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Tuesday, February 08, 2000 Page: 7
WHO? Samantha and Sydney King WHAT? Dance Tap shoes, jazz shoes and ballet
slippers. Dozens of beaded costumes and two talented dancers, all in one home.
Samantha and Sydney King take dance lessons at the David Blight School of
Dance on South Mountain Boulevard, and both have been rewarded for their
efforts. Samantha and Sydney are the daughters of Roch and Chyrise King of
Wright Township. Samantha, 8, is in the third grade at St. Jude’s School and
has been dancing for three years. She studied ballet in Bloomsburg for a year
before moving to the Mountaintop area about two years ago. Now, at the David
Blight School, she also studies jazz and tap and has participated in dance
competitions. Her first competition was last summer at the John Long Talent
Expo in Wilkes-Barre. Samantha and her group, the “Pixie Stix,” took a first
and second place at the event. In January, Samantha competed in the Faces of
the Future competition in King of Prussia. Her group won first-place awards in
the categories of tap, novelty, jazz and pantomime. Samantha also won
first-place awards for her solo performances in tap and funk in the 7- to
9-year-old age group. Her favorite dance music is the funk song “Move Your
Body.” Samantha points to her mother as her inspiration to dance. In fact,
mom and daughter sometimes dance together. Sydney King finds her inspiration
in old movies. At 4 years old, she delicately holds the hem of her dress,
curtsies and says, “I’m Shirley Temple!” Sydney has been taking dancing
lessons at the David Blight School for a year and a half. At this year’s Faces
of the Future competition, Sydney won awards for two solo numbers in the
3-to-5 age group. She received a first-place award in funk and a first-place
award in novelty for her rendition of “The Good Ship Lollipop.” Her mother
said dress-up is Sydney’s favorite activity, and she has lots of costumes. She
enjoys dance, especially jazz and ballet, and will tell you tap shoes are very
slippery. — Kimberly Davis