By: Jasmine West
A year ago, Christen Devani Elliott left the NAACP ACT-SO competition with a bronze medal and disappointment.
She could have stopped there.
Instead, the Cass Technical High School alumna returned to her craft, worked harder on her choreography and decided to compete again. This year, that persistence took her from Detroit to the national stage, where she earned a NAACP ACT-SO national gold medal in dance.
“It was an amazing experience,” Elliott said. “I definitely enjoyed it more than anything.”
Elliott, a recent Cass Tech graduate who will attend Western Michigan University, said last year’s result became motivation.
“I auditioned last year and I ended up getting bronze, which meant that I couldn’t go to nationals, which was a little disappointing,” she said. “But, you know, we always have to try again.”
This time, Elliott poured more work into her choreography, earned gold at the local level and advanced to nationals.
ACT-SO, short for the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics, is the NAACP’s year-round achievement program for high school students. It gives young people opportunities to develop and showcase their talents across the arts, humanities, business and STEM fields.
For Elliott, reaching nationals meant stepping into a larger arena alongside talented Black students from across the country.
“Every day, there were different competitions that you had to attend, and then we had to practice back to back,” she said. “So it was nerve-wracking.”
But what stayed with her most was seeing other young people excelling in the things they loved.
“Being able to compete and seeing so many other strong dancers and strong Black people just doing things that they love, it was very rewarding,” Elliott said.
Her mother, Latoya Thomas Latham, watched the journey from bronze to gold firsthand.
Thomas Latham said last year’s result was disappointing at first, but the timing ultimately worked out. Elliott was already preparing to travel to Los Angeles that summer to dance with Debbie Allen.
When Elliott returned to ACT-SO during her senior year, however, her mother saw how much work she put into earning another opportunity.
“To see Christen work so hard in her senior year and then getting ready to head to college, and she gets this high honor for her talent, was really amazing,” Thomas Latham said.
Elliott’s national experience extended beyond the competition. Her mother said she also auditioned for the national show and performed several times.
For Thomas Latham, watching her daughter perform was one source of pride. Seeing the larger collection of Black and brown youth talent was another.
“It was just an experience I’ve never had before,” she said. “To go to Chicago and see so many Black and brown youth with so much different talent.”
That visibility matters to both mother and daughter.
Elliott said she wants more Detroit students to know programs like ACT-SO exist, particularly young people whose talents may extend beyond traditional academics.
Students can compete in areas including dance, music, science, technology, writing, public speaking, business and filmmaking.
“You get to be around other people who do the same thing that you love, and you get to learn from like-minded students,” Elliott said.
Her development as a dancer was also shaped by her four years at Cass Tech.
Elliott said the school exposed her to opportunities that strengthened her confidence and allowed her to learn from visiting artists and instructors.
“We get so many opportunities, especially at my school, because our principal fights to give us experiences and have people come in,” she said.
Through dance workshops at Cass Tech, Elliott said she performed and learned choreography from teachers who came from across the world.
But she said one of Cass Tech’s greatest influences was being surrounded by students who expected excellence from themselves.
“Being at a school like Cass, you’re surrounded by people who are always working hard and always want to be the best at what they do,” Elliott said.
That environment, she said, helped her become more confident as a young Black woman.
“I think that DPSCD has encouraged me to be confident and to be strong-willed,” she said.
Thomas Latham understands that experience from another generation.
She is also a Detroit Public Schools graduate, having attended Osborn High School. She said students today have opportunities that were not as readily available when she was in school.
“There weren’t as many opportunities for us then as it is now for the youth,” she said.
Thomas Latham now returns to Osborn to support students and said she appreciates seeing schools recognize that achievement can take many forms.
“I think that’s so important for DPSCD schools to meet students where they are,” she said, “and not just with academics, those who are more so into the arts as well.”
Now, Elliott is preparing to carry what she learned in Detroit into college.
At Western Michigan University, she plans to double major in dance and kinesiology.
“I didn’t feel as if dance was something that I could give up,” Elliott said. “It’s been a passion of mine since I was a child.”
Her long-term goal is to pursue physical therapy, combining her understanding of movement with a desire to help dancers and other athletes recover from injuries.
“Dance is always going to be a part of me, and I want to be able to help other athletes and other dancers get through pain and be able to recover from things like injuries,” Elliott said.
Before beginning that next chapter, she wants other Detroit students to know they should put themselves in rooms where their talent can be seen.
She encourages students interested in ACT-SO to follow the Detroit Branch NAACP and watch for information about future competition cycles.
Her mother echoed that call, particularly for young people across Detroit whose gifts may still be going unnoticed.
“There are so many different areas and opportunities,” Thomas Latham said. “It needs to be done, especially in the city of Detroit because we have so many that are unseen and they need to be seen.”
Christen Elliott entered ACT-SO determined to improve on bronze.
She left the national stage with gold and a message for the next young Detroiter wondering whether to try: there is value in showing up, finding your community and giving yourself another shot.
