- June 21, 2025
Davon Gwyn goes airborne in the Flagler Palm Coast High School dance room. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Devon Gwynn has won several competitions and dance scholarships. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Devon Gwyn goes airborne in the FPc dance room. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Devon Gwyn (right) with FPC dance teacher Janet Monsanto. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Davon Gwyn performs some dance moves in the FPC dance room. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Davon Gwyn performs some dance moves in the FPC dance room. Photo by Brent Woronoff
You could say Davon Gwyn is following in Reiko Serato’s dance steps. Gwyn, who graduated from Flagler Palm Coast High School last week, is the second Bulldog to win the prestigious National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) State of Florida Artistic Merit Award. Serato was the first in 2019.
“I’ve always asked her little tips about how she went through it,” Gwyn said. “She’s always been a really good guide and mentor for me, so I am really appreciative of her.”
Serato is currently a lead dancer with Celebrity Cruises, and in the fall, Gwyn will be a dancer with Royal Caribbean Cruises.
Gwyn, a member of FPC’s 60-member Dance Company, has been raking in the awards.
Gwyn also won the NHSDA Leadership and Academic Achievement awards for Florida.
“He had the highest GPA, the best performed choreographed solo and the best essay. And he was the only one invited to perform a solo at the honors concert,” said Janice Monsanto, FPC’s dance teacher.
Gwyn was also offered bachelor of fine arts dance scholarships to the University of Florida and Florida Southern College, full scholarships to the Joffrey Ballet School Summer Intensive and the Dance Now! Miami World Dance Summer Intensive.
He graduated Magna Cum Laude and with the Florida Golden Seal of the Arts for Dance. And, among other scholarships and awards, he finished 12th overall in Ciara’s Dance Icon, an online international competition.
“You had to make sure you did the dance challenges that they sent you and keep up with the emails and activities,” Gwyn said. “That was a really new experience and it opened a few more doors for me.”
Monsanto said Gwyn deserves every award and accolade that appears on his resume´, and there are a bunch.
“We’re really excited for him. He’s so hard working and also a great scholar,” she said. “He really is exceptional, not only because of his natural talent, but his amazing work ethic. He's got a positive spirit. He's very supportive to the other dance members, and he's taken on a leadership role this year. He brings a lot of energy to the room and it spills over to the other students.”
Gwyn simply loves to dance. He doesn’t remember a time when he wasn’t dancing.
“I think I've been dancing since I came out of the womb,” he said. “I found it really fun. I remember seeing dance on TV and watching movies like Alvin and the Chipmunks, and I wanted to like be like them. I went to my first dance studio at around 4 or 5, and my first classes were tap and hip-hop. I've been just dancing non-stop ever since.”
Tap is one of his favorite styles, he said. He prides himself on his tap dancing. He’s also captivated by ballet.
“Every style you can name, I’m really interested in,” he said.
On the cruise ship, he’ll be doing more musical theater elements and classic jazz elements, he said.
Dancing on the cruise ship will not only further his dance education, Gwyn said, but also allow him to cross something off his bucket list — seeing the world. He’d also like to be backup dancer for an artist’s world tour and dance in a Super Bowl halftime show.
But, he especially wants to give back to his mother, Vanessa Gwyn, who has always been his biggest supporter, he said.
“She's always the one that's driving me to dance practice. She does so much for me, and one day I want to show her how much I appreciate her. I want to shower her with gifts.”
