The AVDC jr. performance team just recently performed at Padre Pio at the Italian American Club, presented by Olindo and his wife, Filomena. The kids were great!!! They performed “America” from West Side Story, as well as their Salsa routines, “Quimbara” and “Vitamina”. Grace and Ryan performed their Cali Style Salsa routine. Katie and Christina finished up the evening with the fun and fabulous “I Can’t Do It Alone” from the movie musical Chicago. This weekend they will be competing at a dance competition in Rochester. I am excited to have just recently brought on a couple new kids who are interested in performing and competing as well. I’m looking forward to watching our performance team grow 
Performances 2013
May 15th, 2013
The SS Norway Experience
April 25th, 2013
One of my greatest experiences was working on the SS Norway in 1996-1998. I haven’t always been a fan of Facebook, but I have to say it’s been great chatting with old friends and acquantainces from my performing days. There’s a page actually set-up on Facebook for all of the JARS (Jean Ann Ryan Performers ). My time on the SS Norway was very bittersweet. When I was hired as a JAR, I had to head to Ft Lauderdale with the rest of the cast, and train (3) 50-minute shows in like 2.5 weeks. It was crazy. We’d start rehearsal at 9am and literally dance, sing, and script read until 6-7pm. Rehearsals were killer, but the harder you worked the easier you time you’d have when you got onboard. So the 3 weeks of training, was always madness. Bruises, cuts, scars – blood, sweat, and tears (oh boy were there tears). My role was always different from a “dancer” role. Not only was I a dancer, I was an acrobat, and a singer/actress in the shows. You can only imagine how exhausted I was by the time we got back to our Hotel. We stayed at the coolest place in Ft. Lauderdale – The Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Boulevard. Beautiful, and tons of famous people. I met Tom Arnold and Cuba Gooding Jr. (the guy that says, “Show Me the Money” in Jerry Maquire). Actually Cuba Gooding held the door for me to the Riverside Hotel. I blush just thinking about it Continue reading The SS Norway Experience
Our first competition of the season
April 7th, 2013
All is well in the world of dance. We just competed at Ticket To Broadway. It was alot of fun to watch my dancers in 5 routines. Prior to going, they were so excited that they could possibly win 5 trophies, and that’s just what they did. Couldn’t be more proud. I have to say though, when did dance competitions become gymnastics meets? Every single routine at every studio other than ours seemed like an acrobatic routine. There were numerous acrobatic tricks in the Jazz Category, Musical Theater Category… it’s like we seriously couldn’t get away from the acrobatics… ugh. I was a gymnast. My dance teacher would utilize a back handspring and an ariel here and there, but wouldn’t have me flipping the whole time (thank goodness). So all I have to say is… I’d like dance competitions to get back to actual dancing and choreography. That’s another thing… dance teachers have their kids develop their leg over their head with their hand holding the back of their calve, and holding that for like 16 counts… LOL… are you kidding me, 4-8 counts maybe if it looks nice, but not a full 16 counts. I am never one to judge, I think usually for the most part I am open-minded, and you will rarely see anything written negatively from me. But the more I enter my kids into these dance competitions, the more I am noticing some very odd decisions made my choreographers and judges. Anywho… We are looking forward to the next couple of performances and competitions.
check out pics here: http://www.avdance.co/?page_id=27&album=1&gallery=7
Wesley Gardens Performance 1/11
January 27th, 2013
On Friday, Jan 11th, my young dancers performed a 30-minute dance show for the Wesley Gardens Nursing Home. It was such a rewarding performance and the folks there couldn’t have been more pleased. My greatest joy as a performer is putting a smile on people’s faces. The kids I work with were able to enjoy putting on their very own show with routines we’ve been working on for a year now. They put their all into every routine and got to experience the greatest joy of performing, which is seeing smiling faces in the audience. I think we all felt the same way about this performance, it was so rewarding!!! The trio of girls have been performing with me for a year now, we’ve just brought a new student into performing, Ryan Horan. He impressed the group with his partnerwork with the fantastic Grace Gibbons in a Cali Style Salsa. Christina Basile performed her very first solo ever… and she did a fabulous job. Many people commented on her sophisticated lyrical dance style to the beautiful song “On The Sunny Side Of The Street” by Judy Garland. And of course, Katie McCombs is Broadway bound and performed in 5 dances out of 7 and was as awesome as ever. The audience just loved the kids, and I couldn’t be more proud. Go AVDC!!!
