John & Danielle Crim

Two Madison siblings and former Overture’s Rising Stars participants are creating success in their artistic careers

“We needed to find a way to work on our art and express ourselves.”

Last year when COVID-19 closed campuses across the nation, John Crim, a student at Alonzo King Lines Ballet Training Program in San Francisco, and Danielle Crim, studying music at Columbia College in Chicago, returned home to Madison to live with their parents, Elton and Dawn.

In a lockdown with a lot of free time, the brother and sister duo combined their artistic passions in two dance videos, “Stop” and “Identity,” with choreography and dance by John and music written and sung by Danielle.

“We needed to find a way to work on our art and express ourselves,” said Danielle. “We loved creating these videos together.”

The collaborations are a beautiful example of the immense talents of these two Madison West High School graduates and former Overture’s Rising Stars participants. The pandemic provided a brief opportunity to work together before both artists returned to their individual studies and arts careers.

John Crim, dancer

John is now a professional dancer with Garth Fagan Dance, a contemporary American dance company in Rochester, New York.

His typical day consists of class for two hours, then a five-hour break, followed by dancing from 6-11 p.m. The company’s season runs through March 2022 with a home season in November and December, and a touring season across the country in February and March. John is excited to prepare for his first national tour.

“This is what I’ve trained for my whole career, and I’m beyond grateful for these opportunities and the support of so many people,” he said.

As a little kid, John couldn’t sit still. He was always moving and doing something. He tried basketball, soccer and baseball, but those sports weren’t the right fit. Then he saw Michael Jackson dance on television and was inspired to start dancing.

John began weekly lessons with Madison Ballet at age 7. By high school, he was dancing every evening at the Monona Academy of Dance, learning advanced ballet technique.

“I’m grateful to my parents for getting me started in dance at such an early age,” he said. “They’ve always had my best interests in mind and want to help amplify my talents.”

In 2014, his mom, Dawn, heard about the Overture’s Rising Stars talent search. John, then age 14, decided to give it a try. He performed one of his first self-choreographed solo pieces, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day, and advanced to The Callback.

“Rising Stars was a great opportunity. I loved the environment and being with so many talented people,” he said. “Even though I didn’t win, I felt like I had. The experience planted the seed for future successes.”

John spent his junior and senior years at Interlochen Arts Academy, a performing arts high school in Michigan. His high school diploma from Interlochen proved beneficial in the dance world, helping him get into Alonzo Kings Lines Ballet Training Program in San Francisco, where he continued to find his artistic voice and master his choreography skills.

“Anything I want to do in the craft, I now have the tools to do,” he explained. “My toolbox contains ballet training, modern dance and choreography. I love dance because the possibilities are endless. If my mind can think it, my body can do it.”

John completed his final semester at Alonzo Kings Lines Ballet from home last year, then began dancing with Water Street Dance Milwaukee.

“I met artist Taylor Maurchie-Banks who told me about artistic director Morgan Williams and Water Street Dance Milwaukee,” said John. “Our communities were still shutdown, but Water Street was finding ways to practice and perform.”

Ready to start his dance career, John got an apartment with Taylor in Milwaukee, and the two friends joined the company together.

“I was grateful to be in the studio, moving, with other people,” he said. “We kept trekking along, dealing with the mask mandates, limitations on people in the studio and social distancing. The light schedule gave me time to breathe and find my professional voice.”

John danced with Water Street Dance Milwaukee until this summer when he signed on with Garth Fagan Dance.

“I’m really enjoying dancing here,” said John. “The work is completely new to me. I’m learning a lot, which opens doors to many new possibilities. Everything happens for a reason, and I’m right where I need to be.”

Danielle Crim, musician

Halfway across the country from John, Danielle is a sophomore at Columbia College in Chicago and released her third self-produced album in August 2021.

“All the songs on the EP were written within the past year, some for my song-writing classes at school,” said Danielle. “I came up with the beats and chords, recorded the songs and spent a lot of time mixing and mastering the technical aspects.”

Danielle has been playing piano since age 7 and composing songs since age 9.

“I have loved listening to music and singing my entire life, and when my fourth-grade teacher gave me a notebook that had pictures of musicians on the cover, it seemed appropriate that I use it to write songs,” she said.

Danielle began writing songs at recess and showed them to her friends. The next year, she started playing violin in the school’s orchestra. By middle school, Danielle was coming up with chords for her songs. She learned to play the guitar, and in ninth grade got a ukulele.

That Christmas, she also received a laptop, which was primarily used to produce music using GarageBand.com.

“Since then, I’ve been working on getting better,” said Danielle.

At Overture Center, we’ve watched Danielle’s progress.

Like John, she participated in Overture’s Rising Stars in 2014, playing Für Elise on the piano. In 2016, she became a finalist with “Just Fine,” a song she wrote and sang on the piano. In 2017, she returned to Rising Stars with her original song “Lost and Found,” again performing in The Finals on Capitol Theater stage.

“For the 2018 Rising Stars, I decided to produce a backing track with piano, strings, drums, lots of instruments, and sing on top of it,” said Danielle.

The original song was called “Underwater,” and Danielle performed in The Finals and won the Teen Music Category. She received a cash prize, and the experience led to future performance opportunities at Overture Center and elsewhere in the community.

“I gained so much from the experience,” she said. “I learned how to perform for other people and received helpful feedback from the judges.”

Danielle has continued to write music and has written “too many songs to count.” She writes about what she’s feeling in her life—the strong emotions. She begins by playing chords on the piano or her computer, humming melodies and then writing lyrics.

She released 12 songs on first album in 2018, then two singles, then 13 songs on her second album, then another single. Her 2021 EP contains six songs.

“For my first album, I took songs I’d already written and some in progress and recorded them on my laptop. They were mostly piano and vocals with light mixing,” she said. “For the second album, I discovered more of my sound, adding more instrumentals. It’s produced better than first album and shows improvement. In my latest release, I really focused on the technical aspects.”

Danielle’s favorite songs on her EP are “Shoestrings,” an emotional song she says shows her vulnerability, and “My Paradise,” an upbeat club-like song that puts her in a great mood.

At age 18, Danielle has already developed recognition in the music industry. Her music is available online from a variety of sources (Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok). She continues to learn about music and grow in her talents, and she is planning to release a music video for “Shoestrings” later this year.

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