Dec 08 2018

Director Brazil Launches One Take Sparks

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, Family, Friends, Vlogs, Work | No Comments

I have been working with Director Brazil – Helton Siqueira – on my videos since I started my YouTube channel in 2013. Brazil and his longtime friend Will Willdabeast Adams invented today’s popular class video format in the dance scene around Los Angeles, California in February of 2013. Shout out to Will for introducing me to Brazil. Being a member of immaBEAST has been a great learning experience for me. Not only have I learned how to train hard, but how to be a citizen of the dance community, a better person, and a better professional. Brazil gave me the experience in front of the camera, knowledge about YouTube, editing, and other things that I would have not been able to get from just doing jobs.

At first, my video channel was a way for sharing what I was doing in dance to family and friends. As my channel grew, I started to experiment with how to monetize my channel. Now my channel is different thing for me. It’s a place to curate my development as a dancer.

One of the things that you do not see much in dance videos today is one take videos. For a million different reasons, one take videos are rare because it’s incredibly hard to get everything right in a dance shot. Sometimes the camera angle is better in a particular run, other times the lighting is better, and a lot of times the dancer is better at different portions of the dance on different takes. You can do a lot to cut videos and add effects today to make videos look great. But it’s a bit harder to try to get it in one take.

One of the benefits of shooting over 100 videos with someone is the relationship and trust that develops between the director and the artist. So many of my videos were made better by Kalyne Lionheart who is an amazing editor. Between Brazil getting footage and Kalyne doing the edits, they turned out amazing. If you want to work with a great team, Brazil-Lionheart Productions is the way to go. They have so much experience.

Brazil has always been an innovator. When we set out to shoot 4 videos in a day, we knew that we were in for a long day. It was over 100 degrees in a warehouse in downtown LA the day of our shoot. When we started shooting, everything just clicked. We shot the first video 4 times and we honestly thought that every shot was great. So we stopped. That was when Brazil came up with the concept of One Shot Sparks – a series of one shot dance videos with no cuts. It is so different from the class videos you see everyday, or your typical concept video. So, we went with it. All of these dances were one take videos.

There are four videos in this series. The first one dropped on September 16, 2018. I danced to a song and an artist that I really love, Jade Bird. The choreography is special to me. One of my favorite people to work with is Cat Cogliandro. I love her work and am blow away by what an amazing woman she is. This video was my contemporary solo for the 2017-2018 season. It is very different than competition pieces that you see. It celebrates the spirit of Jade as an artist, and I really found a lot of sincerity in the dance. Thank you, Cat! Something American will always be one of my favorite dances ever. I appreciate you giving that to me.

The other three videos are choreographed by me. I have been working on my choreography for the past couple of years. I am teaching 5 classes a week and setting pieces on junior and teen dancers. I booked my first choreography job with a major TV studio this year (Thank you Disney and Bizaardvark). I hope that I will get more of those.

Thank you so much Brazil. You picked a great location for the shoot and made it all work for One Take Sparks #onetakesparks –

Aug 21 2018

2

Summer Craziness

By sparkleslund | Competition, Convention, Dance, Family, Friends, Travel | No Comments

Hey Guys, sorry I have been a slacker at posting. The school year ended with intense finals and preparation for our DPAC Studio Nationals. If you take AP classes, you feel me. I left home the day after finals and literally only spent 9 days at home all summer!

My summer started out by training with ImmaBeast and preparing for Buildabeast. I had the blessing of working with the Immabeast team which consists of all young professional working dancers on pieces choreographed by the amazing Janelle Ginestra and Will “Willdabeast” Adams. If you have attended Buildabeast, you understand the amount of heart, soul, and preparation that they put into their company pieces. As usual, Buildabeast was extraordinary and the training in many hip hop and contemporary styles was over the top.

I literally left Buildabeast on Sunday and flew to Las Vegas for Hollywood Connection Nationals with my studio (DPAC). It was a very special Nationals for me as I danced for the last time with my long-time dance partner Trevor Quesada who graduated this year. I cannot express how awesome it has been to dance with Trevor over the past 7 years. We did great at Nationals and I was a Icon Dancer of the Year finalist. When I won Junior Dancer of the Year at age 10 for Hollywood Connection, it literally changed my life. I am so grateful for Bill and Kimberly for creating Hollywood Connection and the amazing faculty that we have the opportunity to train with. Our Duo won top overall duet and top senior contemporary!

After HC, I was able to go home for 2 days to repack for Hollywood Vibe Nationals. I have been a company member for Hollywood Vibe since the second year of the program and, like HC, Chris and Anne with the help of company director Liz Imperio put on an amazing convention. For me, Hollywood Vibe Company has become a family for me. I have had the opportunity to dance in cities across America representing Hollywood Vibe and be mentored by some of the best faculty choreographers in the world. They truly build dancers and they have contributed to my growth as both a dancer, an assistant, a choreographer and enormously as a person.

After HV, I was able to go home for a week and do the DPAC summer intensive. Johnna Clark brought in some exceptional teachers such as Peter Pinnock and Hayley Roderick!

After the intensive, we traveled back to Los Angeles where I had the opportunity to work on filming Mitchel Federan’s choreography to Bellyache. Mitchel is such a talented choreographer and is an amazing person to work with on a shoot. Not all people who teach the steps can make them look great on film. Not to mention Jon Hernandez with the dope cinematography!

After the shoot, we headed down to San Diego for a week of training at DancerPalooza and to start my marketing internship with Capezio. It was the first year that Randi and Hefa produced Noizey – the hip hop intensive. I had the opportunity to take from many of my favorites. As I write this, I am in New York City continuing my marketing internship. I am also looking at colleges while I am here.

I will be dropping a bunch of work on my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/sparkleslund so subscribe to get notified. I will also be putting a bunch of my favorite class footage on my Instagram page http://www.instagram.com/sparkleslund – so follow me there too if you are interested.

School just started up again on August 16th – my junior year. I cannot imagine what 2018-2019 will look like. If it is anything like the year I just had, it may be a little crazy.

Jul 28 2017

2

Buildabeast Re-Cap 2017

By sparkleslund | Convention, Dance, Work | No Comments

Buildabeast was a huge success this year! For those who are new here, Buildabeast is an animal convention……lol…..annual convention put on by the owners and co-founders of ImmaBeast: Willdabeast Adams and Janelle Ginestra, aka: Mama and Papa Beast. I have been training under this newly engaged couple for going-on 4 years and I have learned so much. They ask us to bring improvement to every class. One thing for sure, they brought enormous improvement. Will and Janelle have probably improved more in the past year than any dancer or choreographer that I know. It’s a blessing to witness and completely inspiring to work with immaBeast.

With that being said, let’s get into the recap.

with Mallory Jul

Our whole team began rehearsals weeks ago, to ensure a phenomenal show. On the Friday before the event started, our crew arrived at the venue in Pomona to block the show and smooth out traditions. We rehearsed from Friday until Monday, and then on Tuesday, the event that we had all been looking forward to finally began! The first class was taught by Laura Edwards, followed by Noelle Marsh, etc. That night, we had show rehearsal once again.

The next day, class, etc. After a long day of classes, we had rehearsal for a very special concert that I will get to later…. The next day, same schedule, except now it is the night of the concert for none other than Jordan Fisher! I met Jordan the first time I auditioned for immaBEAST back in 2014, and we’ve kept in touch ever since. He is killing the music game right now so make sure you check him out. The next day, we had a super early rehearsal before class even started and after that rehearsal I took a real good nap. I mean a girl’s gotta rest right? After my “recharge” I assisted Allison Holker which was so life changing! We ended the day with the spectacular Sean Lew’s class. Then it was finally the night of our much-anticipated immaBeast showcase!

Our show opened with the world renowned Chapkis Dance Company. Their set was absolutely insane and set the bar very high for the rest of us. Seeing their greatness just motivated the rest of us to dance our best, which we sure did! The show went great and we finished off the night with a fun after party DJ’d by the one and only DJ Marv.

The final day consisted of the heart and soul of Buildabeast: AUDITIONS FOR 2018 IMMABEAST! We had to audition Will’s combo from earlier in the week so everyone had a chance to practice before-hand, but the extra time also raised the standard because everyone rehearsed the combo to perfection. The audition was stressful, but overall a great experience. The last part of the day were the immaBeast awards, where I received “On the Rise” which means I show “constant improvement and really on the way to greatness” – once I got a “Girl On Fire” award – feels the same.

with Jordan Fisher

This week was so very inspiring and I can’t wait for next year. – To see the faculty members – click to check out this post –

Next Up……..

DPAC has their annual summer show at the Clark Center called Eat, Sleep, Dance, Repeat. That is a must see event for locals! Tickets at the door – 6 PM Curtain Up.

I am looking forward to working with #teamcapezio at DancerPalooza! Watch @capezio on instagram for the live streaming all weekend during Beat Street. I will be interviewing Tate McRae, Melinda Sullivan, Emma HellenKamp, Kalani Hilliker, and photographer Jordan Matter. You will also be able to watch behind the scenes of my photoshoot with Jordan! Of course, I will also be doing spot interviews with my other favorite dancers and choreographers – some special guests guaranteed!

Jun 23 2017

1

Road to Buildabeast 2017 – inside scoop

By sparkleslund | Convention, Dance | 2 Comments

Now on its third year, Buildabeast 2017 #babe17 is set up to the the biggest and best hip hop convention on the planet.

If you follow my blog, I have written about the first two Buildabeasts here. The short recap is that the first event was held at the Marriott Burbank, a popular dance convention hotel. It’s one of the largest convention spaces in all of Los Angeles and Buildabeast sold out the first year. Last year, they moved the event to the Los Angeles Fairgrounds facility – Sheraton Fairplex and convention center. The place is massive. Last year, they sold out half of the building. This year, they are taking over the whole building and will be running two stages!

Here is a little inside scoop – the theme for Buildabeast this year is School.

You will see all of the immaBEAST company members following a costume plan. Wednesday is Rubix Cube day. All of us will be wearing colors from the Rubix Cube. Thursday is Black and White with immaBEAST turquoise flair. Friday is sports day, and if you know Willdabeast – you can imagine that there will be a lot of Golden State Warriors gear!

If you have not already purchased you ticket, be sure to do so now! They are not sold out yet, but it looks like they are on track to sell out soon. Buy Buildabeast tickets here. BTW – the Convention hotel at the Sheraton Fairplex is sold out. Reach out to the Buildabeast staff to get information on the secondary hotels. There are lots nearby. Don’t camp – its too hot in Pamona.

Eight of the faculty members have been announced. But here is a quick list : Brian Friedman, Tricia Miranda, Twitch, Allison Holker, Hollywood, Andye J, Laurie Courtellemount, FrankieJ, Amanda Grind, Robert Green, Andrew Winghart, Willadabeast, Janelle Ginestra, Taiwan, Jade Chynoweth, Noah Tratree. It is an excellent blend of the top working choreographers and teachers along with some of the greatest dancers in the world who are now teaching – Jade – Noah….. and you can be sure that Taylor Hatala and Sean Lew will both be teaching too.

Oh – and another inside note – the Friday night gala is amazing and will be full of celebrities. Bring your fancy clothes. Aside from hundreds of the top choreographers in the game – there will be some superstars. For example, Usher showed up last year.

