Dec 08 2014
0

Discount Dance Supply Saves the Day

By | Convention, Dance, modeling, Stuff I Like | No Comments

One of the great parts about The Pulse On Tour is that they offer dancers the opportunity to set numbers much in the same way that we do when we are working. Even though I book jobs and so some work each year, this training helps keep me sharp. This last weekend at Pulse in New Orleans, I participated in a workshop called From Start To Stage. It goes like this.

When you arrive on Friday, you rehearse for 2 hours. The piece is set by a choreographer but the Pulse Elite Proteges help you learn it. It is a great way for the Elites to learn to work with dancers to clean dances too. Saturday morning, dancers participating in the workshop have a call time of 7:30 a.m. to run the number again for an hour and clean it. Thats it. Two rehearsals over three hours and you put it on stage. This process is the same as doing a commercial or setting a piece for television or movies. If you are doing a professional dance production for stage or Broadway, it is pretty much the same as the way you prepare competition dances in your studio.

Thank you Discount Dance Supply.

My mom was traveling so my dad had to get me prepared for the weekend. He is a great dance dad, but he forgot to read the information about Start to Stage where it clearly stated that dancers needed to wear red and black for the performance. We were hopeful that we would be able to pick up what I needed from the clothing vendors there. The Discount Dance Supply booth had the most amazing Gotta Flurt high top sneakers with sparkles. They were perfect. Unfortunately, they were not selling them at the show, but Erin Edmondson who was at the booth was kind enough to let me wear them for the performance. They were the perfect size (3). Aside from being really cool looking, they were very comfortable and even have cozy furry stuff on the inside. Thanks for Discount Dance Supply for saving the day and keeping my dad and me out of trouble for forgetting the right shoes.

Many thanks to mom for going to Riverwalk to get shirts.

We buy a lot of things at Discount Dance Supply. I like their booty shorts, sports bras, leggings, tees, and stuff like that. It is really good quality and they have a big selection of things that they do not have in stores around Arroyo Grande.

Thanks to The Pulse On Tour Faculty for setting me as a featured dancer for the number. Here is one of my favorite shots. I will load the video of the piece to my YouTube page  and follow me on Instagram @sparkleslund for more photos.

 

Jump

Nov 25 2014
1

View Sparkles Lund on Dancing With the Stars

By | Work | No Comments

Oh my gosh, I am so thankful for the outpouring of well wishes for my television debut on Dancing With The Stars #dwts. Below is the video of our act, choreographed by Mandy Moore. If you read this blog, you will know that it all started with my best friend Camille’s mom, Maureen Cattaneo getting me to the audition when my parents were out of town. Had it not been for her help, none of this would have happened. I was also thrilled to be able to meet so many new friends during the shoot and am especially grateful for ABC and The New Annie Movie with their star Quvenzhane Wallis. Our excitement to be on national TV must be nothing compared to her excitment to be a star in a movie. Someday? Ya never know?

So…….

Here is the video from last night’s episode of Dancing With The Stars for those who missed it or want to watch it again!

Here is the press release that went out today

11-YEAR OLD DANCER PERFORMS ON “DANCING WITH THE STARS” FINALE

ALEXANDRA “SPARKLES” LUND FEATURED IN YOUNG DANCER ENSEMBLE

November 25, 2014 – Arroyo Grande, CA – Eleven-year-old Alexandra “Sparkles” Lund last night made her network television debut on this season’s performance finale of ABC Network Television’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

Sparkles Lund appeared with a talented young dancers ensemble that promoted the new “Annie” movie, starring Oscar®-winner Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Rose Byrne, and the youngest performer to ever be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award®, Quvenzhané Wallis, as Annie. Sparkles Lund joined Wallis last night and performed a dance to “It’s The Hard-Knock Life,” choreographed by Mandy Moore.

Moore is best known for “So You Think You Can Dance,” nominated for Emmy Awards for the show in 2007 and 2011. She also choreographed several seasons of “American Idol,” “America’s Got Talent,” “Dancing with the Stars,” and U.K.’s “Strictly Come Dancing.” Sparkles Lund’s performance celebrated the new, contemporary spin on the classic show “Annie,” due in movie theaters December 19th.

“It was incredibly exciting to be part of the most popular show on television,” said Sparkles Lund about her experience on “Dancing with the Stars.” She spent five consecutive rehearsal days that began at 8 o’clock in the morning and ended at 5:00 p.m. On meeting Wallis, also 11-years-old, Sparkles Lund said, “She’s really fun to work with. She’s very professional, but really full of energy.”

