After falling in love with Sarasota during a vacation years ago, Rise Above’s choreographer Toni Dentico decided to relocate from the frigid winters of Buffalo, NY to the endless summers of our region in 2022. “We just loved the proximity to the beaches, the arts and culture of the area and the family-friendly atmosphere, so we thought it would be the perfect place to plant our roots for retirement,” she explains. Retirement, however, was not in the immediate future for the lifelong dancer.

Despite dancing since the age of four, Dentico pursued a career in accounting, following her mother’s advice to choose a job with a steady paycheck. It wasn’t until 2003, when her oldest son decided to attend acting school, that she rediscovered her passion for choreography, creating dance routines for the musicals at his school. She later learned about a school in the Buffalo area, St. Joseph’s Collegiate, that had an amazing music program and she thought, “If I could ever teach or choreograph anywhere, that would be where I’d want to go." So when the vocal director of St. Joseph’s invited her to teach a workshop there she knew that was potentially going to be her big break. She went on to be the school’s choreographer for the next 12 years. “They put on bigger productions than any high school musical you've ever seen,” she recalls. “Their budget was huge, the scenery and the costumes were just so elaborate, it felt like being on a New York City stage. It was just intense and all the vocal directors were wonderful so it was very hard for me to leave.” When she did decide to leave, she came to Sarasota thinking she was closing the door on her choreography career forever, but as the saying goes, when one door closes, another opens and that is exactly what happened for Dentico.

Through a neighbor, Dentico learned about Rise Above Performing Arts, a non-profit organization that focuses on increasing accessibility for any child to be involved in the performing arts—often at no cost to their families. Over 200 children, teens and young adults receive services annually with the organization and have opportunities to participate in theatrical productions, summer camp and their award-winning show choir. She interviewed, got the job and has been the choreographer there since 2022. “At Rise Above we do six shows a year and that’s actually more work than I've ever done in the past,” says Dentico. “Jacob Ruscoe, our artistic director, always wants to do shows that he's never done before, which are usually shows I haven't done before, so I’m really excited to be part of these productions.” Dentico’s husband Mike often says she works too hard but to her, it doesn’t feel that way. “The teaching process, teamwork and finished product never get old to me. It blows my mind every time,” she says. “It’s just such a feeling of completion and I’m so proud of these extremely talented kids. All the staff members work really well together too, which is not very common in the art world. It's just a great experience all around.”

While Dentico focuses on work with middle and high school students, Rise Above’s programs span from kindergarten through college. The most recent musical production, Grease, ran in January and was a huge success, followed by the company’s first drama performance, The Diary of Anne Frank. The upcoming musical production of The Wizard of Oz will run May 8-10 and 15-18. “Sometimes the experience of getting there with a show can seem rough, but always the end result feels like such an accomplishment for me and for the kids,” Dentico says. “That's what keeps me going and makes it so hard to ever think about giving up. I'm probably going to be out there dancing with a cane pretty soon, but I'll be out there!”