When dance is in your soul, the rewards are endless. For New Port Richey’s own Adam Boreland, professional dancer and rising star, dance has guided most of his life. Today, he shares his love of dance with others worldwide as an ambassador of the dancing world, as a content creator and on television.
Dance wasn’t originally on Adam’s radar as a child. “I tried sports, gymnastics, all different things, and nothing really stuck,” shared Boreland. Drawn to acting, his parents, Marcia and Dan Boreland, signed him up for a musical theater camp at Richey Suncoast Theater. That eventually led to dance classes. “Once I got in the studio, I just fell in love. It just became a part of me. It was destiny,” added Boreland.
As Boreland’s dance education continued, it was clear that to progress, he needed to leave the safety net of home. “My parents did everything they could to help me succeed. Both of them have really put themselves aside to let me live my dream. At 16, they let me move away to pursue ballet. That takes a lot of guts,” explained Boreland. Adam polished his technique at San Francisco Ballet School, ready to take the dancing world by storm.
At 18, Adam started his first professional dance contract at Texas Ballet Theater, where he danced for seven seasons. After leaving Texas, Adam found a love of teaching dance. “One student I taught became a dancer at Disney. Watching a student succeed like that superseded any feeling I had on stage,” shared Boreland. “Dance taught me to always keep learning. Teaching helped me become a better dancer.”
While teaching offered a new type of fulfillment, Adam knew he wanted more. He wanted to reach the pinnacle of a dance company as a principal dancer. He signed with the Orlando Ballet, where he fulfilled those dreams. “I was the lead. I was in every review. Everybody knew who I was,” explained Boreland. While that success was invigorating, he felt the call of something more. “I woke up one morning, and I said, ‘Okay, I did it. What’s next?’ I wanted to be challenged,” added Boreland.
Adam started planning his next steps with an eye on his future. “I could go to a professional company tomorrow. I could go to New York. I could go to Europe. But I want to dance and do what I’m doing until I’m 70. And if I were in the professional world of ballet, my body would deteriorate by 45. It’s changed my perspective.”
During this time, Adam focused on a new role. “I feel my whole career started because I love dance. But now as an adult, it’s my duty to be an ambassador of dance. There’s not enough out there. Not a lot of people saying, ‘Welcome. We want you to start dancing,’” explained Boreland. Adam created Dance Accepts Everyone, the largest Facebook group regarding dance with over 400,000 members, to share the love of dance with the world. “We have dance within us. Our own heart dances every day. Dance is a way of healing, a way of working through some of the hard times in life, a way of learning more about yourself, to learn to accept yourself,” added Boreland.
With his role as an ambassador in mind, he sought opportunities farther afield. “I’m very well known in the dance world. My goal is not to be a ballet star. It’s to be a household name,” said Boreland. In 2015, Adam auditioned for the FOX show “So You Think You Can Dance”. He became a finalist in Las Vegas during season 12, and shots of him were included in transitions throughout the season. In 2022, Adam was front and center on episode five of “Dancing With Myself” on NBC. In the summer of 2025, Adam felt called to try again–this time for America’s Got Talent. “It was such a great experience. I was really genuinely honored,” shared Boreland. While Adam didn’t make it past his aired audition, the door is still open to go back to AGT. “There’s only so much that I can talk about, the future in television, but that’s the goal for me.”
In the meantime, Adam is focusing on guest master teaching as well as judging dance competitions in the coming year. He’s also making a return to the Tampa Bay Area as a Guest Artist with the St. Petersburg Ballet Company for his home studio at the Academy of Ballet Arts in St. Petersburg. Those interested in seeing Adam perform live can see him in their Nutcracker at the Palladium Theater, December 5-7th. Above all, you can expect Adam’s star to continue to shine – joyful and triumphantly.