An award winning featured dancer, actor and model, Sparkles Lund is fast becoming one of the entertainment industry’s hottest young commercial dancers. She is a member of the renowned immaBEAST Dance Company and has performed nationally for Macy’s and Hello Kitty brands. Her dance styles include jazz, ballet, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, contemporary and pointe.

Next up for Sparkles Lund: Top choreographer Liz Imperio, a major director and choreographer in the entertainment industry, including the staging and choreography for Jennifer Lopez’s “Live From Puerto Rico” concert; director/choreographer of Gloria Estefan’s most recent concert tour; and three numbers for Madonna’s “Re-invention Tour 2004″, chose her to be on the Hollywood Vibe’s Vibe Dance Company, and Sparkles Lund will be part of its national tour.

A resident of California’s Central Coast living in Arroyo Grande outside of San Luis Obispo, Sparkles Lund has won several national dance competitions. She also appears in “Just Dance Kids” video game and is in the CBS Comedy Series, “The Millers.”

About Sparkles Lund

Sparkles Lund is an 11-year-old dancer, actor, blogger and YouTube personality. She started dancing when she was 3 years old and began her professional dancing career at age 8. Sparkles Lund won a national competition as “Dancer of the Year” at the age of 9. She recently toured nationally with Macy’s Glamorama, promoting its Hello Kitty line, chosen from 500 professional dancers who auditioned. Featuring pop artist Jason Derulo, Sparkles was part of a three-city tour this summer that raised funds for Children’s Cancer Research Fund in Minneapolis, Chicago and San Francisco. Sparkles Lund is part of the renowned Hip Hop crew, lilBEASTS, with the highly talented choreographer and director Will Adams “Willdabeast.”

Alexandra Lund was given the stage name “Sparkles” at a dance camp by choreographer Tahirih Ellison, as a tribute to both her taste in outfits and her personality. She is a dancer with Dellos Performing Arts Center in Arroyo Grande, which is recognized as among the top studios in America, where she is under the guidance of Johnna Clark. Sparkles Lund is represented by Clear Talent Agency in Los Angeles.

VIDEO LINKS & ONLINE BACKGROUND:

Dancing With The Stars Red Carpet

Dancing With The Stars Red Carpet

Nov 24 2014
0

Sparkles Lund Radio Publicity Tour For DWTS

By | Dance, press, Work | No Comments

The public relations firm sent out a media alert for my appearance tonight on Dancing With The Stars. This morning I had two in person publicity events at radio stations and another interview for public radio by phone. These were my first solo radio interviews. Many thanks for 98.1 KJUG Country morning show hosts Andy Morris and Kristen Webster.

My second interview was with Q104.5 and a hilarious radio host who does not seem to have a last name – he calls himself Adam in the Morning and his show is called Up and Adam.  Too clever, right? Guess I should not say much given that my entertainment handle is Sparkles.

All of the hosts were super nice. I am super thankful for everyone at #DWTS – Dancing With The Stars, Clear Talent, The Amazing Mandy Moore and all of the other dancers who were great to dance with. Truly blessed.

Sparkles Lund DWTS Publicity

 

Nov 22 2014
0

ASH Dance Tour In Santa Clara

By | Convention, Dance | No Comments

I am dancing at Ash Dance Tour in Santa Clara, California this weekend. It is my first dance convention of the new season and I am thrilled to train with some great choreographers. After school I piled in the car with my mom and Austin (instagram: @theaustinbubbles_ ). My dad was in Cleveland and Denver this week, so he flew into San Jose to meet us.

Lisette Bustamante - Choreographer and amazing person

Lisette Bustamante – Choreographer and amazing person

Last night was a great start to the weekend. We learned a fun hip-hop piece with Lisette Bustamante. I fell in love with her choreography at Hollywood Connection  so now I find a way each year to take class from her. About Lisette: from her website http://www.lisettebustamante.com/bio/

She’s danced alongside superstars such as Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson and Usher on stages all over the globe, and has choreographed for Pink, Prince, Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez. She’s been featured in commercials for Gap, Pepsi, Pringles, iPod and Sprite, and has choreographed for film and television, with credits including supervising choreographer on America’s Best Dance Crew.

Four years ago, Lisette and her longtime creative partner, Chonique Sneed established Creating Opportunities, a mentoring company that offers classes, seminars and other programs for young dancers, singers and choreographers.