The entire immaBEAST team has already started rehearsals for different pieces. I will be in a ladies piece choreographed by Janelle Ginestra. I have never danced with such extraordinary dancers in my life. Love Love Love. Gorgeousness

Of course, when Buildabeast is over, the immaBEAST auditions begin. Every year, Will and Janelle rebuild their team from scratch. No current team member is guaranteed to be retained for next year’s team. I have loved being on the team as a lilbeast, and now teenbeast. The training, friendships, and career development have been extraordinary. I will be busting my butt to make the cut.

Help Teen Beasts Get Dinner At Mastros!

Our company video this year is awesome – the teenbeasts and lilbeasts each have their own. Will told us that he will buy dinner at Mastros for the team that has the most views. Please watch our video.

First ImmaBEAST audition

Jun 19 2017

1

Janelle Ginestra Choreo to Marian Hill Down

By sparkleslund | Dance, Stuff I Like, Uncategorized, Work | No Comments

Janelle Ginestra Crushes This Choreo to Marian Hill – Down

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I was training last week in Los Angeles. Every Monday we have IMMABEAST company class, and the rest of the week I took class at Millennium and IMMASPACE. IMMASPACE has really begun to attract some of the hottest choreographers on the planet that are innovating in dance. (download IMMASPACE app here to see class schedule). It has become a special place to train, not only because of the great choreographers, but the IMMASPACE itself has developed a special character. Most of all, the general dance public does not know about IMMASPACE yet – so the dancers that it attracts for training are typically a combination of IMMABEAST dancers and that choreographers’ biggest fans. The room caps out at 60 dancers, so there is lots of room to move.

Of course, when you think of IMMABEAST, you think of Willdabeast. But when you dig in, you see that IMMABEAST is as much about Will Adam’s fiancé Janelle Ginestra as it is Will. They are truly partners in everything. Like yin and yang. It is outstanding to witness. Each of them make powerful contributions to the dance industry in so many ways, but most importantly – they help dancers like me to get better and to focus on the things that will help drive success both personally and professionally.

Stylistically, I think that my style of dance is closer to Janelle’s than it is to Will’s. Ginestra blends the hard-hitting style of hip-hop with contemporary movements of powerful female bodies. You feel like a strong woman when you dance to Janelle’s choreography. Some hip-hop is so strong that it drops the femininity that women bring to dance. Janelle’s style lets girls be girls, and lets boys be boys. I love it.

About Marian Hill

Marian Hill is actually two people: Jeremy Lloyd and vocalist Samantha Gongol. The two hale from Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania – outside of Philadelphia. They met in junior high, and really became relevant artists in 2015 when the release of their single “One Time,” leading up to their debut album; Once Act in 2016. Apple gave them a big boost when they debuted their iPhone 7 + AirPods to this song, “Down” during the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks playoff game. The commercial featured Lil Buck gravity dancing to “Down.” The combination of Samantha’s iconic voice with the creativity of Jeremy’s electronic musicality makes for excellent dance music. (If you need some good solo music – check this out. If you have not seen the YouTube video for “Down,” you gotta check it out .

The director for the video was Jack Begert of Psycho Films – produced by Sam Canter and Tyler Sobel-Mason. What they did with the elevator was truly outstanding. Awesome work in post production too! Graphics editing was WOW!

Janelle Ginestra did an outstanding job developing choreography for the song. Its quirky, artistic, and both hard and soft at times. There is a lot of intricate movement with hands, and great opportunities to play with the choreography as a dancer. I loved the class and am so excited that Janelle featured our group in her class video.

Check it out here – I come in at about the 2:44 min mark – Front Row, Far right – yellow shirt.

If you like my posts, please share and subscribe.

Jun 17 2017

2

Summer Has Started With a Roar

By sparkleslund | Dance, Stuff I Like, Travel | No Comments

The last day of school was Friday, June 9^th. We celebrated the graduation of seniors from A.G. High School that I have danced with my whole life. It is astonishing to see them move on to the next chapter of their lives. As for me, it was a 6 a.m. departure to Los Angeles for a……long…..one day music video shoot for Dylan Diamond. We were on location for most of the day on location of “Pimp My Ride,” at West Coast Customs – will share when the video comes out. It was great to work with so many immaBEAST dancers. Our small group was Jordyn Jones, Natalie Bebko , Phoenix, and Jason Hancock. It was fun to meet celebrity YouTuber Logan Paul.

After driving home on Sunday, I returned to LA again on Monday for immaBEAST company class with Cat Cogliandro. It was transformative. I cried a lot. THANK YOU! After a busy school year, I needed that therapeutic release. I was so stoked by her combination of movement and message that I took her class again at Millennium on Wednesday – ahhhhhh – so good.

I am falling in love with Ventura Boulevard – the amazing restaurants and my favorite shops. Last night after immaBEAST class I was able to reconnect with my good friend Kennadi Boese and her mom for dinner at Granville. The angel hair pasta with chicken is soooooo good. It really hit the spot. Of course, YogurtLand near Laurel Canyon is the best way to finish a long day. I absolutely love where I live and all of my friends in AG, but it is especially wonderful to have more friends and my special places in Los Angeles.

For the first time, I will be presenting my original choreography at Hollywood Vibe Nationals competing for Teen Dancer of the Year. It’s the next step on my journey as a dancer to gain skills and confidence creating choreography and collaborating with so many amazing people who influence me. Through the process of finding your own style, you realize that you are a product of the great dancers and teachers that you work with. Dance is truly a craft that is passed from generation to generation. Thank you to all of my mentors, especially Brooke Lipton, Heidi Asefvaziri, and Janelle Ginestra. You are all goddesses and you shine a light on my path.

Sorry School of Rock. I would have been great to work with you today. Wish it would have worked out. Many thanks to MSA for the effort. But when one door closes, another opens –

This month is Pride month in Los Angeles. Instagram worked with luxury designer Paul Smith to convert their famous pink wall into a rainbow to celebrate Pride. It made a perfect backdrop for my monthly Capezio photo shoot, and I found the most fantastic hat at the Burton store.

I will be on location at DancerPalooza this summer as a spokesperson for Capezio. I will be webcasting live interviews with the world’s greatest dancers – can’t wait! Be sure to follow Capezio’s channels on Instagram and Facebook if you want to see what that is all about. I will be around their booth whenever possible.

Oct 22 2016

1

Bruno Mars 24K Magic Video Release

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

My Video Dropped yesterday to Bruno Mars 24k! I was inspired by choreo learned this weekend in Vegas at The Pulse On Tour!

Last year, Bruno Mars hit the top of the charts with his single Uptown Funk. I loved the song, well – still love the song. You can’t help to want to dance and sing with a huge smile on your face when it plays on Spotify. What Bruno Mars did with 24K Magic may be a new trend by recording artists – he is letting us post dance videos of the song to YouTube rather than following the path of so many other artists that set copyright restrictions that block dance videos. Here is a link to my video released yesterday! https://youtu.be/KGZjwZSRN9s

24K Magic is the first single on this third album that will be titled “24K Magic.” Mars calls 24k magic “an invitation to the party!” How cool is that? The song hit the top 5 on the first day, which has never happened for any artist in 2016.

The piece that I am performing was choreographed by Anthony Westlake and Trevor Takemoto. Like me, Anthony Westlake is a professional dancer and is signed with MSA McDonald Selznick Associates. I have always loved the clean arms and footwork that characterizes Westlake’s choreography and dance. I am blessed to be able to dance with Anthony on the immaBEAST team, and to learn from him in classes around Los Angeles where we both train. He is such a hard worker, so determined, and so committed. What a great role model for me and other dancers.

I learned this piece @ThePulseOnTour in Las Vegas last weekend. Anthony Westlake and Trevor Takemoto are past Elite Proteges – another on the long list of exceptional dancers that has been tutored in the Protege’ program at The Pulse! Congrats to my immaBEAST teammates @Tahani_Anderson and Logan @logistx_ugf for their work in Las Vegas and for being selected to the Pulse Protege program.

When you go to a convention like Pulse, you get excellent training and have the ability to dance with many of the top dancers in your age group in America. Think about continuing to work on the piece after convention to find your style in what you learned. But also be sure to learn the subtleties, texture, and moments that the choreographer is trying to teach. You just never know, you may find yourself on an audition where Westlake is the choreographer or assistant choreographer. If you pick up his style – you are likely to book the job!

Last Monday, I filmed a project for DanceOn! I have been a dancer in their network for about a year now. If you are not familiar with the DanceOn network – you should check them out if you like to publish to YouTube. As I mentioned up above, a lot of cool songs are blocked from YouTube. The ones that are open cannot be monetized – meaning that you do not get money for the advertising displayed on your dance – the artist gets paid. With DanceOn, they get the permission for certain songs that allow the dancers to get paid.

The project we filmed on Monday was choreographed by Kehlani’s choreographer, Antione Troupe – @antoinetroupe . He did the original choreography for the official music video View Official Kehlani Music Video Here

I have learned three different dances to Kehlani’s hit song CRZY! I am going to film all three tomorrow and post them up on my page sometime at the end of next week – be sure to subscribe to Sparkles Lund on YouTube to be the first to see it.

Here Is My Dance to Bruno Mars 24k Magic – Hit Play on the Video – sharing is caring!

Aug 17 2016

0

Joining Pharrell Williams to Empower Kids

By sparkleslund | Dance, Friends, modeling | No Comments

Pharrell and Sparkles

What makes you different? About five years ago, Pharrell launched a program called i am other. It is a pretty simple concept. We are all different, and “individuality is the new wealth.”

i am other is the philosophy that Pharrell carries through all of his businesses and charities. He told us that he only surrounds himself with people who share those beliefs and he tries to instill it in others through all of his projects in music, film, television, apparel, and what not.

Somehow, someway, Pharrell, or Pharrell’s people found me, and invited me to a very special event to launch a collection of school supplies in partnership with Yoobi. Yoobi is a pretty cool company. They have adopted the idea that made Tom’s shoes famous. Yoobi takes a portion of everything they sell and give free school supplies to children in need right here in America. Pharrell helped design the line of school supplies around the themes of i am other.

When you go to events like this, you have no idea who is going to show up. Somehow I was not surprised to see four other immaBEAST dancers, and even a few Disney Channel stars at the event. We all had a really great time, and it is super fun to get dressed up for the red carpet. Overall it was a super fun evening, and one I will remember for sure!

Jul 07 2016

3

Flash Mob America Hits Record With Robert Schultz Choreography

By sparkleslund | Dance, Friends, Work | No Comments

Los Angeles, CA July 7^th, 2016 – Flash Mob America is the #1 booking Flash Mob Company in the world. I guess that makes for a good name, right? What you may not know is that the choreography genius behind Flash Mob America is Los Angeles choreographer Robert Schultz.

