By VALERIE SWEETEN
Chronicle correspondent

Katie Cole, a Kingwood resident, says her passion for dance is providing opportunities of a lifetime.

Cole was one of 28 girls from the Lake Houston Performing Arts Center dance troupe to perform on the show America’s Got Talent in Los Angeles.

The arts center is located in Atascocita.

The dance troupe passed auditions in Houston in May 2009 and was one of two teams chosen to see the show’s executive producer, said center dance instructor Heather Nicholas.

They had a one-week notice to prepare for the Top 40 show. Cole performed with her teammates in CBS Studios in late July.

The team was eliminated in the first round of competition after their performance of Girls Just Want to Have Fun.

Nicholas said Cole is one of the girls who “loves to compete.”

Cole, a five-year veteran of the center, is a dancer who participates in lyrical, jazz, ballet, contemporary, tap and hip-hop training.

“This is her fifth season with me. All the little ones look up to her. She’s made a lot of progress because of her hard work. She’s one of our intermediate to advanced dancers,” said Nicholas.
Her dancing training began at the age of 3. Cole, the only child of Becky and Brad Cole, trained at Rowland/Ballard School of Ballet and Gymnastics in Kingwood.

She focused on ballet, tap and jazz at Rowland/Ballard while she attended St. Martha’s Catholic School in Kingwood.

Cole, currently a sophomore at St. Pius X High School in Houston, joined the arts center when she went into sixth grade.

Angela Amar, a Kingwood resident, has known Cole for five years. Cole is on the same dance troupe as her two daughters, Victoria and Marissa.

Amar has seen Cole progress as a dancer due to her “hard-working” attitude.

“She’s amazing to watch. Her talent has grown over the years. She shines on stage and puts in a lot of effort. The girls had to practice late nights to be on America’s Got Talent and never complained. They were all troopers,” said Amar.

Cole said the experience in Hollywood was “unforgettable.”
“It made me appreciate dance.

“It was so much fun getting to go out there. We’re a technical team with attitude. It was a good experience,” said Cole.

Cole and the dance troupe are gearing up for the beginning of their competition season.
“I love dancing. You don’t think about anything else when you’re on stage. I plan on doing dancing in some way through college and later in my life,” Cole said.