A few of my friends of mine at the studio have participated in the Creating Opps program and they said it was amazing. “I am confident.” If you know Creating Opps, you know what I mean by that.

Braham Logan Crane, Director of ASH

Braham Logan Crane, Director of ASH.

The second class last night was a first for me with Braham Logan Crane. We learned an intense contemporary piece with some amazing floor work that had us literally dancing on our heads! Braham is the director of ASH – which stands for Artists Simply Human. The weekend is not designed as a competition, but as a workshop. Each class is an hour to an hour and 15 minutes long. I love the longer classes. Some conventions are trying to cut the classes to 45 Minutes – BOOOOO! ASH also offers a performance showcase like Pulse. They do not have a competition. Braham taught at Broadway Dance in NYC.  I took a class there about a year ago.  So much fun.

I am running three dances tonight for the teachers. The core theme of ASH is expression in dance. My goal for tonight is to put a lot of emotion into each of my pieces.  You will be able to watch the acts live tonight thanks to Sugar and Bruno who are sponsoring a live feed on ustream – http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ashproductions

Here is a run down of the dances and the times.

I’m really excited for the Monday night finale of Dancing with the Stars too!  #DWTS and @dancingABC. Im going to be on it with a bunch of my friends in the opening number! It’s on ABC at 8:00 EST and Pacific. To read my post about it, click here http://sparkleslund.com/will-dancing-stars/

Here are my dance schedule for tonight

Here are my dance schedule for tonight

Nov 15 2014
1

I Will Be On Dancing With The Stars

By | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

I booked the most exciting job ever last week, a group dance role on Dancing With The Stars! I auditioned last Thursday, and within a matter of days, I was on set at CBS. The audition combo was very short, but it was full of energy and I loved to do it. The audition was choreographed by the one and only, Mandy Moore! She is one of my favorite choreographers ever! I always love her pieces on SYTYCD and it was amazing when I found out I got the job because I had only danced with her once before. That time was in a class situation so this was the first professional job when I have worked with her. If you want to be super impressed, look at her page here. Mandy Moore is AWSOME. I have never had so much fun on a job.

To think last year at this time, my blog post was about a huge star (the sun) whose solar flares are its dances. Now I will be Dancing with the Stars! For most, being on the show will be a solar flare. But for me, it will be epic!

We rehearsed Wednesday and Thursday, and we will continue to rehearse Saturday and Sunday before the live show in front of the studio audience on Monday the 17th. Our piece airs during the two hour finale of the show on November 24th at 8 Eastern and Pacific, 7 Central.

We learned the dance in multiple sections, but that’s pretty much all I can tell you about the dance itself because I’m not supposed to give away any details. I apologize. But, I can tell you about all the people that are dancing with me. I knew most of the girls, but there were a few that I didn’t. The dancers included Aria Terango, Lucy Vallely, Soni Bringas, Jordyn Jones, Abigail Vargas, Ruby Turner, Simrin Player, Trinity Inay, Rachel Fee, and a few others (sorry that I do not know everyone’s name yet).

Jordyn’s Blog: http://jjjordynjones.com

Simrin Player’s Blog http://www.simrinplayer.com

Trinity Inay’s Blog: http://trinityinay.com

So that concludes this blog post. Everyone make sure to watch me on the season finale of Dancing with the Stars! Also if you haven’t already, subscribe to my blog and my YouTube channel for even more fun!

Many Thanks to Camille Catteano and her mom (my second mom) Maureen Catteano who took me to the audition while my parents were out of town on a job.

Special thanks to Johnna Clark and my team at DPAC who gave me a pass this weekend. I love you all and wish I was not missing choreography weekend. You are all so supportive of me. #faithnotfear

Huge thanks to my agent – Shayna Brouillard and the Dance Department at Clear Talent Agency in Los Angeles for putting together this great gig.

More Photos

Dancing With The Stars Stage

Dancing With The Stars Stage

Dancing With The Stars Camera

Dancing With The Stars Camera

Dancing With The Stars Red Carpet

Dancing With The Stars Red Carpet

 

 

 

 

Nov 04 2014
0

WilldaBEAST Launches Trey Songz Video

By | Dance, Friends, Uncategorized, Work | No Comments

I am so lucky to be able to work with so many great choreographers like Los Angeles based Willdabeast. I am on his kids hip-hop crew #lilBEASTS. He has an older team that he works with called #immaBEAST. As I mentioned in my post last week – I have a secret…..

