Question about Ed Sullivan Adagio Acrobatic Trio

I received this question via email from a reader. Having no idea what the answer is I’m posting it in case someone else knows.

****************

Could you please tell me if you could find out the name of an adagio acrobatic trio that appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show?

It definitely was not The Bal Caron Trio or The andrea dancers, or the Keoni Dancers or The Saddri Dancers or The Three Wiles or Trio Gypsys. or The Dior Dancers. It was the best adagio act I had ever seen.

It consisted of Two six ft tall men wearing regular black tuxedos and shiny black patent leather dress shoes that tied. The girl was a tiny petite blonde haired girl she wore a black bathing suit outfit with black ballet slippers she must have been a
tiny double jointed contortionist because she was just like rubber. One man circled her around his waist like she was his belt or tuxedo cummerbun wrapped around his waist as her body was facing outward wrapped around his waist tightly and he spun around and around in fast circles while she was wrapped around his waist like a belt or tuxedo cummerbund.

Both men took his turn of doing different acrobatic lifts and spins to her one man used her as a single jumprope and her jumped over her body several times while he was holding onto her two ankles in one hand and in his other hand he
held onto her two wrists and she was in a horizontal position like a real jumprope and her brought her body up and down and around and jumped over her like a jumprope.

One man put her body across his shoulder like the letter T and spun around and around in circles  then she locked her feet
around the other man’s neck and hung upside down on the front of him as he spun her around and they did other adagio lifts and spins and balancing to her even both men used her body as a double jumprope too.

It also was not the three Cottas either In 1951 the trio Hurricanes were on the Ed Sullivan Show maybe it could be them or there was another act called Kay, katchas, and Kay see if it was them or The Hermanos Williams trio or see if you can find out what the name of their act was.

The great trio I saw danced to the music of The Can Can or The Sabre Dance song please find out and email me back soon as I will be looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks.

Wayne

*******************

If you have any knowledge about this, please post a note here on the blog. Thank you!

American Idol Film Crew at McIntyre Hall

dsc01115.jpgThe American Idol film crew arrived at McIntyre Hall today (Mount Vernon, WA) to shoot footage of new contestant Skye Dahlstrom rehearsing with the kids from the upcoming Seussical The Musical show. Skye showed them choreography for songs from the show and taught them very hip dance moves.

Skye made it through the first round of auditions in Seattle, WA early this week; competing with over 9,000 other hopeful contestants I’m told. She then made it through the second round the following day. Her next round will be to audition for Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson.. We all wish her the best and to “break a leg” at the audition. GO SKYE!

As you can imagine there’s a lot of buzz about this locally and the news has spread like wildfire. Skye is a total pro and made everyone feel totally comfortable while supporting her for the film shoot.

And much to our pleasure, the film crew from American Idol was TOTALLY cool and ultra nice to work with. You might think being in this business they would be a bit jaded, but that is not the case. They made the kids feel comfortable and everyone gave them a big THANK YOU yell at the end. Nice people.

Why the interest in Skye’s choreography? That’s how Paula Abdul started, as a choreographer.

So here’s a rundown of our shoot. Of course I’m not going to tell you details about what we did, you’ll have to watch Skye on American Idol to see that!

We did the shoot on stage at McIntyre Hall, which is where we’ll be performing for Seussical the Musical in November 2006.

dsc01119.jpg

Parents sign all the legal stuff for their kids to be in the shoot.

dsc01083.jpg

Director Dave James does the ultra cool pose while waiting. Dave James is co-directing Seussical the Musical with his wife Carrie James. Skye Dahlstrom is the choreographer and I am the conductor and musical director. The show is produced by Kate Kyporus for META Performing Arts.

dsc01086.jpg
Kids hang out in the lobby at McIntyre Hall waiting to enter the theatre.

dsc01082.jpg

All lined up at the door and waiting to enter the hall. Many of the kids hadn’t seen McIntyre Hall yet, so it was very exciting all around for them.

dsc01089.jpg

The view of the stage from the front of the audience. McIntyre Hall also has beautiful box seats along the sides, a full balcony section and rear loge.
dsc01118.jpg

The view from my piano onstage. I played the music for the kids to practice Skye’s choreography. Very fun stuff.
dsc01090.jpg

Directors Carrie and Dave give instructions to the kids about stage etiquette and safety.

dsc01092.jpg

Steve Craig, stage manager at McIntyre Hall and all around theatre guru. Everybody loves Steve!

dsc01096.jpg

Our reason for being here today – Skye Dahlstrom!

dsc01113.jpg

Film crew scouting the stage out

dsc01097.jpg

Skye working with the “Who’s” on choreography
dsc01112.jpg

American Idol film crew talking things over with the directors and Ms. Dahlstrom.
dsc01108.jpg

The kids in the cast give Skye a big send off.
dsc01101.jpg

Dave James, Carrie James, Skye Dahlstrom and me (Conrad Askland)
dsc01116.jpg

dsc01115.jpg

I’ll let you know more as more information is made public. I’m only going to post things that are public knowledge.

Until then – GO SKYE!!!!!!!

Seussical the Musical META Rehearsals

Everyone asks me how Seussical rehearsals are going. The rehearsals are going fantastic. The kids are very focused. We have most of the music for the first act down pretty good and are adding choreography and character development.

I am SO happy about the casting, I think the show is perfectly cast.

Here are some pictures from rehearsals:

Kids practice improvised theatre

dsc01068.jpg

Director Dave James hams it up

dsc01069.jpg

Bianca Campbell as Gertrude

dsc01075.jpg

Bird girls practice choreography with Mayzie played by Ashley Henning
dsc01079.jpg

Skye Dahlstrom gives choreography tips

dsc01072.jpg

Mike Marlin plays the Cat in the Hat

dsc01066.jpg

Nate Young plays the Mayor

dsc01065.jpg

Paige Woods as Mrs. Mayor

dsc01064.jpg

Matt Olsen as Horton the Elephant

dsc01063.jpg

Carrie James leads the board meeting

dsc01062.jpg

Carrie James co-directs the show with husband Dave James

dsc01061.jpg

Skye Dahlstrom showing the citizens of Whoville some choreography

dsc01059.jpg

Skye Dahlstrom – Choreographer and Singer

skye.jpgI have the honor of working with Skye Dahlstrom on the META Production of SEUSSICAL which will run at McIntyre Hall, Mount Vernon, WA the first two weeks of November 2006. Skye is the choreographer and has a great imagination for choreography and working with kids.

I first saw her work this last summer in Guys and Dolls which performed in Stanwood and the Kirkland Performance Center. She was choreographer for that show and also a lead dancer in the Havana cabaret scene. A real standout for that show was the choreography she did for the “Luck Be a Lady” dance sequence.

We all know Skye is going to do great things.

🙂

Conrad

********************

Info on Skye from the web:

Skye has been dancing since she was 2 years old, when she first saw Michael Jackson on TV. She began dancing formally at age 6 and continued to study Ballet and Jazz until she was 12. Skye has been choreographing for 6 years, beginning with routines for her cheer team at age 11.

Since then, she has choreographed for competitive cheerleading, talent shows, and school productions (2004 Stanwood High School’s Grease). She has previously taught hip hop dance at the Stanwood Sports Club, and is currently an instructor for Kid Stage in Everett.

Skye has won many awards, including 1st place at nationals in the dance division, and 1st place for choreography of her cheer team. At age 12, she took first place at the Stanwood-Camano fair lip sync impersonating Michael Jackson. Skye is currently a back up dancer for Raz B from B2k. They have performed at half time shows in Sacramento and toured of Europe in 2006.