NORWICH – Creativity, competition winnings and a hardworking booster club landed the Amber Perkins School of the Arts in the September issue of Dance Studio Life, a nationally-distributed magazine.

The publication featured quotes and information from Norwich and Vestal studio owner, teacher and choreographer Perkins and her brother, Michael, who is also a teacher and choreographer. Photographs of title winning dancers Robin Wonka of Oxford and Travis St. Denny of Norwich performing their 2008 best of show duo, “Primal Scream,” accompanied the articles.

Perkins said her studio was contacted for articles about winning competitions and the pitfalls and windfalls of fundraising, but she was surprised to see her brother, Michael’s 2006 choreography of the large production piece, “Animal Farm” reviewed.

Magazine columnist and competition judge Larry Sousa wrote that Perkins’ modern dance interpretation of George Orwell’s famous novel was one of the most “successful” and “fascinating” examples of a literary adaptation he’d ever seen in a dance competition.

“It was a lavish production with a stage full of beautiful scenery and clever costuming. Most important, the choreography and character work captured the tone, themes and spirit of (Animal Farm). It can’t be easy to adapt, in dance form, literature’s most famous satirical allegory of Soviet totalitarianism. But there it was, live on-stage, and it worked.”

The performance judge said he had “seen rhinestones in every color and 12 million fouette turns” in his 15-year career, so when a dance hits the stage that is innovate, fresh and engaging, he is both surprised and relieved.