Robert Schultz has choreographed over 200 flash mobs for Flash Mob America during the past 6 years, making Shultz one of the most productive and successful flash mob choreographers and directors in the world. Recently, a piece choreographed by Schultz topped over 1 Million views on You Tube! You must watch it. But grab a tissue. You cannot possibly hold back the tears of joy as you see the story unfold

The Flash Mob event was to celebrate the anniversary and vow renewal for Stacey and Rick who had been married for 30 years. For the flash mob, Rick hired Flash Mob America, a camera crew, and threw a party on the rooftop to surprise Stacey. All Stacey knew was that Rick was taking her out for a romantic evening. Rob Schultz made the event amazing with the creativity of having hired dancers and street vendors subtly hand her roses as she walked down the street to meet Rick at the restaurant. As she turned the corner toward the restaurant, a group of family, friends, and professionals break into a huge flash mob for her.

At the end of the dance, everyone points up to the roof top of the building where hundreds more family and friends are looking down, waiving, and welcoming Stacey to her special day made possible by Rick!

Schultz got started as a flash mob choreographer through the help of his long time friend and fellow choreographer, Ms. Lisette Bustamante. Lisette was hired by Flash Mob America to do a piece and she invited Robert Schultz to help. Whenever Bustamante was not available, Schultz began to work directly with Flash Mob America to do pieces.

The most memorable flash mob that Schultz has choreographed was for the ABC hit TV show, Modern Family. Season 2, Episode 8 is called Manny Get Your Gun. In this episode, Cam says Mitch is not spontaneous enough. So Mitch organizes a flash mob at the mall to impress Cam. The flash mob was epic, and in true Modern Family fashion, Cam gets upset because he was not invited to dance in the Flash Mob.

Schultz also choreographed a piece for WAV Group clients, CoreLogic. They had the crazy break out into dance during the peek of the National Association of REALTORS® trade show in San Diego. It was so funny. All of these REALTOR types walking around and suddenly surprised by mob chaos. To Join a Flash Mob, visit http://www.flashmobamerica.com//event-registration. Follow Flash Mob America @FlashMobAmerica (Instagram & Twitter)

About Robert Schultz

I have known Robert Schultz for years. He taught at my first convention when I was 8, Hollywood Connection. At age 9, I qualified at regionals for Dancer of the Year, called Icon of the Year which I was fortunate enough to win. Schultz choreographed the Icon dance that was a tribute to movies. Schultz cast me as the lead in Afro-Circus from Madagascar and I loved the goofy wig! Aside from private training over the past few years, I have begun to work with Robert Schultz on some of my You Tube videos. Perhaps the most memorable is my duet featuring my Grandma Anne and fellow dancer Trevor Quezada to When We Were Young, music by Adele

Jun 04 2016

3

The Beast Network Officially Announced

By sparkleslund | Dance, modeling, Stuff I Like, Work | No Comments

The Beast Network was announced today! All of us at immaBEAST are so excited to follow and support Will Willdabeast Adams, Janelle Ginestra, BTB Creative Agency (John, Brazil, Nelson) on this new journey. If it grows like immaBEAST has grown the past three years, who knows how big it will be.

Will and Janelle had a BBQ for the team at their house this week to share the news with the team. Looking around at the team, my friends, I could not help but to feel grateful for the opportunity to work and train with so many talented, hardworking friends. The immaBEASTS are strong at every level – adults, teens, juniors, and minis. My manager Nelson Diaz posted on Facebook this week that if you want to be a lion, you must train with lions – surround yourself with people on the same mission as you. So true!

Will gave an inspiring speech to announce The Beast Network. He started by putting his hand on Janelle’s belly like they were announcing that they were having a baby – PSYCH! Then he told us about how he and John Hyland went to Toronto to discuss a TV deal. I guess a lot of networks – Disney, Nickelodeon, and others expressed interest in making a documentary about Buildabeast 2016 – the hip hop intensive that immaBEAST is having this summer (I have discount codes :-). Apparently that meeting was inspirational because it resulted in the launch of The Beast Network.

The Beast Network will be a bit different. Will grew up with TRL, 106 and Park, Freestyle Friday – I am part of the DanceOn Network (until The Beast Network goes live!). The Beast Network will produce and publish videos about Lifestyle, Music, Dance, Fashion, Health/Fitness, and Reality. So many members of the immaBEAST team have talents far beyond dance. The Beast Network will deliver a place for us to collaborate and continue to grow together.

COMING THIS SUMMER

#TheBeastNetowrk #TBN #immaBEASTdancers @immabeastco

Check out the new website were you can sign up for ongoing notifications

Http://www.thebeastnetwork.com

Here is Will’s announcement video

Jun 01 2016

3

BuildaBeast 2016 Choreographers Announced

By sparkleslund | Convention, Dance | One Comment

I am so excited for the 2016 BuildaBeast Experience!

Last year’s event was epic. Here is my post from a year ago. This year’s is going to be even better.

Here is the promotional video that was just released with the teachers lined up for this year. This is probably one of the best intensives in hip-hop you could ever attend – not only because of the great teachers, but also because of the great dancers. It is such a privilege to train with Will and Janelle and the immaBEAST family of dancers. Every single one is a working professional dancer and the top 10 minis, teens, and immas are among the top dancers in the world. Look at any job and you see them. I was at an audition last week with 200 dancers. At the end of the audition, there were 15 people who went to video. 11 of them are #immaBEASTS.

If you want a career as a professional dancer, come to #buildaBEAST2016. I have discount codes available if you message me. I am only able to give out so many, so first come, first serve.

Remember, the #buildaBEAST2016 event is also the warm up to audition for the team. The team changes every year as Will and Janelle only pick the best. Everyone auditions, including current team members. They do not play favorites – just pick the best dancers.

2016-2017 will be an amazing year of growth for #immaBEAST. Every year the team gets more and more opportunities. What began as a popular YouTube group has grown to booking jobs on TV (Ellen, SYTYCD, Voice, DWTS, BET and other Award Shows), Movies (Straight out of Compton and others), and Commercials (too many to mention). #Immabeast is represented by BTB Management, and BBR Agency.

Get Your Tickets NOW athttp://immabeast.co/buildab…
BuildaBEAST is a 5 day long dance camp event in Los Angeles, California taking place on July 18th- July 22nd 2016. Come take Master Classes from WilldaBEAST, Janelle Ginestra, Tony Tzar, Kinjaz, Kay Kay, Twitch, Hollywood, Andrew Winghart, Frankie J, Laure Courtellemont, Codie Wiggins, BDash & Konkrete, and MORE.

Get your tickets NOW before they sell out! http://immabeast.co/buildab…

Here is the promo for the event – you must be sure to come!

Nov 21 2015

1

Sean Lew and the Best Boys Ever

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, Friends, Stuff I Like | 2 Comments

There was a time when I was 8 or 9 years old when DPAC when to visit our sister studio in LA, Dellos Performing Arts. I met Sean Lew on Instagram for the first time. He is a year older than me and one of the best male dancers in the world. Sean and I were also both privately trained by Mr. Marco Cruz for years. Over time, I ran into Sean a lot at The Pulse on Tour and other conventions. We also often got calls for the same auditions and worked together from time to time, including The Voice. He and I are also teammates on #immaBEAST with Will Adams.

The dance industry is mostly competitive and cutthroat. But, there are a few enlightened kids that understand that is wrong. Sean is one of those. When I would travel by myself to train at conventions, I was alone and surrounded by kids that were there with their studios. Very few kids would go out of their way to make friends. Everywhere I have ever seen Sean, he has always been my friend and looked after me. I don’t have an older brother, but I imagine that if I did, he would be a lot like Sean.

There was a time a few years ago when Sean started choreographing his own solos. People had their opinion about Sean, some believing that he was too big for his britches. They were so wrong. Sean was born to dance and born to be a choreographer. His work is so good that he gave up competition after winning everything. As you will see from the video – his work is epic.

Today, Sean dropped one of the most amazing videos. Sean choreographed this trio with Bill Will Simmons and Josh Price. The three of them are easily in the top 10 dancers in America today and all #immaBEAST team members. These boys are the greatest and this video is sooooo good.

Watch this video and remember, “sharing is caring!” Share it on your social media so the world can see how talented these guys are!

Nov 01 2015

1

Happy Halloween

By Alexandra Lund | Dance | One Comment

Hi fam! I have three super fun things to tell you about my Halloween. First off, I was Flo from Progressive. Perfect, right?

Second, huge thank you to the Clark Center Performing Arts Foundation Board who provided me a scholarship to attend a ballet program this summer. As you might expect, these intensives are expensive.

Third, right after Hollywood Vibe in San Diego, we started work on a special YouTube video for Halloween to the song Animals by Nabiha (https://youtu.be/yT1bW3Cproc). The choreography was done by #immaBEAUTY Janelle Ginestra. We released the video on Halloween Day at noon.

A lot of my YouTube videos have been solo performances. Recently I have been changing that up because it is way more fun to dance with other kids. I cannot thank my friends enough for the hard work and time that they put into the video. There is normally one or two days of learning choreography. If you know Janelle, then you know that each rehearsal is about four hours and you go full out the whole time! If you think that taking a 1 or 1 ½ hour class at Millennium is intense – you have not lived. On top of that, they came back for a full day shoot directed by Helton Brazil Sequeira – or @directorBrazil.

I love every one of these girls and cannot thank them enough for their work #lilBEAST family rocks!

Jadyn Hernandez (@JadynHernandez715)

Jenna Z Alvarez (@JennaZAlvarez)

Savanna Kubat (@Savanna.Kubat)

Sofia Wylie (@Sofia_Dance10)

Tahani Anderson (@Tahani_Anderson) **Second Appearance – love her!

Vivien Lopez (@VivienLopez569)

Here is the video

Ok, wait – there is a fourth thing. 1 Million Views on YouTube – crazy right?

Oct 26 2015

1

Preview of Animals Dance For Halloween

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, Friends | No Comments

Hi Everyone!

The immaBEAST dancers supported me in the creation of this special dance for my YouTube page. The choreography was created by immaBEAUTY, Janelle Ginestra. @willdaBEAST was not involved in this project, but it is important to acknowledge that none of this stuff would not happen without his vision for supporting and creating opportunities for dancers. Thank you Will!

We are doing a really cool thing to launch the video. Each day between now and Halloween, a different instagram announcement will be dropped.

@jennazalverez
@vivienlopez569
@tahani_anderson
@jadynhernandez715
@savanna.kubat
@sofia_dance10

Thanks to @directorbrazil for all of his hard work producing these videos, and thanks to you for all of the support too.

Check it out

Click Here To View

Oct 02 2015

1

Summer 5 – Summer Ends School Begins and Some Big News

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance, Friends | No Comments

If you missed the other posts in this series, you may want to go back and start at the beginning.

Summer 1 – LA Sparks and Trip To New York

Summer 2- Hollywood Vibe DOTY and Team Larkles

Summer 3 – Leaving Las Vegas

Summer 4 – Dancer Palooza and BuildaBEAST Experience

While all of this was going on, a few other things happened. My work on the Voice put me over the limit on being a non-Union dancer. So at the beginning of the year I was invited to join the Screen Actors Guild. It is a great organization that really does a lot to make sure that professional actors and dancers are paid a minimum living wage of at least $250 per day.

I was signed by BTB Management and am now blessed to be managed by Nelson Diaz. No more momager or dadager! Not that my parents did not do an excellent job….. BTB manages many of the top dancers and actors in America. I am a long way from their experience, talent, and fame – but I am working on it. Nelson and the entire team at BTB are great to work with. He is always looking out for all of us and guiding our growth while he develops opportunities. My parents need the break anyway. They have their own work to do. PS – I now call Nelson’s wife Aunt Mary – that’s what it’s like!

