Laurel Golio gets up close and personal with a US youth dance competition

After Little Miss Sunshine I feel like the world of American pageantry is something I understand implicitly. Young girls travel the country with their drug-addled grandparents, suicidal uncles and mute brothers desperate to prove their worth as dancers, cheerleaders, singers and acrobats. I assumed that Laurel Golio’s series of photographs at Dance Xplosion might dispel these cinematic myths but it seems this is a fiercely competitive world of high drama and emotion. Laurel’s photos show just how much these kids, as well as their parents, are focussed on success, twerking, tapping and tangoing their way to middle American superstardom.

Laurel’s on a year-long project to document a number of these extraordinary subcultures; from bodybuilders to Trekkies trading cards at a convention. Keep your eyes on her site to see what she comes up with next.