WilldaBEAST with his awesome partner Janelle Ginestra filmed an amazing dance to a new song called Touchin, Lovin by Trey Songz featuring the AMAZING Nicki Minaj. Janelle choreographed all of the parts with the girls in it and Will choreographed all of the parts for the boys.  Janelle is the one in the gold shirt with the cute tall bun.  I just love her style – she is SO full out!  I think this song is going to be a hit and that all of us will be learning to dance to it this year.

I was on set when they were filming and had a chance to interview WilldaBEAST about what he calls “a concept video/music video.” He told me “The inspiration for this piece was big, clean – line choreography with the new swaggy style of 2014. ” If you follow WilldaBEAST, you know that his career is taking off in a huge way.   He just won the Next Generation Award at the World Dance Awards 2014 signaling the industry’s view that he is the next exciting up and coming choreographer. All of us who know him already know that he is the BEAST!

I am so happy for Will. The new video is below. Be sure to click on his DVD offer at the end of the video. I was in that! You know that all of us dancers need all of the help we can get!

It is so great to be on Will’s team.  I’m having so much fun!!!

If you want to download the song from iTunes click here.  I gave you the link to the “clean” version by the way – the only one I’m allowed to listen to!

I will be releasing some new stuff that I worked on with WilldaBEAST in the next few weeks. Be sure to subscribe to my blog and/or subscribe to the Sparkles Lund YouTube page if you want to be notified when it drops.

Here is my #lilBEAST story

 

Here is the making of the trey songs video .  The not-so-secret romance between Will and Janelle goes public in the video  #outted by @directorBrazil

 

About WilldaBEAST Adams

Instagram: http://instagram.com/willdabeast__

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/willdabeast

 

About Janelle Ginestra

Instagram: http://instagram.com/janelleginestra

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MissJanelleG

 

About World Dance Awards

http://www.worlddanceawards.com/

 

 

#immaBEAST crew selected for Dancing with the Stars

#immaBEAST crew selected for Dancing with the Stars

 

Oct 31 2014
0

A Blog Post About a Blog Post

By | Dance | One Comment

Hey guys! So yesterday, something very exciting happened. I had an audition for Sketchers – but that is not is not the most exciting thing. I have a secret. I bet you really want to know what it is, right? I’m sorry, but you can’t… yet! Although, I can’t tell you all the details, I can give you some hints. It includes one of my favorite choreographers being interviewed by yours truly, talking about a very exciting event that is coming very soon. It also will include some major celebrities that you may have heard of, *wink, wink * unless you live under a rock. In addition, you will see an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look of the next big thing in dance! Make sure to subscribe to my blog to hear all about this exciting event next week!

secret 1I am really excited about this because this is my first real celebrity interview. One of the best things about being in the entertainment industry is that I get to meet a lot of really neat people that are working on awesome projects. A lot of times it is overwhelming to think that I am actually hanging out with them. Pinch me!

Also, I am launching a video series called Sunday’s with Sparkles – it will be on YouTube – so if you like “watching” YouTube like me, be sure to “tune in” or click in to my YouTube page – Http://www.youtube.com/sparkleslund

Here is the channel trailer

Oct 26 2014
1

Willdabeast Solo Fun

By | Competition, Dance, Friends, Travel | No Comments

Solos are the second part of the new dances that I am learning for this year’s dance season. We already learned our group dances. I am doing fewer group dances than last year because of auditions, #lilBEAST rehearsals, and hopefully……jobs! I could not resist teen lyrical with choreography by Tahirih Ellison; teen large open with choreography by Katie Schofield; junior hip-hop with choreography by Re’Sean Pates (Glee); and teen large jazz, also by Re’Sean Pates. I am super excited about the trio I am doing with dancers Juliana Keller and Taylor Costa with choreography by Keara Blake.

On Wednesday, I learned a brand new solo with one of my favorite choreographers, Will “Willdabeast” Adams. Just so you understand how I manage school, dance and auditions, here is the story of my day.

First, I traveled to Harloe, a local elementary school to dance for a program called Red Ribbon Week. Red Ribbon Week is a drug and alcohol abuse prevention program. Our studio performs at many elementary schools to show how many great things you can do instead of drugs, like dance! Unfortunately, I only got to do the first school because I had to go to LA for an audition. On the way there, I did all of my homework during the three-hour drive.

Once we got to LA, I had an audition for a secret project that I can’t tell you about. I made it through the first round, but then got cut. I only book about one out of every ten auditions, so I don’t really get upset about not being picked. One of my friends Simone got picked, maybe some others too – so I am happy for them. Besides, I was so excited to work with WilldaBeast on a new solo!