A component of getting a manager was that I switched from Clear Talent to MSA. This had nothing to do with anything related to Clear Talent. They were instrumental to all of my success the past few years and I would highly recommend them as anyone’s agent. @ShaynaBrouillard was fantastic and I love her.

The dance department there is top notch and they represent many of my friends who are super successful. Switching agencies is not like getting a divorce, but it is certainly a change. Everyone at MSA has been great so far and I look forward to being with MSA for a long time.

Somewhere in here I missed that I did a job for Nickelodeon and was featured on the front page of the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Both of these were lifetime firsts for me. I tried to put a lot of stuff on my Youtube page and on Instagram. If you scroll through those, you will see more. I was also selected to be a Sadie Jane ambassador. Along with Divina, they have some of the best dancewear.

I hope I am not forgetting anything. I certainly did not mention everyone that I spent time with this summer. But, I have been writing this post for days and it seems like this series will never end. This is like a short novel.

Stay tuned for some cool releases on my YouTube channel. I was the host for the season the Behind the Scenes shooting of #immaBEAST year three video. We are also shot a new hip hop video for the amazing David Moore. I have been rehearsing with my super talented friends, Tahani Anderson and my semi-twin pal, Kaycee Rice for a VH1 live show choreographed by Janelle Ginestra. We were Barbie dancers! Check it out https://youtu.be/nFVzWHxnbT8

On the home studio front, I have been taking ballet classes at a new studio called Movement Arts Center in San Luis Obispo. Big News is that Dellos Performing Arts Center is moving to a brand new studio! Can’t wait for another great season with my #DPACfam.

If you missed the other posts in this series, you may want to go back and start at the beginning.

Summer 1 – LA Sparks and Trip To New York

Summer 2- Hollywood Vibe DOTY and Team Larkles

Summer 3 – Leaving Las Vegas

Summer 4 – Dancer Palooza and BuildaBEAST Experience

This is my first 5 post series. I hope you liked it! Stay tuned for more.

Sep 30 2015

1

Summer 4 – Dancer Palooza and BuildaBEAST Experience

By Alexandra Lund | Convention, Dance, Friends | 2 Comments

If you missed the first posts in this series, go back to the beginning.

Summer 1 – LA Sparks and Trip To New York

Summer 2- Hollywood Vibe DOTY and Team Larkles

Summer 3 – Leaving Las Vegas

The next week, we moved from Burbank down to Long Beach for Dancer Palooza. That is a weeklong intensive that, in my opinion, has the best collection of contemporary teachers you can find anywhere. I took classes from Mandy Moore, Mia Michaels, Sonya Tayeh, Teddy Forance, Stacey Tookey, Travis Wall, Dee Caspary, Benoit-Swan Pouffer, Andrew Winghart, and others. http://www.dancerpalooza.com/thecollective

Girls – dance aside – if you have not been to the expo at Dancer Palooza, you have not lived. It is the most number of booths that I have ever seen – its huge!

I did a haul vide with my loot! Check it out

Our #immaBEAST team also was invited to dance in the Showcase. We were rehearsing during Mini Muse and during Dancer Palooza, so after taking classes every day for two weeks, I also had rehearsals at night. I have never been in better shape in my life – 12 pack abs!

Liz Imperio and her new Fiancé came to the showcase. I love her and the support she gives me as a dancer, a friend and a coach. If you do not know Liz, try your best to meet her. She has a program called Breaking Barriers (http://breakingbarriers.dance/) that has been super helpful at helping me set my goals in life and as a professional dancer. Her coaching, advice, and heartfelt support she gives to dancers makes her a very special person. I can’t wait to get on tour with Hollywood Vibe where she is the creative director. #secondMom

Just to keep the flow going, the next week was the #BuildaBEAST Experience. What a switch from a week of contemporary to a week of hip hop. As an #immaBEAST and #lilBEAST, we were able to help work the event and dance. The entire week was filled with the best hip hop training I have ever had. I was surrounded by the best dancers from all over the world (like 22 countries or something insane like that) and across America. #immaBEAST is so much more than a crew. It’s a dance family like no other. The BuildaBEAST experience finished up with the auditions for #immaBEAST. The competition was so fierce and everyone worked so hard. I have no idea how Willdabeast narrowed down the hundreds of auditions to the team we have now (about 70 strong). The good news is that I was able to dance hard enough keep my spot on the team. I learned that there are no free rides in life. Just because I danced on the team last year was no indicator that I would be on the team this year.

Here is my Solo from the event – it was epic

PS – AirBoard was a sponsor at BuildaBEAST and I got one! Hurray. Super fun #christmaslist for you.

If you are keeping track of the weeks, by this point I have not been home at all since school let out in June, amounting to six straight weeks of being on the road! I should pause here and thank my parents for making this all possible for me. With two weeks left before school started, I stopped dancing 12 hours a day and was limited to #sparkkids rehearsals, auditons, #LASparks games, and rehearsals for the #immaBeAST season three video. We still were driving back and forth to LA multiple times each week and staying a few nights in LA each week, but I did actually get to sleep a few nights in my own bed and see my friends at home.

BuildaBEAST Season 3 Video

If you missed the first posts in this series, go back to the beginning.

.

Summer 1 – LA Sparks and Trip To New York

Summer 2- Hollywood Vibe DOTY and Team Larkles

Summer 3 – Leaving Las Vegas

Next up is the Summer Series Finale – Summer Ends, School Begins, and Big Announcement

Sep 25 2015

1

Summer 2- Hollywood Vibe DOTY and Team Larkles

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance | One Comment

If you missed the first posts in this series, go back to the beginning.

Summer 1 – LA Sparks and Trip To New York

If you read my blog regularly, I won Regional Dancer of the Year for Hollywood Vibe. It is a huge honor to be selected by the Hollywood Vibe faculty as the top dancer of the weekend, but moreover it qualified me to compete for the National Dancer of the Year during Hollywood Vibe’s Nationals Competition.

Hollywood Vibe held their week-long Nationals in LA and the talent and competition was fierce. It was not really a drama, but emotions ran high. I loved dancing with so many friends from around the Nation, like one of my besties, Leah Roga from Phoenix. Just for fun, our parents had #TeamLarkles shirts made for us since we plan to spend many weeks together, and #TeamLarkles was born! I tried to work as hard as I could so that I could dance well and show the teachers at the convention that I was deserving of the title National Dancer of the Year. I woke up my mom at 5:30 each morning to help me get ready so I could be there way before our call time 7:00 am. Liz Imperio, creative director of Hollywood Vibe taught me a lesson that I try to live by. She said that if your call time is 7:00 then 6:45 is “on time”. If you want to be early you need to be there at 6:30 am. I do my best to follow this rule whenever I am headed to a rehearsal or audition.

At the end of the week, they called up the top 5 dancers to the stage. Then they announced the top 2 dancers in my Intermediate category to do a dance off. I made the top 2 list and it was very nerve racking, but exciting at the same time. The next morning the two of us got to dance for all of the judges at the event and a large audience. They didn’t tell us who won the award until the awards show that evening.

At the end of the night, I was the last dancer standing and was awarded the Hollywood Vibe National Dancer of the Year! There were so many dancers deserving of the title that it was a shock to win!

This year I am planning to go to as many Hollywood Vibe conventions as possible. It is a great honor to represent them. #TeamLarkles almost doubled up. Leah Roga was a finalist in Teens and won top solo overall. Her competition was REALLY competitive. The Teen Dancer of the Year went to one of my immaBEAST teammates – Trinity Inay. She is a super sweet girl and a great dancer. We got to know each other earlier this year when we worked together on Dancing With The Stars (see video https://youtu.be/xQkAPpxDQB0?list=PLYVO53t5xTKUnxykgAK8wq_Qz88ujzrH6

).

Hollywood Vibe is my second National Championship as a dancer. The first came three years ago at Hollywood Connection; they call their national prize ICON of the Year. Here’s a little known fact for you. Hailee Paine, one of the top 4 finalists on So You Think You Can Dance also won the Senior title of Icon of the Year at the same competition. I absolutely love her! She’s an amazing dancer and one of the nicest people in the world! I was sad that she did not win SYTYCD, but getting to the final two for Team Stage is a huge accomplishment. She really shined as a versatile dancer, often outperforming many of the Team Street dancers in Hip Hop pieces. Amazing, right? I’m so excited to see where her career is going to go from here!

After Hollywood Vibe the #TeamLarkles tour continued at The Pulse on Tour in Las Vegas. We literally left the awards at HV Nationals and drove ALL through the night to get to Vegas. The Stutts family followed with us (shout out to Hannah and Pate). We did not get to perform in the showcase because we missed Friday, but the rest of the weekend was amazing – lots of friends and great training. A bunch of my friends including Leah became Pulse Protégé, which is a huge honor, but not me. Maybe I will win next time. You just never know. I really appreciate winning scholarships that have allowed us to continue going to Pulse in the future. The faculty, staff, and dancers go full out. It is a great place to learn and train. I am always exhausted when I leave. FYI, Bally’s Las Vegas is a dumpy hotel ☹

Be sure to check out the first post in this series

Summer 1 – LA Sparks and Trip To New York

Subscribe to see the next post – Summer 3 – Leaving Las Vegas

Sep 23 2015

4

Summer 1 – LA Sparks and Trip To New York

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, Friends, Travel | 6 Comments

I am really sorry for not blogging in so long. My website was pretty messed up and I had a crazy summer. Now things are back to normal (well sort of) and I am back in school like most 12-year-old kids. The rest of my schedule is anything but normal, but it’s good to be home. Here is a recap of the summer. This will be series of posts that I’ll publish every couple of days as time permits, so hang in there and subscribe to get notified when Summer 2 is released – titled Hollywood Vibe Nationals, Drama and Team Larkles.

In the middle of June, I went with my school drama group to NYC. This was the beginning of a travel schedule that took me away all summer. We had an amazing experience. I have been to New York City once a year with my parents, so I know my way around Midtown and Times Square and have done all of the tourist-y stuff. I can tell you that it is way more fun to travel with your friends. (Sorry Mom and Dad!) We had a blast. I am releasing a video in the next few weeks that shows what we did. I lost the footage but just found it. Be sure and subscribe, or watch my YouTube channel. My favorite part of the trip was attending Broadway shows. At sometime in my life I hope to dance on Broadway (Hint Hint Chelsea Blake from MSA and Nelson Diaz from BTB Management). I also loved visiting the set of Saturday Night Live. I love comedy television and it would be amazing to be on that show! #goals. I guess the point of the trip was to dream big, and I am on it.

All summer long I have been dancing for the LA Sparks women’s professional basketball team as part of the LA Sparkids. The team just made the playoffs, so the season continues. The ability to work with choreographers like Brandee Evans and Jenna Frechette has been exceptional. And, who would not want to be on the court at the Staples Center! It is a legendary place for sports (aka home of the Lakers) and entertainment (Taylor Swift set a record for sold out shows this year). They are picky about posting video of our routines, so I do not have much beyond a few short clips on Instagram that shows the work. I made so many new friends on the #sparkids team and was able to work with a lot of the #sparkids that just made it to the #immaBEAST team too. I’m so excited that Im going to get to spend more time with them!