Quimbara @ The Canada Salsa Congress 2012
December 16th, 2012
YAY, check out the link below of the AVDC Salseras performing Quimbara at the Canada Salsa Congress 2012
Grace Gibbons, Christina Basile, and Katie McCombs
You can check out Quimbara here:
Salsa Performance on Dec 15th
December 3rd, 2012
Hi Everyone,
I recently went to the Lovin Cup for a Salsa night that Darin Price and Erica were putting on. I had a blast!!! Darin is really great at getting the Rochester community dancing. He put me in touch with a wonderful woman named Frances Hare. She is putting on a show on Saturday, Dec 15th at 2pm. My kids are performing their Salsa routine called Quimbara, and I’m inviting everyone to it. Please come out to support the AVDC kids and the dancers in the Rochester community. Here’s the details on the performance:
Frances Hare presents “Stand Up and Dance”
School of the Arts Ensemble Theatre – 45 Prince Street – corner of University Ave – Saturday, Dec 15th @ 2pm – $7.00 per person
A reception will be held after the show with food and refreshments
Hope to see you there,
Love Always – Alaina
Canada Salsa Congress 2012
October 31st, 2012
The Canadian Salsa Congress was a success!!! Although I felt a cold coming on, I knew I could fight it off as soon as I entered one of those workshops. Of course I entered the first workshop of the day, and my adrenaline just took over my body completely and the sniffles went away for the day. My students, Grace, Katie, Christina, and I took classes from some world-class artists, including Pachanga with Grupo Alafia (Italy), Salsa Styling & Partnerning with Steps Dance Studio (Toronto), Ladies Styling with David & Paulina (Mexico), Puerto Rican Shines with Tito & Tamara (Puerto Rico), and Colombian Salsa with Giovanni Torres and his beautiful partner Tia Lu. Continue reading Canada Salsa Congress 2012
Niagara Falls still has it’s old charm
October 5th, 2012
I just love Niagara Falls. Phil and I decided to go to spend our 2yr Wedding Anniversary (Sept 24th) there. Although we got married on Seneca Lake, we thought it would be fun to switch it up this year and hang out on both the American and Canadian Falls.
We stayed at Seneca Casino, hardly played the machines, but one night at around midnight I said to Phil… let’s go play my favorite game “Sex and the City” slot machine. After getting Phil hooked, and losing $40, I told him about a game that was sure to pay out. There’s a fish slot machine that you have to sit at for quite awhile, but it slowly builds up your money. My mom is quite the slot machine queen, so she’s taught me a thing or two… LOL. We went over to fish, and I won $288. After my big win, I treated myself to 3 desserts. It was such a blast!!! Continue reading Niagara Falls still has it’s old charm
Officially open to teach
August 13th, 2012
Hi Everyone,
I’m officially open to teach: Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Acrobatics, American Tango, Contemporary, East/West Coast Swing, Quickstep, Argentine Tango, Rumba, Merengue, Modern, Foxtrot, Bachata, Hip Hop, Salsa, Samba, Hustle, Cha Cha, Lyrical, Waltz, Wedding Choreography, and Competition Choreography
I currently have one competitive kids class in progress. My kids have been invited to perform at the Canadian Salsa Congress in Toronto in October. Then we are going to be competing in February, March, April, and May at competitions in Rochester to Niagara Falls. There are a few more positions open in the kids program (9 y/o to 15 y/o). Contact me if you are interested.
And for the Adults, I’m starting a fun social class…. We have, CLUB SALSA, BACHATA, and CHA CHA. You don’t need a partner, but if you’d like to bring one, that’s great too!!! The class will start in the Fall possibly on a Tuesday evening from 7pm – 8pm. If you are interested, please contact me to reserve a spot at alaina@avdance.co or give me a call at: 585-542-9101
Here’s one corner of my beautiful studio, so that you can see where the magic happens
We are heading to the Canada Salsa Congress!
July 25th, 2012
My kids will be performing at the Canada Salsa Congress in October!!! So exciting We are taking a new Salsa routine by one of our favorite musicians, Celia Cruz. More on this!!! The Canada Salsa Congress consists of 35 International Artists performing, us being one of them 45 of the Best Instructors in the World, endless workshops, evening performances and competitions. Should be a blast!!!
http://www.canadasalsacongress.com/performers
Go AV Dance Co!!!