J.D. Cronise and Trivett Wingo — both graduates of Cave Spring High School — now play in the acclaimed heavy metal band, The Sword.
They’ve been on the road with Metallica — and now are coming back to a homecoming show of sorts at Martin’s Downtown in Roanoke on Oct. 14.
Music writer Tad Dickens has details on his cut’n'scratch music blog.
Divine Dance Center Wins Big at National Dance Competition Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Divine Dance Center of Roanoke County recently traveled to Norfolk, Virginia for the 2010 Dynamite National Talent Competition. They competed against top schools in Virginia and Philadelphia for national titles in solos, duos, trios, and groups. Divine Dance Center came home with twelve overall national championship titles.
In Solos:
Kameron Washington-Brown of Roanoke City was 3rd place overall mini solo with her jazz routine, “Proud Mary.” Elizabeth Brown of Roanoke City was 3rd place overall junior solo with her tap routine, “Saturday Night Fish Fry.” Joey d’Alelio of Roanoke County was 3nd overall junior solo with his clogging routine, “Looking for a Fox.” Christina Lauria of Roanoke County was the overall junior soloist with her tap routine, “From Me to You.” Taylor Giles of Roanoke County was 2nd overall teen solo with her clogging routine, “Off the Hillbilly Hook.” Brittany Martin of Vinton was the overall teen soloist with her clogging routine, “Cowboy Up.” Starr Camarillo of Roanoke City was 3rd overall senior soloist with her jazz and tumbling routine, “Passion.” Tony d’Alelio was the overall senior solo champion with his contemporary solo, “Fix You.”
In Duo/Trios:
Margo Greenawald of Roanoke City and Abbie Hoback of Salem were 2nd in the junior duo/trio division with their tap routine, “Man with a Hex.” Claudia Anderson and Joey d’Alelio, both of Roanoke County were the overall junior duo/trio champions with their character jazz routine, “I Love Lucy.” Jessi Buckley and Lauren DeGidio of Roanoke County were 2nd overall teen duo/trio winners with their jazz routine to “My Discarded Men.” Sarah Wilkie of Salem and Libby Patterson of Vinton were the teen duo/trio champions with their musical theatre jazz routine to “Rich
Man’s Frug.” Tony d’Alelio of Roanoke County and Starr Camarillo of Roanoke City were named senior duo/trio champions with their routine, “Silence.”
In Groups:
The Divine Dance Center petite company took three of the top four overalls in the mini small group division. Their tap routine entitled “Ghostbusters” was 4th overall. “The Lost Children,” their lyrical routine was 3rd overall and their jazz routine, “Born to be Wild” was the grand national small group champion.
The Divine Dance Center junior company also faired well. They took home 3rd place in junior small groups with their tap routine, “Take the A Train.” In junior large groups, they brought home 2nd place for their lyrical routine, “Time” and grand champion with their jazz routine, “Fruit Machine.”
The teen and senior companies at Divine Dance Center were just as successful as their younger counterparts. ”Take Off With Us,” a musical theatre piece was 3rd overall in teen small groups. ”Janet,” a jazz piece was 2nd overall in teen small groups. ”Boom Boom Pow,” a clogging routine was overall grand national champion in teen small groups. In
teen large groups, “Haunted Groove,” a hip hop production was 3rd place overall. ”The Beautiful People,” a contemporary teen large group was overall grand champion. In senior small groups, “Seven Nation Army,” a
tap routine was 2nd overall and Divine Dance Center’s senior lyrical company’s routine, “They Won’t Go When I Go” was overall Grand National senior small group champion.
Divine Dance Center also had several students vying for the title of Mister & Miss Dynamite. Finalists were: Madelynn Alexander of Roanoke City, Taylor Giles of Roanoke County, Joey d’Alelio of Roanoke County, Tony d’Alelio of Roanoke County, and Jessi Buckley of Roanoke County.
Joey d’Alelio was named Junior Mister Dynamite 2010, Taylor Giles was named Teen Miss Dynamite 2010, Tony d’Alelio was named Mister Dynamite 2010, and Jessi Buckley was named Miss Dynamite 2010. These dancers won
a year long scholarship to the Stepp with Me Dance Convention.
Divine Dance Center is located in the Cave Spring area and is under the direction of Riley Fitzgerald. Tamarah Alexander, Elyse Hart, and Sammi Rader are instructors at the studio.
Submitted by Riley Fitzgerald.
Read more about the Divine Dance Center by clicking here and here .
We have a large gallery of photos from the Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association’s annual Duane Whitenack City/County Championship, which was last Friday and Saturday. To view the photos by Garland Gay, see the slideshow above or click here for a gallery with captions.
Do you have photos to share from summer sports? Send your photos to news@swo-co.com.
CCA Marlins Jacob Siar, Austin Criss, Alex Vance and Lauren Gray will all be advancing to the Junior National Swim Meet in Irvine, California Aug. 9-13. Emily Flora SWoCo
Alex Vance, a Hidden Valley High School senior, Austin Criss, a North Cross School junior, Jacob Siar, a Cave Spring High School junior and Lauren Gray a senior at Hidden Valley High School will all advance to the Junior National Swim Meet held in Irvine, California Aug. 9 through 13.
“All of us have worked really hard as a team,” Criss said. “The four of us have all be together the whole time and so it was good to hear we all made the cut.”
All four swimmers agree that it has been the encouragement from their coach, Greg Lake and their team members that have helped them accomplish so much this season.
“We really like our coach,” they all agreed. We wouldn’t be here without his coaching.”
Siar, Vance, Criss, and Gray were the only four from their swim team that made it to Junior Nationals. They are considered a few of the top swimmers in America.
Gray said she began swimming when she was about eight-years-old and swam with the RVAA. Her favorite part of swimming is going to swim meets and racing. This will be her first Junior National meet.