Be sure to subscribe if you want to hear the rest of the summer story. Next up is the Hollywood Vibe Nationals Drama and the introduction of the ongoing dream team – Team Larkles!

Click Here to read post 2 in the series now

Apr 19 2015

1

DOTY Hollywood Vibe Regional

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance, modeling | No Comments

I am writing this from Hollywood Vibe in Phoenix. This is my last city on Team Hollywood Vibe. Since we are only allowed to dance in the competition in our home city, there is time to chill at night and do homework or get caught up on my blog. Before I get started – you may recall that I am on @willdaBEAST #immaBEAST team. They are holding the audition July 28th – August 1st. You train for a week then comes the Audition on the last day. Using the code lund5 you can get a discount. Sign up here http://www.immabeast.co/buildabeast

As you know if you are a kid, the last month was brutal with the end of the quarter in school. Gotta keep those grades up! It gets harder and harder to juggle school, comp, training, and work. I guess that I should put it in the order of work, school, comp, training. When you book a job or have an audition, the best laid plans for the day or week go right out the door. Know what I am talking about? Somewhere on that list is keeping up with my blog, which becomes harder and harder to do. Hard work pays off though – Grades came in great and I was awarded Regional Dancer of the Year in Northern California (San Francisco) for the second year running at Hollywood Vibe! A huge hug goes out to the Hollywood Vibe faculty, especially Liz Imperio for all of their training and encouragement. My DPAC family are my roots and I love each and everyone for how they have trained me for this. So blessed! #DPACStrong

Last month was a whirlwind. If you have been following me on Instagram, you know what I am talking about.

I did this industrial shoot for Target – It was super fun to work alongside my friend Charlize Glass. She ran the shoot ahead of me so it was great to watch her do her magic and build my confidence. She is such a pro. #goals.

Industrials are pretty interesting. It is pretty much “backfill work” for dancers. There is no audition, they pick you from your head shots and the photos and videos are used for pitching marketing programs. Sometimes, if they love you – you can direct book a national commercial from these. Wouldn’t that be nice?

I really did not understand the crossover between dancers and models. I know from the work that I did last year for Macy’s and for Otis School of Design that dance adds magic to the runway, but I am surprised by the amount of work that dancers get in print just because they are fit and healthy looking. Shout out to my supporters including Divina Dancewear, D2I skullies, Sugar & Bruno, and Sadie Jane. Seriously, as much time as I spend dancing, this gear comes in handy. Happy for the merch love.

Earlier this season I started out working with the amazing Jillian Clark on a piece called Diamonds – Musical Theatre – great results – love that. Secondly, I have been working with Keara Blake Bolland on a lyrical piece called Opportunity. It is to a song that I fell in love with through the whole Annie Movie/Dancing with the Stars bit from last year. The music and the choreography fell together perfectly for what I want to do as a dancer. More great results! Love that too. I have been working really hard with my two favorite red heads – Juliana Keller and Taylor Costa on our lyrical trio. Hollywood Vibe was a break our performance for that number. I can’t wait to perform it again. It is so close to being epic! What a journey we have had so far. Next, I am working to pull together a hip hop piece. It is getting close.

April hit with a bang! I was able to work with @willdaBEAST, @janelleginestra, and @antionetroupe at @vyraldancetour. It was a special day hosted by Nor Cal Dance – I came out of it stronger with an unbelievable addiction to Janelle Ginestra’s choreography. It hits hard but is still girly. Here is the YouTube video – the first one from our dance studio built in the garage. Hope you like it.

Mar 28 2015

1

buildaBEAST by immaBEAST Workshop Announced

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, Friends | 4 Comments

If you follow me on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook (links at the top of the page) you probably already know that I am blessed to be on a team called immaBEAST. Well, specifically the “imma”s are the older kids and young adults. Part of the immaBEAST team are the lilBEASTS (15 and under), and that’s me. The good news is that there will be a workshop that starts July 28^th. On the final day, August 1^st, everyone gets to audition for a spot on the immaBEAST team! You can get discounted tickets for the buildaBEAST workshop and immaBEAST auditon now if you buy them before they sell out! $400 earlybird special http://www.immabeast.co/buildabeast

Over the past year, training with the immaBEAST team has been really fun and amazingly rewarding. I have had the opportunity to train on a team that is 100% professional dancers. Everyone is freakishly talented.

My #lilBEAST Story

In 2013-14 I took some classes with Will WilldaBEAST Adams at Millennium, The Pulse, and 24-7 Dance. He called me out to do a duet at 24-7 which my dad recorded. It is really poor quality video (https://youtu.be/11b11nbtd88) but you can see that I was super inspired by the choreography. At the time, I felt really confident with my skills in Jazz and Musical Theater, but understood that I needed a lot more work on other styles including Hip-Hop. There is something about WilldaBEAST’s style of sharp footwork and hard hits blended with moments of smooth swag that I truly love. Anyways, after the class he told me about the audition to try out for his team. I was so excited that I almost peed my pants.

The Audition

I had been a professional dancer for a couple of years before the WilldaBEAST audition. I was used to going to big auditions with hundreds of people and young superstars. Don’t get me wrong. When I show up to these things and see dancers like Leah Roga, Boogie Tinay, Sophia Jahadhmy, Kaycee Rice, Jordyn Jones, Larsen Thompson, Soni Bringas, and so on, I know that I gotta bring it! But the WilldaBEAST audition was a whole new level. The talent level was so deep that even a great dancer could easily drown. WilldaBEAST says that 2400 people auditioned! Here is a video that recaps last year’s audtion https://youtu.be/z1dwkFL0EbY

On June 11^th, WilldaBEAST announced the #lilBEAST team. Kaycee Rice, Lexee Smith, Gabe Deguzman, Larsen Thompson, Jaron Snyder, Josh Price, Taylor Hatala, Nike Tracreee, Tessa Brooks, Sophie Reynoldson, Phoenix “lil mini,” Kennadi Boese, Leah Roga, Kaylyn Selvin, Sean Lew, Kade Pait, Jordyn Jones, Big Will Simmons, Soni Bringas, Sophia Jahadhmy, Zealand Yancy, Boogie Tinay, Sierra Neudeck, Tati McQuay, Talin Silva and….. Sparkles Lund! Here is my blog post about it. http://sparkleslund.com/?p=353

The Journey – We do this just because we can!

July 2014 – lilBEASTS perform at The Pulse in Las Vegas for the closing show – win the Choreography Award! Killed it.
August 2014 – immaBEAST DVD released featuring the entire team. Becomes a top selling instructional DVD for hip-hop dancers http://sparkleslund.com/?p=413
October 2014 – worked one-on-one with WilldaBEAST and Janelle Ginestra http://sparkleslund.com/?p=17014
October 2014 – immaBEAST performed at DanceON in Los Angeles at an event featuring the stars of the upcoming movie Beyond The Lights. – Here is our video https://youtu.be/qYre6y7NJKs
November 2014 – on set for the filming of a video to Touchin, Lovin for Trey Songz featuring Nicki Minaj – http://sparkleslund.com/?p=17033
November 2014 – lilBEASTS do a video for @Ciara “That’s Right” https://youtu.be/ruAshPdTdrM
December 2014 – I book a job to dance in the season finale of Dancing with the Stars with fellow immaBEAST dancers Trinity Inay, Soni Bringas, and Jordyn Jones, https://youtu.be/IuYmnhr8hEA

#immaBEAST crew selected for Dancing with the Stars

January 2015 – WilldaBEAST Adams YouTube channel hits 100 Million views https://youtu.be/CTFYr3O-yZw
February 2015 – WilldaBEAST teaches us how special any of us can be by highlighting a dancer who overcomes a disability and still can kill it on the dance floor! https://youtu.be/T6br7p6iOHc
February 2015 – immaBEAST team films a heartfelt tribute to our friend Klye Hanagami who is fighting Leukemia https://youtu.be/I6kH7qYJ8_E
March 2015 – WilldaBEAST launches the team website at http://www.immabeast.co –
March 2015 – immaBEAST performs at the Anniversary show for Carnival in Los Angeles – https://youtu.be/bLg_vMid18M

The Journey Continues

Being on immaBEAST is a blessing. Will is one of the most humble, hard working, generous, and genuine people I have ever met. He surrounds himself with people that are not only talented, but have big hearts. The team is really a family of people who help each other and I have made friendships that I expect to span a lifetime.

No matter where I go – a convention, a competition, an audition, or even a class in LA, I am bound to run into another member of the immaBEAST family.

Join Us!

I hope that you can make it to the #buildaBEAST event. Again, be sure to get your tickets right away. It will sell out fast.

Mar 23 2015

1

LADM Michael Dameski and Sparkles Lund

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance | No Comments

Last weekend, I traveled to L.A. once again for LADM, or LA Dance Magic for those who have never heard of it. I went with some people from my studio who also won scholarships last year, and I also saw a lot of my friends from other conventions. I performed my musical theatre solo, Diamonds – but it was for exhibition only. Juliana Juju Keller, Taylor Costa, and I also performed our trio and were awarded a platinum. The judges give us great critiques of things we need to work on.

As always – @austindoodle on instagram stole the show. I think every person there took a turn at petting him!

LADM is ran by Jackie Sleight, who choreographed the Otis Parson’s School of Design fashion show that I participated in last year, and will be participating in again this year. I loved the experience, and can’t wait to do it again! If you want to look at the story I wrote last year about it, here is the link http://sparkleslund.com/?p=333. Anyways, back to LADM.

The faculty includes amazing choreographers like DJ Guthrie, Christian Vincent, Albert Cattafi, Eddie Moody, Will Thomas, and Ayodele Casel. This LADM was especially amazing because Michael Dameski, winner of So You Think You Can Dance: Australia, was guest teaching with Will Thomas. Will was also on So You Think You Can Dance, so together, they taught a class called, “We Know You Can Dance” which I thought was pretty clever. I met Michael last summer at Dancer Palooza during Mandy Moore’s class and was amazed my his phenomenal dancing. Hence, I was so excited to find out I was going to get to take class from him instead of with him. He additionally performed a solo at the closing show that blew my mind.

The scholarship audition was on Sunday morning. I felt good about my performance, and apparently, the judges did too! I ended up winning a scholarship! Looking forward to attending a lot of LADMs next year.

Here is a video of Michael Dameski – I am a fan, for sure!

Feb 14 2015

0

Happy Valentines Day

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, Vlogs, Work | No Comments

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to do this collaboration video with one of my friends, #lilBEAST team members, and favorite dancers, Ms. Taylor Hatala. Choreography for the video was none other than #immaBEAST team member Antoine Troupe. Of course, the video was produced and directed by my friend and life coach, @directorBrazil. The concept was focused around a Valentines Day release using the hit Meghan Trainor song, Dear Future Husband.

I hope you like it.

