Blue Point ballroom dancer Kristen Kopf shows what’s possible

The music starts, and Kristen Kopf knows exactly what to do.

Step. Turn. Smile. Repeat.

On the ballroom floor, the 37-year-old Blue Point native moves with the confidence of someone who has spent years perfecting her craft.

Behind the polished performances and growing collection of medals, though, is an athlete who works incredibly hard to make it look so easy.

“Dancing is her superpower,” her mother, Karen Kopf, told Greater Long Island.

And during Down Syndrome Awareness Month this October, Kristen’s story offers a glimpse at just how far that superpower has taken her.

Kristen, who has Down syndrome, has been a competitive ballroom dancer for nearly a decade. She has earned numerous gold medals and continues to train and compete alongside her dance partner, Julius Solano.

“She has a computer-like brain,” Julius said. “Once you teach her, she’s like a computer.”

In fact, Kristen has become something of a coach herself.

She remembers choreography, helps keep their routines on track and even sends Julius playlists.

“She’s the captain of the show,” he joked.

But being a dancing queen takes more than rhythm and memorization.

For the past few years, Kristen has also been training at Move Academia in Coram, where she boxes, lifts weights and works on strengthening her core with trainer Diego Batista.

The workouts are demanding, but Kristen loves the challenge. And when they’re over, she’s ready to get back on the dance floor.

Perhaps some of that work ethic comes from her mother, who said she has “never put limits on what Kristen can accomplish.”

When Kristen was born, Karen said she made sure her daughter had opportunities to interact with both children with Down syndrome and typically developing peers.

The goal was never to tell Kristen what she couldn’t do. It was to give her the opportunity to find out what she could.

That opportunity has taken Kristen to dance competitions, onto podiums and in front of cheering crowds that have watched her grow as an athlete.

For Julius, being part of that journey has been special.

“She’s grown quite a bit,” he said. “It’s amazing to watch and be a part of.”

Kristen has the medals to prove just how far she has come. But even after so many victories, she said hearing her name called as a winner can still catch her off guard.

“I’m mostly shocked I won so many,” she said.

Ask Kristen what dancing feels like, and her answer is simple.

“It feels like a dream.”

But there’s something else Kristen wants people to understand about that dream.

It isn’t easy.

“Most people think it’s easy for me,” she said. “But it’s not. It’s hard.”

And for other athletes with Down syndrome who watch Kristen dance, compete and win, she is showing just how much is possible when they are given the opportunity to pursue what they love.

For Kristen, that happens one step, one turn and one dance at a time.