Her accomplishments include: making it to Junior Nationals and being the state record holder in high school.
Siar said he began swimming when he was only six-years-old and his parents got him involved in it. He said he swam year-round in the summer league.
“I love competition. I love the meets and racing,” he said.
His accomplishments include: All-Timesland Swimmer of the Year, Ranked top 20 in National 200 Back Stroke and 1000 Freestyle.
Criss began swimming in the first grade, believe it or not, because his sister was taking swim lessons. Her coach at the time invited Criss to be on a swim team.
“I really like winning. I can’t really do that in anything else, except for swimming and I love my teammates so much,” Criss said.
His accomplishments include: State Champ in 200 Freestyle, Ranked 13 in the Nation in the 200 Butterfly for the 15 – 16 age group and First in the state for the 200 Fly in the 15 – 16 age group.
Vance began swimming at the age of 7-years when his sister started a summer league swim team. At first he didn’t want to swim in the league, but after much persuasion from his parents he gave in.
“Little did I know that I’d be swimming all the time,” Vance said.
His accomplishments include: At age 12 he was ranked 1st in the nation in the 11 and 12 age group for the 200 breast stroke, Two time Scholastic All-American, and swam the 100 breastroke in All American time.
For more information regarding the CCA Marlins visit their website here.
Women’s Brunch Bunch of Roanoke invites you and your friends to Hidden Valley Country Club, Tuesday, August 10 2010 from 9:30 – 11:30AM for a mini-concert and guest speaker.
Cost is $13.50 inclusive and speaker is Paula McElroy of Clarksville, TN. He will speak on the topic, “Who’s in Control Here Anyway?”.
Reservation Deadline August 5.
Child Care Available with Reservation.
Thursday, August 5
Door Prizes Given
Cancellations are necessary!
Call Kathy @ 540-254-1339
Sally 562-4365
(Affiliated with Christian Women’s Club/Stonecroft Ministries)
Women’s Brunch Bunch is affiliated with Stonecroft Ministries/Christian Women’s Club which are both non-profit.
Submitted by Elaine Parks
ROANOKE, VA 24018 Saprina Bailey,Angel Bonilla,Britt Cerebe,Donna Downs,Holly Fitch,Amber Humphreys,Amber Janney,Lucy Lowe,Amanda Mauer,Obger Mercier,Adolfo Mesa Pabon,Kajal Patel,Adiela Velasquez
Submitted by Nancy Simmons
For Louisa Britt, you can definitely tell that the theater is where she belongs. Britt, who is a rising junior at Cave Spring High School, is starring in Attic Productions’ “My Fair Lady.”
“I grew up loving musicals. There’s something so exciting about live theater. I gained a lot of confidence through studying voice, and about a year after I had my first voice lesson, I was auditioning for school plays,” Britt said.
Britt is playing the role of Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who is transformed into the pride of London society by her pompous but endearing teacher.
This is Britt’s first time being in an Attic Productions’ play, but she definitely sees it as just the beginning.“I do hope it’s not my last time in an Attic production. Attic has such a positive environment and the cast of ‘My Fair Lady’ really is an exceptional group. Everyone I’ve worked with throughout the show has been so friendly and welcoming, and it means the world to me,” Britt stated.
For Louisa, the doors are completely open for whatever happens after high school.
“I definitely plan on pursuing theater in college, however I’m not entirely sure if I’ll choose the classical route or stick with musical theater. Right now, I’m open to whatever is in store for me,” Britt went onto say.
The common cliched question is, “Where do you see yourself in ten years?” Typically, most people have a difficult time answering that question, but not Louisa Britt.
“A lot can happen in 10 years… I’m certain that I’ll be performing on some level — whether it’s community theatre or regional theatre or even Broadway! No matter where I’m performing or how much I’m getting paid, I hope that I will be telling incredible stories on stage, touching the hearts of people with music, and absolutely loving it.”
– Zack Irby
“My Fair Lady”
Attic Productions’ “My Fair Lady” opens on Thursday, July 29 and runs on the following days:July 30, 31; August 6, 7, 13, 14
Ticket prices: $10 for Students/Seniors; $12 for Adults Saturday matinees always at 2:30 p.m. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m.
Attic Productions is located just south of Fincastle on U.S. 220.
For more on the show, see this post on our Botetourt County community news site.
Gardner Branscom and Andrew Chambers won medals at the Coventry Commonwealth Games
Gardner Branscom (9) of Botetourt County took bronze in the 200 meter dash and Andrew Chambers (10) of Salem took gold in the 800 meter run. Both boys competed in the 9-10 age division in the state-wide Coventry Commonwealth Games of Virginia Saturday July 17 at Lord Botetourt High School. Branscom wore his mother Ann’s spikes she wore 30 years ago at Cave Spring High School!
Submitted by Joel Branscom
The Blue Ridge Business Journal — one of our sister publications — each year recognizes deserving business leaders under age 40 with its “20 Under 40″ awards.
Nominations are now being accepted; the deadline is August 2.
You can find more information and the nomination form on the Blue Ridge Business Journal website.
Our paparazzi photo crew was at the Morgan Harrington Memorial Golf Tournament at Hanging Rock over the weekend, and so were these folks from Southwest Roanoke County:
* Karen Remine
* Steven Underwood
* Dayna Jacobsen and John Ribnikar
* Larry Gray
* Gary Messenger, Chris Kidd, and Matt Walters
* Joe Yazek
* Ed Wells and Lucky Bohon
* Carrol Brenner and Stacey Lilley
* Wes Warner and Chris West
You can see the whole gallery here.
Do you have photos involving people or events from Southwest Roanoke County? You can share at news@swo-co.com.