Press Release

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 13, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Valentine’s Day is not a romantic Hallmark card for 11-year-old Taylor Hatala and 12-year-old Sparkles Lund. Too young to date and too soon to have found love, these two young professional dancers worked with renowned freestyle and hip-hop choreographer Antoine Troupe to produce a Valentine’s Day video to Meghan Trainor’s song, “Dear Future Husband,” being released February 14 on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER6O55iAPZk).

“When you are our age, boys are just friends,” says Edmonton-born Taylor Hatala. Hatala is commuting to Los Angeles and working part-time as her burgeoning career develops. As testament to Hatala’s talent, her YouTube videos to Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgfF_c6uPaU) and Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pfloxVMJGw), have been seen more than 30 million times, garnering appearances on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and RyanSeacrest.com, among others. Troupe, Hatala and Sparkles Lund became friends dancing on the immaBEAST hip-hop crew, under director Will ‘WilldaBeast’ Adams.

According to Troupe, the concept for the video was born during the filming of the immaBEAST routine for the Choreographers Carnival Anniversary show this past January.

“Although dance is my life,” says Troupe, “I am driven by the impact that dance has on developing healthy, active, and confident kids.” Troupe selected the piece that he claims was ready made for Sparkles and Taylor.

“Meghan Trainor’s work is perfectly kid-style,” says Sparkles Lund, who recently released a video last week to Trainor’s hit “Lips Are Movin” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hA5VLVq7dc). “What girl doesn’t want a future husband that brings flowers, open doors, and wants to be her one and only?” Lund asks.

Sparkles Lund began her professional career in dance at age 10. Her recent work includes a three-city tour for Macy’s Glamorama and an appearance on the finale of ABC-TV’s Dancing With The Stars, performing to “Hard Knock Life” from the new Annie movie.

“Working with superstars like Taylor Hatala and Antoine Troupe is a blessing,” confesses Lund. “It’s so exciting to see Taylor’s career skyrocket, and I am so happy that Antoine was able to work with Prince to choreograph his latest video ‘Breakfast Can Wait.'”

YouTube is fast becoming the path to rapid stardom for many of today’s young performers, circumventing the previous paths that were largely limited through New York and Los Angeles.

Lund, who lives in Arroyo Grande, locate on California’s Central Coast near San Luis Obispo, and Hatala, who lives in Edmonton, Canada, are adopting the strategy started by Willdabeast by creating their own YouTube channels to self-publish their work. Willdabeast is teaching young dancers that YouTube is a place where you can make a mark and punch up your career. His YouTube page has more than 735,000 subscribers and more than 100 million views. Hatala’s YouTube channel is at http://bit.ly/taylorhatala and Sparkles Lund YouTube channel is at https://www.youtube.com/user/sparkleslund.

About the Video
Dancers: Sparkles Lund & Taylor Hatala
Choreography – Antoine Troupe
Director – Brazil Siqueira
Music – Meghan Trainor, “Dear Future Husband”

Feb 01 2015

1

Dancing In Super Bowl Halftime Show

By Alexandra Lund | Auditions, Dance, Friends, Work | No Comments

Gabe, Will, Tricia Miranda, Kaycee, and Charlize

Don’t get me wrong – dancing in Super Bowl XLIX with Katy Perry would be absolutely amazing. The halftime show set list was perfect and included a surprise performance by wrapper Missy Elliott with choreography by Tricia Miranda. Katy is among my favorite artists and the ability to work with her on the biggest stage in the world would be beyond my dreams. The good news is that I had a shot at an audition video. Better news is that four kids I dance with on team #lilBEAST with Willdabeast Adams booked the job!

Today’s Super Bowl half time show featured Kaycee Rice, Gabe de Guzman, Will Simmons, and Charlize Glass! I feel so blessed to be able to work and dance with so many talented kids! My friend and fellow #lilBEAST, Soni Bringas was on TV last night staring in the the primer of Lifetime’s new show, Beautiful and Twisted opposite Rob Lowe, Pez Vega (Spanglish), and Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown, Sex in the City). #lilBEAST Nation taking over!

I was not able to go to the audition for Katy Perry. At the time, the audition call did not mention Missy (Surprise Guest!) I had already committed to travel to Pittsburgh to work with Liz Imperio and the Hollywood Vibe team. It was my first time representing Hollywood Vibe and it would not have made a very good first impression if I bailed on them. But turning lemons into lemonade, I was able record and send in a video audition. My agent, Shayna Brouillard of Clear Talent Group told me it would be a long shot, and she was right. I did not book the job or get a call back. But I still had fun shooting the video!

I was so excited to see my friends during the Super Bowl halftime show. They killed it. (Trivia – XLIX is the number 49. Next year, in MMXV or 2015 the letter for the Superbowl will be L).

In other news – my YouTube channel went over 200,000 views this week and my subscribers hit 700. Still a long way to go to hit my goals, but hey – a girl has to celebrate milestones. Right? Here is the audition video I sent in.

Jan 21 2015

0

Wood For Christmas

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, Stuff I Like | No Comments

A piece of wood? You wrapped up a piece of wood as a Christmas present and put it under the tree. Really? I don’t get it. Let me back up a bit.

“Ow, my eyes hurt because the sun is way too bright! I can’t see myself in the fireplace glass! I don’t have enough room to jump! The floor is too sticky! Its so hot! Ugh, I can’t play my music because my parents are working.” That was my life as a dancer trying to train at home.

“Merry Christmas!” exclaimed my parents. “You are getting a dance floor!”

These are all reasons I needed to change my “practice at home” environment. So, we started thinking about the ideal practice area. It would have sprung, marley floors, enough space to do my solos, mirrors, a place to store all of my stretching devices (don’t know what else to call them), and of course, a place where I could play music as loud as I wanted. After all this brainstorming, we started investigating different brands, costs, and types of floors. Luckily, thanks to our friend Dean Clark, we found an instant solution. He found a used floor that was perfect for us, and even helped my dad install it! Now, all of the mirrors are in, the marley is down, and the walls are painted a sleek black color.

Now that the dance floor is done, I practice my solos and stretch on a daily basis. Its also great because I can dance like nobody’s watching (because they aren’t lol). My favorite part about the new floor is the fact that whenever I want to try a new move that I haven’t done before, I can experiment with new things, and even try a little bit of choreographing for myself.

The floor has only been in for a week, and I gotta say, I love it. I think I need to thank Mr. D a second time in this post because I can’t thank him enough. Of course, I also need to thank my parents. I can’t thank them enough either. Not only for the floor, but for all of the other things they do. I am really fortunate to have all of these people helping me out. Thank You Thank You Thank you. I promise to work really hard to show you how much I appreciate everything.

Dec 08 2014

0

Discount Dance Supply Saves the Day

By Alexandra Lund | 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.

Nov 24 2014

0

Sparkles Lund Radio Publicity Tour For DWTS

By Alexandra Lund | 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.

Nov 22 2014

0

ASH Dance Tour In Santa Clara

By Alexandra Lund | 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

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.

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

Nov 04 2014

0

WilldaBEAST Launches Trey Songz Video

By Alexandra Lund | 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

Oct 31 2014

0

A Blog Post About a Blog Post

By Alexandra Lund | 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!

I 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 Alexandra Lund | 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.

Oct 15 2014

0

Divina Photo Shoot 2015

By Alexandra Lund | 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!

Aug 18 2014

0

immaBEAST DVD

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, Friends | One Comment

Willdabeast

A few weeks ago, WilldaBeast (Will Adams) invited all of the lilBEASTS (including me) to come film Year 2 of his immaBEAST instructional DVD. For those of you who have no idea what any of this means, I joined a hip hop crew called lilBEASTS recently, click here to learn more about it, but if you’re only confused about the DVD part, I will fill you in now!

Instructional DVD’s can be used for anything from “How to Knit” to “How to Dance” which in my case is the purpose. In this instructional DVD, Willdabeast teaches a ton of his dances that he originally taught in class. I think its really great because if you live far away, but you want to take a class from WilldaBeast, you can! He offers it to hip hop dancers and aspiring hip hop dancers around the globe to have the chance to take class from him even if you don’t live in Los Angeles where he lives and teaches. His video from last year just hit 30 Million views – so you can understand the quality I am talking about.

The way that lilBEASTS is involved is we assist him for one of the dances, to the song, “Get Me Bodied” by Beyónce. It was really fun, because most of us (including myself) didn’t know the dance yet, so it was like a private class just for us! The choreography was a little bit challenging, but I picked it up quickly. The dance was hip hop, but it was a little bit sassy too. I mean, come on, you can’t not be sassy when you’re dancing to Beyónce! Man, I love that girl. Anyway back to the point, we spent about an hour filming, and then we were finished! That was the end of yet again, another amazing day with all the lilBEASTS and WilldaBeast.

I hope you enjoyed learning about when I filmed an instructional DVD with WilldaBeast! If you would like to pre-order the video you can click here! It will help raise money for WilldaBeast and all of his amazing dance efforts! Tell me what you think of the video after you buy it!

Here is the Trailer

Aug 09 2014

1

Chonique Sneed Releases New Single LET IT GO

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, Friends, Stuff I Like | No Comments

If you are reading my blog, you are probably a dancer, and you probably know Chonique Sneed. She is one of my favorite teachers and choreographers. She was born in Hollywood and started dancing at the age of 8 – which is about the time that I started to take dancing seriously. She is an adult now, and tours the nation with Hollywood Connection on the faculty. She and choreographer, Lisette Bustamonte, also with Hollywood Connection, mentor a group of teen dancers each year to grow in character and confidence. The program is called Creating Opportunities or, Creating Opps for short. From them I have learned that there is a difference between dancing and being a dancer. Dancers are strong, powerful people who are caring and aspire to be the best they can be in everything they can do.

Chonique has choreographed for artists like Missy Elliot, Christina Milian, Britney Spears, Pink, Jennifer Lopez, V Factory, Diddy and more. She is also on the faculty of Monsters of Hip Hop (hopefully #lilBEASTS will go to that).

Join me in celebrating the release of her hit single – Let It Go! ***caution – there are a few words in the song that are not totally rated G **** but it is not that bad – you may want your parents to listen first.

I tried to embed the code from SoundCloud – but it does not seem to be working (someone please help that reads code). For now – just click this link to Chonique’s song on SoundCloud. Please share! Everyone needs friends giving them a little boost!

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/162289636″ params=”auto_play=true&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]

Jul 28 2014

1

Dance Craziness Pt. 2

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance, Friends | One Comment

When I left off on my last post, I talked about how much fun Hollywood Vibe was. In this post, I will talk about how exciting The Pulse Las Vegas and my first performance with #lilBEASTS was!

Willdabeast

Jordyn Jones

We left for Las Vegas on a hot summer’s Thursday and got there at about 3 ish. It was probably 103 degrees outside. I felt like I was going to pass out. Once we got into our room, we went straight to the pool to find some of my dance friends Jordyn Jones, her brother Skylar, and Sean Lew. We probably swam for about 2 hours and then Jordyn and I decided to go shopping. There was a very large mall across from our hotel, called Miracle Mile because it’s a mile long. We went there for roughly 2 or 3 hours and then had to go to rehearsal for #lilBEASTS.

The next day, I went to the pool again with Jordyn and we stayed for about 2 hours. At 2:00 p.m. that day I had my first day of classes at Camp Pulse. Those ended at 5:30 and then I had an acting class with the one and only Lane Napper. It was so much fun! We did a few improv exercises and practiced saying a little bit about ourselves on the spot.

