Hey there!

I'm Madeline Rose McKissick and I'm very excited to start writing for the Odyssey! My goal as a new content creator is to inform and inspire my readers. If they take away one thing from my articles, I hope it's the confidence to express themselves and the ability to love themselves.

I was born and raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a city famous for the Johnstown Flood, winning Kraft Hockeyville and the world's steepest vehicular incline plane. It was there at Out of His Mind dance studio where my love for dance has been fostered since kindergarten. Since then, I've studied various techniques, including ballet, pointe, modern, jazz and many more, in addition to being a junior teacher for the younger dancers. Throughout the years, I discovered that I found nothing more beautiful than expressing one's thoughts, feelings, emotions and stories through movement, and I found nothing more rewarding than sharing this revelation through performing as well as teaching.

My dancing was not limited to the studios of OOHM. I took every opportunity to dance in the musicals at Bishop McCort Catholic High School. My junior musical, West Side Story, was one of my favorites. I played a shark girl named Estella in the famous America dance, and I was a featured dancer in the ballet sequence. For my senior musical, I was a dance captain for Pippin, and I greatly enjoyed dancing the Bob Fosse-inspired choreography.

When it came time to start thinking about my future, I realized my dance career was too important to me to end before it could truly begin, so I researched colleges that offered dance as a major. My dance teacher and an alumni from my studio both recommended Slippery Rock University for me. I visited the campus twice for good measure, and I knew that the Rock would one day be my home. Call me crazy, but Slippery Rock was the only school I applied to and auditioned for because I couldn't imagine myself dancing anywhere else. I literally jumped for joy when I read my acceptance letter to the dance program! Now that I'm here and coming to the end of my very first semester, I can honestly say it's everything I hoped it would be. I have the privilege of dancing under the instruction of distinguished faculty and alongside many talented dancers.

Already, I have been exposed to so many opportunities to help me grow as a dancer. I've attended several master classes and performances, including the Martha Graham Dance Company, one of my favorite modern dance companies, and Gravity and Other Myths, an acrobatics company from Australia. Most recently, I danced in the Adjudication Concert, which was my first SRU Dance Theatre (SRUDT) performance. I was able to perform four beautiful pieces, each created by a talented student choreographer.

I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences and telling my story here on Odyssey!