Once the audition was over, my mom drove me to Nappytabs, which is a rentable studio as well as a very popular clothing store. When I entered the room, Will got started on my solo right away, with his assistant Deanna Jenkins. Deanna taught me the first section of it, which was really hype and fun, and I absolutely loved it! It took me a while to get the choreography though, because it was very fast. After I learned that section, Will taught me another section that was slower and calm, but still really challenging and fun to learn. We worked together for about an hour and a half and have most of it done. I need to go back next week to finish and clean it.

The sweet ending to my day was that my dad flew into LA from Chicago for a meeting and was staying in Beverly Hills at the amazing Montage hotel. This place is so nice that they bring a special bed for our dog Austin. Even food and water bowls. Not to be left out, they bring me chocolate and other fun kids stuff. My dad was traveling all week, so it was a great surprise to meet up with him. The only tough part was that we had to get up at 4 am to get home in time for me to get to school.

In other exciting news this week, I launched the trailer to my new YouTube channel. Take a look and subscribe http://youtu.be/POVkGPOWvbg! I will be publishing a new video every week or so. Next week (or sooner), I will be launching my new website – it is almost done! The new site will replace this one.

be Happy

Oct 15 2014
0

Divina Photo Shoot 2015

By | Dance, modeling | No Comments

As most of you know, I am a model for Divina Dancewear. Today, I will be telling you all about this year’s shoot which I participated in last weekend. Last year, I modeled for them for the first time and loved it! This year, I was so happy to be invited back and be re-united with all of the Divina girls.

I flew in after school on Friday. We had to go to Phoenix first, and then on to Utah from there. This is kind of weird because we had to go south before we went north due to our tiny local airport. We got in at around 9:30 mountain time, then had to rent a car, and finally start driving to our hotel. The drive was roughly 30 minutes, so it wasn’t too bad, but we didn’t check in to our hotel until about 10:15 because we got a little confused about where the lobby was. The next morning was the first day of shooting so I was super excited!

The weekend consisted of two days. The first day was video, and the second day was pictures. On the video day we filmed a few things. One was a video called Divina A-Z, which was a walkthrough of all the Divina products in A-Z order. For example, they have one product called the Lola top, so for L, someone would be dancing in the Lola top. See how it works? Something else we filmed on the first day was choreography choreographed by Haylee Rodrick. The piece was performed to the song Hideaway, by Kiesza. It was a contemporary jazz routine and I absolutely loved it! On day two, we took pictures in all of the clothing for the catalog and website.

The girls I danced with were Brooklyn Davis, Rachel Parkinson, Daisy Stoneman, Cailie Horner, Celine Horner, Jazzi Johnson, Maddie, Ashlund Ortiz, Chloe, Tatum C. , and Cheyenne MurilloI’m really sorry for not remembering the last names of some of the girls. They were all super nice and great dancers.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about Year 2 of my Divina Dancewear experience. The catalog and the videos will be out soon so stay tuned!

Divina Girls

Oct 08 2014
0

Continuity

By | Friends, School | No Comments

Continuity_-_Google_SearchI am a member of the Paulding Sports Association. We help the sports teams when they have games by operating the concessions, selling tickets, and working the scoreboard. Today was my team’s first day and it was really fun. Our girls’ volleyball team played another local school and that gave me a chance to see a girl that I have not seen in over a year.

When I knew her before, it was hard to be her friend. She was a combination of shy and a little annoying. Today, she was awesome. She was super friendly and really excited to see me. I was excited to see her too, and happy that she had changed.

It reminded me that people change. I was thinking of another friend that I have who seems to swing between a person I want to be around and a person that I do not want to be around.

I guess that we know that everyone changes. This is a good thing to remember. Oddly a song called Body Language by Kid Ink is playing right now and it says “don’t judge a book by its cover.” When it comes to people, they change covers – not only physically, but also in the way they act. Someone who is annoying today can be super nice the next time you see them. Someone who is super nice can also be super annoying the next time you see them.

My dad and I talked about this today in the car on the way to dance. He taught me the word continuity. It is related to the word continuous, which means consistent. In life, we need to recognize that people are not always consistent. Things happen to people in their life that impact their behavior. Sometimes the things that happen affect people for a day or two. Sometimes they impact a person for a long time.

I guess the solution for me is to try to have continuity in the way I treat others, but recognize that they will change from time to time. When they are annoying, I will lay low. When they are cool, I will look forward to hanging out with them.