The following day, I had classes starting at 9:00, and they ended at 2:00. At 3:00, I had another #lilBEASTS rehearsal before our first performance. After that rehearsal, we all felt very prepared to perform.

We were the 10^th number so we all got to watch the dances before us. They were amazing! So amazing, that the time went by really fast because they were so good. The dancers at Pulse are some of the best of the industry. Many of them are professional dancers and they know how to perform for an audience. I enjoyed the show a lot.

I was really excited when it was our turn to perform because this was the first time we performed live as a team. The audience loved us. We even won an award to bring our crew to the Open Call competitions in 2015. Can’t wait to perform more with my fellow #lilbeasts and work more with Will, our director!

If you missed the first post in this series, go back and look at http://sparkleslund.com/2014/07/23/dance-craziness-pt-1/

Jul 23 2014

1

Dance Craziness Pt. 1

By Alexandra Lund | Auditions, Competition, Convention, Dance, Friends | One Comment

Hollywood Vibe

I’m so sorry I haven’t written in a while, I’ve just been really busy with all of the events that I have been participating in for the past few weeks. There’s so many of things going on that I’ve decided to break this into two or maybe even three posts! I am just going with the flow depending on how much of this I get done today. The things I’ll be talking about in these two or three posts are Hollywood Vibe Nationals, The Pulse Las Vegas, #lilBEASTS video, and Macy’s Glamorama. That’s a lot right? I guess I’ll start with Hollywood Vibe Nationals, so that I go in time order.

This crazy week all started on Thursday, June 26, with my first scholarship dance rehearsal. We learned this dance over a video sent to us in an email. Unfortunately, my video wouldn’t play, so it was very stressful for me once I got to rehearsal. I had to learn every single piece of the choreography on the spot that day.

The next day was our first day of classes, taught by Hollywood Vibe’s superstar faculty. We learned all styles in these classes for four days. Also, during those three days I had competition. After the first day of classes, I performed my trio entitled Whipped Into Shape and my solo, Bees Knees, which was competing for Dancer of the Year. After the second day of classes, I had all of my small groups with the rest of the juniors. We were lucky enough to win 1^st Place in the lyrical category and Best Costume with our gorgeous lyrical dance, Tears of an Angel. After the third day of classes, I had both of my large groups, Feels Good and MJ Tribute. Both got Platinum but didn’t place. After the fourth day of classes, it was finally time to for the Final Night Gala. This was where the National Dancer of the Year for each age group was announced and I got to perform the scholarship dance and the Dancer of the Year finalist piece that we had been working on for the past week choreographed by Liz Imperio. Both of the dances felt great and then it was time to announce Dancer of the Year, and Vibe Company, which means you get to assist the teachers and perform with the faculty. They started with Vibe Company, and I got it! So did my good friends Juju, Trevor, Tyler W., and Jordan. We were all super excited but we were eager to find out who won Dancer of the Year. They started announcing the juniors, it was no one I knew. Then they moved on to intermediate. Unfortunately, I did not win but that’s okay I’ll just keep trying and maybe I’ll get it next year! They moved onto the teens I did not know the female winner, but Trevor won for male! Everyone was so excited that they didn’t even pay attention to anything that happened after that.

I had a bunch of fun at Hollywood Vibe and can’t wait for next year!

In the middle of Hollywood Vibe, I had to drive to Los Angeles for #lilBEASTS rehearsal. Which leads to the next post…….The Pulse Las Vegas and #lilBEASTS Showcase Performance.

Here is Part 2 of the series http://sparkleslund.com/2014/07/28/dance-craziness-pt-2/

Jun 24 2014

1

Video Interview with Mocha

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance, Friends, Vlogs | No Comments

In this video I introduce one of my best friends, Mocha. We have known each other since preschool (like 3 years old) and our families are friends too.

It’s a girls’ world in this video – clothes (Outfits of the Day), nails (how to glitter your French Gels), and of course – a bit about dance. Mocha and I have also danced together forever. We are about to go to Nationals for dance – lots of rehearsals and lots of nervous excitement! Both of us are up for Dancer of the Year! Wish us luck.

Be sure to watch to end to get convention tips that you may not already know.

There is a cameo from Austin – dog extraordinaire. Follow him on Instagram at TheAustinBubbles_ – he only has 28 followers – so help a doggie out!

If you want to see my first ever vLog, check out this post

http://sparkleslund.com/2014/06/24/vlog-1/

Jun 24 2014

0

Video Interview with Juju

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, Friends, Uncategorized | One Comment

If you don’t know what a vlog is, it is a video blog. To switch it up a little bit, I decided to do a vlog instead of a regular blog post. Hope you enjoy!

In this video I introduce one of my best friends, Juju. We have known each other since I started competition dancing at age 9, and our families are friends too. She is also a professional dancer and books a lot of work (#proudfriend, #loveher!). Follow her on instagram at http://instagram.com/jjjjjuju (5 js).

In this vlog, we talk about favorite movies – outfit of the day – and a story about the scariest thing that happened (think HOUSE ON FIRE). Not to spoil the ending, but it is not what you think and it is really funny.

Note to remember – Stay Calm……..sometimes your breath can go a long way to save the day.

Jun 11 2014

0

#lilbeast AUDITION 2014

By Alexandra Lund | Auditions, Dance | 3 Comments

Two Sunday’s ago, I auditioned for the popular hip-hop crew owned by Willdabeast, lilBEAST. There is also another crew for ages 14 and over owned by the same person called immaBEAST. For those of you who don’t know what a hip-hop crew is, it is a type of dance team that specializes in hip-hop. These dance teams called crews perform at many events including World of Dance and Carnival, two very big dance shows. Today, I will be telling you all about my experience auditioning for lilBEAST.

At 1:00 on June 1^st, I went to LA to audition for lilBEAST. The line was wrapped around the whole building so I was very worried that it was going to be very hard to be noticed, but once we got inside of the room it wasn’t too bad. We started learning the choreography and I understood it right away. I was pretty proud of myself because usually it takes me a while to pick up the choreography. After we learned a lot, we split up into groups and the judges chose who they wanted to move onto the next round. I, luckily, was one of those people! I was so excited!

After that round, I had to wait a while because they had the boys go first, and then I went. I killed the choreography, meaning I didn’t forget any of it and I went super full out. To make things even better, I made it through that round too! After that part, a bunch got to freestyle if they wanted too, and that was very fun because of all the different styles that people did. This was pretty much the end of the audition, except that we did the combination a few more times but it wasn’t judged.

Once it was really over, my mom and I thought we should thank Willdabeast for inviting me to audition and being so kind to me, so we did. We had a nice long chat and then he quietly told me that I made it but it’s still a secret. After that, I thought I was going to pass out I was so excited! At that moment, I knew that I have officially “made it” in the dance industry.

Apr 21 2014

1

Hollywood Vibe Feels Good

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance | No Comments

In The Pocket

In any sport or activity, you hear people talk about being in the zone. When music and rhythm is involved: dancers, singers, or musicians are in the pocket rather than in the zone. Being in the pocket means staying on your rhythm and…. I’m sorry, it just doesn’t make sense if you have not had that feeling for yourself. Last weekend, at Hollywood Vibe Dance Convention I stayed in that pocket for the whole weekend.

During the Fall, you audition for your group dances. In a month’s time, normally, you will get a packet in the mail that says what dances you were placed in and if a solo is recommended or not. About a week after that, you learn your group dances. I think that is the funnest part of the process because the choreography is fresh in our minds and exciting because it’s new. Here is a list of the groups I am in.

In the beginning of Winter, we have our first regional competition. That is the studio’s chance to test our dances and see how they are judged. From these results and judges’ notes, we can make changes to our dances. This year, our first competition was LA Dance Magic (LADM for short). All of our dances got Platinum, the highest award you can get, but there was still room for improvement, because you can always become better. On a personal level, I won the Magic Performer award which means I was the top Junior dancer of that regional competition. All of our dances qualified for their national finals and I qualified to compete for Magic Performer of the Year.

After LADM, we came back to the studio to work on improving our dances. This was in preparation for Hollywood Vibe regionals. After months of hard work, we showed up at Hollywood Vibe with all of our dances in great shape. It was a special weekend for all of us. It was especially fun because we had our mini and junior rookie teams at the competition and they did fabulous! All of our dances were solid, highlighted by my junior lyrical piece, Tears of an Angel, choreographed by Keara Blake. It won 1^st place Platinum as well as overall high score and it was awarded the Outstanding Choreography award. Go Ms. Keara! It was exciting to see the entire studio do so well, it felt like we won everything! I was honored with the Regional Dancer of the Year Award and I was very thankful because I worked very hard to achieve it. If you do not know dance, here is a reference – The current Junior Hollywood Vibe Dancer of the Year is Brooke Kosinski – principle dancer at Abby Lee Dance Company and one of the stars of the show Dance Moms.

Much in the same way that a dancer has to stay in the pocket to perform well, the team has to stay in the pocket for the entire year. That means lots of hard work in the studio, but it also means showing up at competition ready to dance. So far, our season has been great. We have a few more months of work to do in the studio to prepare for nationals. If we practice real hard, it will be more likely that we succeed.

I would just like to say thank you to all of my teachers, choreographers, my parents, the rest of my family, and of course, my wittle puppy dog, Austin.

Apr 07 2014

0

Mr. Marco is Back! Pt 2

By Alexandra Lund | Auditions, Dance, Friends | 2 Comments

We left off where from my first post – Mr. Marco is Back Pt 1 Mr. Marco picked me to be in the opening number for a Michael Jackson tribute show. Remember that? Well, that same night, Ms. J informed us that our first rehearsals would start on April 1^st and April 2^nd. I was super pumped and hungry for learning new material.

At our first rehearsal, we mainly focused on learning all of the sections and blocking. For non-performers, that means putting everyone in spots. I really liked all the different part because not one was similar to the one before. We got really close to being finished in that rehearsal, so we didn’t have much to do the next day but run it and clean. By the end of the day, I felt that it was definitely a time well spent working on it and making it as close to flawless as possible. You know what they say, practice makes perfect!

If you enjoyed reading this, please subscribe to my blog if you aren’t already and if you already are thanks for being great fans!

Apr 07 2014

0

Mr. Marco is Back! Pt 1

By Alexandra Lund | Auditions, Dance, Friends, Uncategorized | One Comment

Those of you who know who Marco Cruz is (mostly my dance friends) know that he has been gone from DPAC for a while teaching at KAR, a popular convention/competition. I have missed him a lot because he was one of my favorite teachers at DPAC! Fortunately though, he recently visited us twice and that is what I will be telling you about today.

Mr. Marco choreographed my first ever solo, Whatcha Want. I won every competition with that solo so you could see why I love him. I also enjoy his amazing teaching styles and challenging combos.

