Getting ‘Made’

Lisa DePace was always a fan of the MTV series, Made. The self-improvement reality show documents teenagers who have a goal of becoming something they only dreamed of, and MTV gives them a coach to help accomplish that feat. For DePace, her dream was to become a Latin dancer, and MTV chose her as its next candidate to be “made.”

“I thought it would be cool,” DePace said of applying for the reality show. “I thought it would be fun and upbeat.”

DePace, 17, currently attends St. John’s University, but applied for the MTV show last January when she was a senior at South High School. After several interviews with producers and heart tests to ensure she could handle the stress of the show, DePace was chosen in May as the newest focus for the MTV hit show.

As a three-sport athlete — she ran track and played varsity softball and lacrosse — DePace admitted to being “less girly” than her two sisters and thought learning how to dance to Latin music would be a tough challenge. What she didn’t realize was how hard and grueling the training would be. For six weeks, DePace endured eight-hour practice sessions and had every minute of her transformation recorded. If she was late to dance practice, DePace said she had to do 100 jumping jacks, 50 sit-ups and 50 push-ups.

During the first week of filming, DePace was introduced to her Made coach, Maritza Reveron, a New York City Latin dance instructor. The day after meeting Reveron, DePace began practice at 7 a.m. A couple days later, DePace came down with a fever. Practice was brutal, she said, and coupled with having a fever, she wanted to throw in the towel. “At a point, I definitely wanted to quit,” DePace said. “I thought, ‘Why did I pick this?’”

In the second week, DePace was introduced to her partner, professional dancer, Ted Volynets, and learned that the two would perform for friends and family at the school’s pre-prom party. “It was so much pressure,” DePace said. Only a few days later, DePace got her first taste of performing for an audience. On Day 10, DePace was told she had to dance for students in the cafeteria. The cafeteria was filled with seventh, eighth and ninth-graders, she said, and it wasn’t quite what she envisioned. “It didn’t turn out successful,” DePace joked.