Talented kids

Main Street Dance’s “Movie Magic” showcases the mystique of choreographer and artistic director Sherma Williams

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LIBERTY, NY — What Tweed has done for kids in gymnastics, Sherma Williams, artistic director, teacher and choreographer, has done in dance. Every June, Williams’ growing cadre of students from Main Street Dance put on a show par excellence at Liberty High School. This year’s show entitled “Movie Magic” topped past performances with its finesses, technical expertise and immeasurable professionalism.

Audiences on June 11 and 12 enjoyed a non-stop series of show-stopping numbers. Williams, as in last year’s performance, was assisted by choreographer and dancer extraordinaire Victoria Raymond. Raymond, who spawned an interest in hip hop dancing, floored the audience with numbers entitled, “Jump Around,” “Hip Hop Remix,” and “Last Dance.” Raymond teamed up with renowned dancer, actor and director Oliver King in an energetic rendition of “Sparkling Diamonds.” Other seasoned dancers—including soon-to-be Liberty High School graduates Jaclyn Hamlin and Stephanie Donoghy and veteran Tishona McCullough, a former graduate of Monticello High School—added a level of experience to the solos and group numbers. Williams danced in several of the show’s numbers and her immense talent drew noisy accolades in “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” and “Break Away,” which metaphorically celebrated her separation from Hamlin, who will be heading off to college in the fall.

Nicole Accomando of Monticello transfixed the audience with her emotional dedication dance for three Monticello High School students who died in a car accident on June 15, 2004. Accomando’ solo to Sarah McLachlin’s “Angel,” moved the audience to tears.

Eighty-one-year-old Anne Gorbatow made the trip from Florida for her annual performance. Gorbatow was neither daunted by the rigors of the trip, nor the adversity of a recent bout with cancer and the exhausting effects of chemotherapy.

After an opening rendition of “Let’s Go To The Movies,” from “Annie” performed by King and former Main Street Dancer Evelyn Perez, Williams’ youngest dancers from the Pre-K Saturday class charmed the audience with “Baby Face.” Their Tuesday afternoon age mates followed with “Mess Around.”

The show featured music from well-known films, including the pulsing rhythms of “Jail House Rock,” the theme from “Flashdance,” “Space Jam,“ “Georgia,” ”Higher Ground” and others. The Monday teen class closed the show with a staggering adaptation of “Last Dance,” from the film of the same name. Hannah Ross, a long-time veteran of Main Street Dance, showcased her violin playing and opened the second half of the show. Ross, who studies at Manhattan School of Music, played Mozart’s Violin Concerto in A Major.

The show’s finale filled the stage with all of the Main Street dancers and was punctuated by the flashes from countless cameras brought by families and friends. Williams thanked everyone who helped renovate the new dance studio and who assisted in the teaching and the work that led up to the show’s grand production. Williams announced that Raymond would be returning to New Jersey so that she can continue her professional dancing career in the New York metropolitan area, which had been briefly suspended by injuries she sustained in a car accident. The news was met with wails of disappointment.

Williams continues her dance classes this summer and throughout the year. If this year’s show is any indication of what is to come, look out world, Main Street Dance is becoming a force to be reckoned with.

With both Pedro Tweed and Sherma Williams in our midst, our youth are doubly blessed by adults who are immensely talented and tirelessly devoted to children.