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Artist of the Year 2025 for dance: Piper Rovsek

April 27, 2025

Last year, she was named a finalist. This year, Piper Rovsek moved past everyone else to become the Judy Morr Artist of the Year for Dance.

For Melanie Kay Rosa, artistic director and chair of the dance department at Fullerton College, Rovsek “moved like nobody else.”

“She had her own voice and movement,” said Rosa, one of five judges who considered 16 semifinalists for the honor.

And, at 18, Rovsek is showing herself to be more than a dancer.

She stood out for what she did on the floor at Chapman University’s Sandi Simon Center for Dance, the video she had submitted, and her résumé.

“She’s so well-rounded,” said Boróka Nagy, a dancer and choreographer who is director of The Academy of Dance in Orange County and CEO of the nonprofit Reborn Arts.

“She sees the world through the artist’s lens.”

Piper Rovsek of Newport Harbor, a senior studying at the Orange County School of the Arts, is the dance Artist of the Year for 2025. Rovsek is pictured at Segerstrom Hall in the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Consider Rovsek’s honors and awards so far as a senior at Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, including Commercial Dance co-valedictorian, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Honor Society, a 2025 Laguna Dance Young Artist Scholarship winner.

And there’s the nonprofit organization she cofounded two years ago, Wired4Dance, that offers monthly adaptive dance classes to people of all ages with neuro disabilities.

Each dancer was asked to include at least one self-choreographed number in their two dance selections. They had five minutes to show their stuff and then sat, understandably out of breath, to answer a few questions.

Rovsek, who’s been dancing since she was 6, presented a self-choreographed contemporary piece and a jazz solo that she had performed for a school show.

She described her approach in creating her choreography — first writing down her thoughts on what she wanted to convey, “scribbling and envisioning the space and how to move through it.”

Then, the movement to the music.

As Rovsek performed that piece, Sarah Jones, associate director of ABT William J. Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, found herself thinking, “Oh, look at this girl.”

Rovsek loves to perform, but she also loves the research behind dance, “the discussion behind dance,” as she put it.

She’ll be heading to college to study dance, and perform as opportunities arise, wherever she ends up.

“Although dance never came easy, it called for me,” she wrote in her Artist of the Year statement.

“Once I started, I knew it would live with me forever.”

This year, the dance award is named in honor of Judy Morr, who retired from the Segerstrom Center for the Arts last year. In more than four decades at the center, she propelled Orange County into being a destination for world-class dance.

Dance finalists

In addition to Artist of the Year, the judges selected four finalists from the 16 semifinalists whose dance styles included ballet, contemporary, jazz, ballet folklórico and hip-hop.

Rio Gomez of Fullerton, a junior studying at Fullerton Union High School, is a dance finalist for Artist of the Year in 2025. (Photo courtesy of Vince Trupsin)

Rio Gomez, Division 1: She performed a tap dance with elements of ballet and a jazz piece, the latter to “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone, a song her mom loves. Misty Copeland, the first African American female principal dancer with American Ballet Theater, inspired Gomez, 17, to dance. The junior at Fullerton Union High dreams of starting her own tap company and elevating the presence of tap in the dance world. Her parents – an engineer and a psychology professor — have seen how far she’s come and support her career choice. “I mean, they drove me here today,” she told the judges.

Dani Lopez of Costa Mesa, a senior studying at Costa Mesa High School, is a dance finalist for Artist of the Year in 2025. (Photo courtesy of Dani Lopez)

Dani Lopez, Division 2: “Gung ho about everything.” “Embodied the joy of dance.” “Engaging.” Just some of the judges’ thoughts on Lopez, a senior at Costa Mesa High. He only started dance in high school. His musical theater teacher suggested it might land him better roles. “I never got a good role,” quipped Lopez, 17, “but I got better at dancing.” He’s also head drum major for the marching band and president of the Red Cross club, sews costumes for plays, and does ceramics. Lopez plans to major in science or chemistry, with a minor in dance.

Alyssa Park of Yorba Linda, a junior studying at Orange County School of the Arts, is a dance finalist for Artist of the Year in 2025. (Photo courtesy of JoLee Chou)

Alyssa Park, Division 1: She’s focusing right now on ballet and contemporary dance but has trained in a range of styles as a junior at Orange County School of the Arts. Her creative exploration included participating with schoolmates in a multi-discipline collaboration — spoken word and poetry, dance, music and singing — on immigration experiences and American identity called “Beyond Borders.” Park, 17, wants to attend a college dance program and, as a performer, “live it up on the stage.”

Bella Rose Silva of Irvine, a junior studying at Orange County School of the Arts, is a dance finalist for Artist of the Year in 2025. (Photo courtesy of Vince Trupsin)

Bella Rose Silva, Division 1: She’s a tap dancer with a sense of history. A junior at Orange County School of the Arts, she talked about “Master Juba” — William Henry Lane — a free Black man in pre-Civil War America considered to be the father of tap dance. She talked about Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, famous for his tap performances in Hollywood films of the 1930s and ‘40s. Aware of the inequalities in show business, Silva, 17, intends to become a lawyer someday and represent dancers and other artists. But first, she’d like to tour with a tap company and dance on Broadway.

The judges

Special thanks to the judges who helped evaluate students this year.

The judges who evaluated the 126 dance nominees and chose the 16 semifinalists were:

Kristine Calder, San Juan Hills High School
Aaron Chavarria, Orange County School of the Arts
Mauro Cardoza, Valencia High School
Carmel Gabriel, La Quinta High School
Marleen Hall, Hall Method Dance Ensemble
Kirsten Harvey, St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
Heide Janssen, Executive Producer, Artist of the Year
Chrissie Leong, Garden Grove High School
Hannah Miller, Valencia High School
Irene Ortega Watson, Young Choreographers Project
Bianca Salter, Capistrano Valley High School
Judy Scialpi, Northwood High School

The judges who interviewed the semifinalists and chose the four finalists and the Artist of the Year were:

Heather Gillette, Dance Department Chair, Santa Ana College
Heide Janssen, Executive Producer, Artist of the Year
Sarah Jones, Associate Director, ABT Will J. Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Stephanie Liapis, Asst. Professor of Dance, Chapman University
Boróka Nagy, Director, The Academy of Dance; CEO, Reborn Arts
Melanie Kay Rosa, Dance Department Chair, Fullerton College

Division 1 students have had more than five years of dance training in school and/or privately. Division 2 students have had less than five years.

Artist of the Year 2025 for dance: Piper Rovsek Orange County Register

News Details

Artist of the Year 2025 for dance: Piper Rovsek

Dance finalists

The judges

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