The first season of Taking The Stage

Taking the Stage

Taking the Stage is a musical reality show set at the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is produced by Nick Lachey, a SCPA alumnnus, for MTV. The first season chronicled the lives of five high school students and their friends as they train for careers in the arts...

premiered on March 19, 2009 and after an eight month hiatus, the season finale aired January 17, 2010. It followed five kids who attend SCPA on the cusp of greatness. The finale aired in cahoots with the Season 2 premier.

Cast

The following is a list of cast members presents in this season.
Main Cast Member Secondary Cast Member

NAME	INFORMATION
Jasmine White-Killins	Senior, Dance Dance Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....  major.
Tyler Nelson	Junior, Dance major.
Mia Carruthers Mia Carruthers Mia Carruthers is a one of the main cast members of MTV's Taking the Stage. She is a singer/songwriter.Mia and her family moved from West Chester Township to Cincinnati so that Mia can enroll at the S.C.P.A. as a freshman, majoring in music. Since then she has performed at coffeehouses in the...	Senior, Instrumental Music major.
Shaakira Sargent	Senior, Dance major.
Malik Kitchen	Senior, Dance and Vocal Music Vocal music Vocal music is a genre of music performed by one or more singers, with or without instrumental accompaniment, in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but does not feature it prominently is generally considered instrumental music Vocal music is a genre of...  major.
Aaron Breadon	Senior, Mia's friend/love interest.
Aubrie H.	Junior, Mia's friend.
Matthew James Dunigan	Junior, Malik's on/off boyfriend, Vocal Music Major and Musical Theatre Minor.
JJ	Senior, Tylers friend, Vocal Music Major and Musical Theatre Minor.
Jesse	Senior, Mia & Aaron's friend.

Main Cast Bios

• Tyler Nelson- A dance major and the only junior part of the season one main cast. His specialty is Hip-hop dance but with enrolling in SCPA he has to take ballet classes. He is a ladies man and early in the season he gets romantically involved with Jasmine, although then he also gets involved with Mia, creating friction with him and Jasmine and they eventually break up. He also starts a rivalry with Malik, whose crew inspired him to create his own crew, Black Rain, and do it his way since he didn't like Malik's choreography. He is given an audition for Bloc Agency along with Malik and is accepted, but his parents and ballet teacher convince him to finish high school first, with his teacher remarking "If they like you this year, they will love you next year." He returns in season two as a senior
• Mia Carruthers- A senior and vocal music major, Mia is an aspiring songwriter whose dream is to be signed to a record label before she turns eighteen. She came close to achieving that dream when the head of Jive Records
  Jive Records
  Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
  
   who was at the talent show at the beginning of the year asked her to send him a few of her songs, but after that she was rejected by the label. She also became involved with Tyler Nelson which caused problems between her, Jasmine (Tyler's girlfriend at the time), and Aaron (Mia's friend who has a crush on her). At the end of the first season she moves in with her band which includes her brother and Aaron. She returns in season two as a new teacher for a songwriting class.
• Jasmine White-Killins- A senior and Dance major who is regarded as one of the top ballerinas in the school. She dreams of going to Juliard for college, but is rejected and instead goes to Alvin Alley, where she is forced to choose between choosing a dance curriculum or an academic one. She is a member of Malik's dance crew 'The Definition', and is best friends with him and Shaakira. She is also romantically involved with Tyler at the start of the season. She ultimately chooses to attend Southern Methodist University
  Southern Methodist University
  Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
  
   in Dallas, TX.
• Malik Kitchen- A senior and Dance major who wishes to be a star on Broadway. He is openly gay and has an on/off boyfriend in Matthew. He is a rival to Tyler. His closest friends are Shaakira and Jasmine, who are also in his dance crew. Along with Tyler, Malik gets an audition for the Bloc Agency, which he is rejected by because his dancing was "too perfect". Malik also sings, and performs in a showcase of artists impressions on "Top 40" songs.
• Shaakira Sargent- A senior and dance major. She is a member of the Definition with Malik and Jasmine and their best friend. Compared to the other major cast members, Shaakira gets very little screentime and only big part in the series is when she gets a role in the school ballet.

Episodes

#	Title	Airdate	Prod. Code

External links

• Season 1 on MTV