Spring recital entertains hundreds

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." And over 120 talented dancers, ages 2-19, proved just that through their extraordinary performances at Sisters Dance Academy's annual spring recital on Saturday evening.

The academy's choreographers, Sharri Bertanga, Tiffany Cormalis, Kayla Williams and Lonnie Liddell, organized and orchestrated 36 dance performances to a sold-out house at the Sisters High School auditorium.

It seems that dance is no longer limited to the floor, and heck with the laws of gravity. Sisters Dance Academy dancers leaped, cartwheeled and flipped their way through performances to the theme of "Dreams."

"Believe in your dreams, they were given to you for a reason. After watching our show tonight I hope you know a little bit more about what your dreams are and go after them," said Lonnie Liddell, director of Sisters Dance Academy.

The opening performance, "Light in the Hallway," was done in contemporary dance with eight dancers performing to the song of the same name by Pentatonix.

The audience went wild to the Broadway/jazz performance of "Circus Of Your Mind," from the musical "Finding Neverland," when eight dancers in red sequined costumes created a human merry-go-round and then acro-danced their way off stage.

Acro-dance incorporates acrobatic movements into dance. Dancers integrate gymnastic moves such as handsprings into their dance routine to the rhythm of the music.

"Although I don't teach acro-dance at the dance academy, we have some dancers that take gymnastics in school and we use that to our advantage for performances," Liddell told The Nugget.

A solo performance by 11-year-old Kailey Mannhalter, dancing to "Safety Dance - Sleeping At Last," was done with the precision of a pro. She has been a Sisters Dance Academy student for over six years.

Sometimes dreams can be downright nightmarish, especially when 13 dancers are uniquely costumed as frightening monsters. They performed a hip-hop dance to "Monsters In My Head."

A segment of excerpts from "The Wizard of Oz" was choreographed by Liddell utilizing digital imaging for the background, produced by volunteer Anna Alisa Duerden.

"This is the first time we've used digital imaging for our background," Duerden said. "Instead of physical props and sets there is digital imagery. We are growing and always trying new concepts. I set it up in the last three quarters of the show. There is a whole sequence that tells the story of The Wizard of Oz in dance. It's an interpretive dance version of the movie."

The opening number began with four dancing Dorothys in "Somewhere over the Rainbow" performing on pointe.

The contemporary dance number "Twister" utilized digital imagery of an actual twister on the wall behind the dancers as a backdrop. The imagery contributed to the magical quality of the performance.

In the fourth dance number Dorothy meets up with the "Krumpin' Munchkins," a Li'l Jammers hip-hop performance that brought down the house.

The finale had Dorothy back home at Auntie Em's house on the farm with everyone gathered around her. The audience clapped along to the song "Back Home" by Andy Grammer.