A.J. LoPresti lives by the motto of his boutique dance studio Pure Dance Crew: passion, drive and commitment. The experienced dancer started taking tap at a young age. “I was five years old and watching my older sister in a dance competition when my mom asked if I would like to take a tap class,” he recalls. “I said, ‘sure’ and I’ve been hooked on dance ever since.”
A.J. grew up in the competitive dance world, eventually dropping all other sports and hobbies so that he could focus on dance full time. He competed in national competitions and trained in a variety of genres: tap, jazz, acrobatics, ballet, modern, hip hop, tribal, swing, lyrical, Fosse, Broadway and contemporary. In 2004, A.J. tried out for So You Think You Can Dance Canada; he was chosen as one of the top 150 finalists and was interviewed on TV. “It was an awesome experience,” he says. “I met some great people in the industry.”
