her as the National Dance Alliance's 2005 U.S. Championship Best Dancer.