VALLEY STUDENTS IN SPOTLIGHT GIRLS TO VIE FOR VOICE, DANCE PRIZES.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer PALMDALE - A Highland High School Highland High School or Highlands High School may refer to: In the United States:
'''Palmdale High School singer are semifinalists in a Los Angeles Music Center The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the nation. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the Music Center is home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper competition showcasing talented Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, high school performers. Brittany Blossom, a 17-year-old senior at Highland, is competing in the Spotlight Awards' jazz/modern dance category, and 16-year-old Whitney Vigil, a junior at Palmdale High, is performing in the category of musical theater voice. ``Man, it was one of the best feelings. It is such an honor to actually make it to this point in my career. It's such a great honor and it's amazing,'' Vigil said. Blossom, whose older brother was a finalist in the 2000 Spotlight competition, had tried twice before but was not selected. ``I feel wonderful. I feel great because I tried out and didn't make it and felt like giving up. Now here I am. I'm just thankful,'' Blossom said. ``The third time is the charm.'' Blossom and Vigil are among 96 semifinalists in the 16th annual Spotlight Awards program put on by the Los Angeles Music Center. The students were selected from among more than 800 who auditioned in the performing arts categories of ballet, nonclassical dance, classical voice, nonclassical voice, classical instrumental music and jazz instrumental music. Semifinalists attend a professional master class and compete at auditions that determine the two finalists in each category. Finalists will be announced in March and will compete April 17 at the Spotlight Awards gala at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center (which is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the United States). The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. . Winners will receive $6,000 each, and the runners-up will get $3,000 each. Blossom, who has been studying dance since she was 5, is continuing a family tradition. Her mother and grandmother were dancers, and her mother is a dance coach at Highland. Her brother, Jeffery Williams, a former Highland High student and Spotlight finalist, is a tap-dancer who just finished touring Europe with a dance show. Blossom has studied all forms of dance, including ballet, tap, jazz, hip- hop and modern. ``It's something that I like to do. On top of that, I'm really good at it and so I continued to do it,'' Blossom said. ``I enjoy just the overall movement and how you express your body and hou you relate to others through dancing skills, and how you can touch somebody through your dance movements.'' Blossom studies, practices and rehearses dance in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. six days a week, Monday through Saturdays, for four hours a day. ``I'm doing homework whenever I can,'' Blossom said. After high school, Blossom plans to attend a four-year college on the East Coast, either in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of or Washington, D.C., and then pursue a career as a dancer and actress on Broadway. Among dancers she admires are Misty Copeland, a ballerina with the American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre, one of the foremost international dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet and reorganized as the Ballet Theatre in 1940 under the direction of Lucia Chase and Rich Pleasant. in New York, and Dwana Smallwood, a dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York, New York. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey. It is made up of 30 dancers as well as artistic director Judith Jamison and associate artistic director Masazumi Chaya. . Vigil said she plans to attend college and wants to apply to either New York University New York University, mainly in New York City; coeducational; chartered 1831, opened 1832 as the Univ. of the City of New York, renamed 1896. It comprises 13 schools and colleges, maintaining 4 main centers (including the Medical Center) in the city, as well as the , the American Musical and Dramatic Academy The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, or AMDA, is a school for the performing arts located New York City, New York, with a satellite campus in Los Angeles, California. , or California Institute of the Arts California Institute of the Arts known as CalArts U.S. private institution of higher learning in Valencia. Created in 1961 through the merger of two other art institutes, it was the first in the U.S. . She hopes to make it big one day as a performer in musical theater on Broadway. ``I love to perform in front of people and practice my art. I am a stage diva. I love singing, acting and dancing,'' Vigil said. ``I've always performed in front of my family. They gave me a mike and a karaoke (machine) and I would just sing.'' Vigil has been doing musical theater since she was 5. ``My mom noticed at a young age that I had a voice. I've been doing it all my life,'' Vigil said. She performed first as an orphan in ``Oliver'' in 1993 at the Lancaster Performing Arts Theater, and followed that with a lead role in ``Annie.'' Last summer, she was Dorothy in ``The Wizard of Oz'' at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center A performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is a multi-use performance space that can be adapted for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre. , and in November, she played the lead of Jane in ``Babes in Toyland'' at the Palmdale Playhouse. Vigil said she admires singers Bernadette Peters, Barbra Streisand Noun 1. Barbra Streisand - United States singer and actress (born in 1942) Barbra Joan Streisand, Streisand and Josh Groban. She identifies with Streisand, a singer with an ``amazing big voice'' for her height. Vigil, who is 5-feet-1 inches tall, said people don't expect to hear the powerful voice she has. Begun in 1988, the Spotlight Awards program is a major artistic competition for Southern California's high school students who plan performing or entering visual arts careers. The program expanded to include a visual arts competition in 1996 and photography in 1999. Those semifinalists will be announced in early March. Of this year's 96 semifinalists, there are 45 students from Los Angeles County; 28 from Orange County; eight from San Bernardino County; and five each from Riverside, San Diego and Ventura counties. Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Highland High School student Brittany Blossom, above, is a semifinalist in the Spotlight Awards' jazz/modern dance category; her brother was a contest finalist in 2000. Whitney Vigil of Palmdale High School, left, will compete as a semifinalist in the musical theater voice category. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer (3) Sixteen-year-old Whitney Vigil has been performing in musical theater productions since 1993. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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