Last week, Ms J. told us that there was going to be an audition for the opening number that we are performing at a Michael Jackson Tribute show in LA. Afterward, she told us that Mr. Marco was choreographing it. I was upper excited but I also knew that I needed to bring my A Game because he’s very tough. The audition started on Thursday during the two hours when it’s usually Hip Hop 2-3 and Hip Hop 4-5. Marco walked in with his trusty assistant, Taylor and they started the combo right away. I had visited Marco a few weeks before that so I already knew the beginning of the piece but he also added many other things so I don’t think I had much of an advantage at all. After we did the dance he split us up into four groups. We ran the combo a few times in those groups and then he started putting us into different groups based on what he thought would look good together. He did this for a while, taking people out and putting people in. Finally, after he did this for about 20 minutes, he started picking the people that were going to be in the actual piece. He started with choosing the older girls. Then he got to the younger ones like me. He called out about five people and then he paused. I was a little bit upset because I thought he was done and I didn’t get picked, but right after that he turned to me and said, “You’re in.” I was super excited because it was very unexpected!

Click here to see the second post in this sears – Mr. Marco is Back Part 2

To be continued…

Mar 30 2014

1

SOL Dance Convention

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance, Friends | No Comments

Last weekend, I went to SOL Dance Convention. It was very fun and very easy to get to because it was in Santa Maria which locals know is roughly 25 minutes away from where I live! The studio had a great weekend and I will tell you all about it below!

It all started on Friday, the 21st. Unlike most convention/competitions, all of the competition dances(that means solos, duo/trios, and group dances) were on the same day! And on top of that, the awards weren’t until 6:00 p. m. on Sunday! My first dance was my solo, Krazy n’ a Box. After that, it was my trio, and then all of my group dances which I don’t remember the order of. That night my best friend Camille a.k.a Mocha slept over at my house. We planned out our outfits for the next day as well as what we were going to do with our hair and what accessories we were going to put in it. On Saturday morning, we got up, showered, got dressed, ate breakfast, and then left for our first day of convention classes. Unfortunately, on our way there, the GPS on my dad’s phone wasn’t working so we got there a little bit late. My dad was extremely angry with Siri.

Our first class of the day was Bollywood with Jesus (pronounced hay seuss). For those who don’t know what that is, it is a dance style that originated from the movie Bollywood which was filmed in Mumbai, India. Our second class was Salsa with Jonathan, it was fun to have this because it is not a common convention class. After that was one of my favorite classes, Music Video. It was the kind of dance that you would usually see in a music video, so, it is not that hard but extremely fun! Those were all of our classes for the first day which was really unusual because at most convention/competitions there is an average of 6 classes per day.

On Sunday we started a little bit earlier than Saturday, but I’m not sure why. We had the same classes but instead of Music Video as our last class we had Character with Suzy. For those who know what musical theatre is, it’s like that. It is a dance that tells a story and the song is normally from a Broadway musical. The dance we did with her was from the musical West Side Story. After that class, we learned our audition dance. I liked most of the dance and the song, although the dance could have been a little less weird. There was a lot of strange hand movements and some weird floor work. We rolled around on the ground for most of the dance. Now that I think about it, I really only liked the song. We had roughly 20 minutes to practice the dance and then we started auditioning. I was in the first group, but I wasn’t my choice they just picked random people. We did the dance once, then switched lines and did it again. I didn’t feel very good about it because the judges were only watching one girl and it was not myself.

About an hour after that, it was time for the awards. They started with announcing the awards for the competition on Friday. All of the dances I was in got first place except for my solo. I was really proud of my team members but I was a little bit upset that my solo didn’t place. I got over it quickly though. Then it was time for the scholarships, they started with partial scholarships, then went on to full scholarships and finally they announced the STAR Performer of the Weekend, it was awarded to one of my dear friends, Carina Avila! I was so proud of her, and surprisingly didn’t feel bad at all! I felt great about the whole weekend and was also tired as heck by the end of it. Although, whenever I feel that way I know that I kicked some serious booty.

Mar 12 2014

0

Auditions!

By Alexandra Lund | Auditions, Dance, Friends | 6 Comments

Last week I had an audition for the girl group Fifth Harmony, but I’m not allowed to say what project it was for. I didn’t feel the best about it, but yesterday I found out that I made it t0 the callback!I went to that today and that’s the story I am about to tell.

This morning, we left at exactly 11:40 A. M. for Hollywood. It was a very stressful and long drive due to traffic. I hate traffic. We got there right on time for sign in. After that, they told us what group we were in. I was in group 4. It took about 30 minutes for my group which was a long time in my opinion. But after I went I felt great! I didn’t mess up once and the judges were looking at me a lot. I made it through that round, but then they put us in different groups and I got cut. They said that they would have kept me but they wanted taller girls. It was not a very good day to be short.

Even if I didn’t get picked, it was still a fun experience and I got to see a lot of my friends.

Mar 05 2014

1

2 Celebs in one Week

By Alexandra Lund | Convention, Dance, Friends | No Comments

If you are one of my many active Instagram followers, then you already know that in the past week I have met Zendaya and Vanessa Hudgens! But I thought I would reiterate for those who aren’t. Both of these people are inspirations for me because they both are triple threats and that’s what I aspire to be.

Zendaya

I met Zendaya at Camp Pulse (which I won two scholarships at but that’s for another time). The emcee announced that, “Camp Pulse has a special surprise for all of us!” and she walked in with Rosero, a part of the Camp Pulse faculty. I was extremely thrilled to meet her because I am a big fan of the show Shake it Up that she starred in and she is an amazing dancer!

I met Vanessa Hudgens at a nail salon in North Hollywood called Modern Pamper. I had just finished a long day of auditions with my friend Juju and we wanted to do something relaxing and fun so we went to get our nails done! We spent most of the car ride deciding what design to get because we heard that you could get any nail art you wanted. That being so, we had to choose something exciting. We decided on a blue color with zig-zags.

Anyway, back to the point. We were starting to get our nails done and Vanessa Hudgens just walked in and started hanging out in the nail salon! It sounded like she came to meet her sister because she was with another girl that looked almost exactly like her. After we were done, we asked her if we could have a picture with her. She was very friendly and kindly said yes. It was a great experience meeting her because I have always been a huge High School Musical fan for what feels like forever. Thanks for reading:)

Feb 24 2014

1

Hollywood Connection 2014

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance, Friends | One Comment

The night before going to Hollywood Connection I was very nervous and I had a hard time getting to sleep. In 2012 I was selected as their Icon Dancer of the Year and I assisted the teachers at a number of conventions last year. Hollywood Connection was my first competition in 2011, the first time I did a solo in 2012, and so many other firsts for me as a dancer. Bill Bohl also gave me my start as a professional dancer by representing me through Movement Talent Agency. Moreover, the teachers at Hollywood Connection have helped me grow as a dancer – Brooklyn Jai, Chonique Sneed, Jason Kalish, Lindsley Allen, Mitchel Federan, Robert Schultz, and Bonnie Story. I love them all and I feel so much support from them. They teach a lot more than dance.

This year I moved up in age groups to Guest Stars – Teens age 11 to 13. It is like starting all over again. In Irvine, CA you compete against many of the best dancers in the Los Angles area from the top studios and there are lots of professional dancers. INTIMIDATING! The 13 year olds are so good.

DPAC decided only to bring solos to this competition and convention. I have three solos this year – Jazz, Hip Hop, and Contemporary. I decided to perform Krazy n’ a Box, my Hip Hop solo choreographed by Brooklyn Jai, and Cosmic Love choreographed by Mitchel Federan. This is the first time they have seen me compete with their solos. I did my best. I am so thrilled to have scored Platinum for both dances and second overall in each category. Out of the 103 acts, there were about 10 platinums (DPAC got 4) and my friend Danielle Esposito got the only Titanium. Her choreographer is Jill Clark who also choreographed my jazz dance, Bees Knees (think Gatsby). At the wrap party, I was awarded Icon runner up for the event and qualified to compete for Icon of the Year – which is their version of National Champion for the 11 to 13 year old age group. I also was invited to participate in a music video directed by Bonnie Story( High School Musical). I was featured in last year’s video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_YDm_TpoW4

I am super happy for all of the DPAC dancers. We all faced super tough competition but we took the top dancer award in Open and Contemporary for my age group. That was pretty exciting. So happy for Allie Gilson who crushed the Open category and Trevor Quezada who won contemporary.

Last night I performed in a show with Jay Pugh of RUN DMC at the Celebrity Centre on the Church of Scientology campus in LA. They asked me to perform Krazy n’ a Box and a group piece called Tears of an Angel. DPAC brought the house down! It was fun.

So sad that my Grandma Stella and Aunt Shelia (yes, its spelled that way) had to go back home today. I miss them already. Looking forward to Pulse next weekend in Santa Clara! I am entering two solos into the preliminary showcase hoping to get selected to the Showcase. Wish me luck!

I hope you don’t mind the ads. They help me earn money to pay for dance. My dad says I get paid more when you click them. Anything that you can do to get more people to the site would be much appreciated. If you like one of these posts, please share it on Facebook and Twitter to your friends. It helps.

Jan 31 2014

1

LADM Was a Success

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance, Friends, Travel | 3 Comments

As some of you may know, last weekend I went to DPAC’s first competition of the year, LADM! Our whole studio had so much fun and everyone did amazing! Speaking of amazing, how about I tell you the awards that the Junior Company and I received this weekend.

Numb(small group) – 1st Place Platinum

Proud Mary(small group) – 2nd Place Platinum

Tears of an Angel(small group) – 1st Place Platinum and 1st Overall High Score

Rags or Riches(small group) – 1st Place Platinum

Whipped Into Shape(trio) – 1st Place Platinum

Feels Good(production) – 2nd Place Platinum

Krazi n’ a Box(solo) – 2nd Place Platinum

Bee’s Knees(solo) – 1st Place Platinum

It was really exciting to get all of these awards, but my favorite part of it was the rush that it gave me. It’s like that for me at every convention/competition. In my opinion, it’s not about the award itself, its about how you earned the award, and how hard you worked to achieve the goal.

Another thing that at LADM is we were competing against another local studio that we have had a rivalry with for years. We tried to keep things friendly, and it stayed like that for the most part but there were still some people who shook things up a little. Ummm, that’s all I’m gonna say about that. Thanks for reading!!! <3

Jan 20 2014

1

2014 Dance Numbers

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance, Friends | One Comment

This year in dance I have been working on 4 small groups, 1 large group production, 1 trio and three solos. Our first competition of the year is coming up this weekend in Santa Clara. The title of the competition is LADM (LA Dance Magic). It is not only a competition but also a convention which means that we get to learn from their fabulous faculty and assistants.

Small Group #1: Numb,

choreographed by Katie Scofield, style: contemporary, dancers: Maya Spriggs, Larkin Paddock, Mariah Urbano, Taylor Costa, Camille Cattaneo, Claire Grzincic, Trinity Terassas, and me

Small Group #2: Proud Mary,

choreographed by Tahirih Ellison, style: jazz, dancers: Juliana Keller, Trinity Terassas, Camille Cattaneo, Taylor Costa, Larkin Paddock, and me

Small Group #3: Tears of an Angel,

choreographed by Keara Blake, style: lyrical, dancers: Ashlie Andrade, Anna Devereaux, Trinity Terassas, Camille Cattaneo, Juliana Keller, Taylor Costa, Maya Spriggs, and me

Small Group #4: Rags or Riches,

choreographed by Jillian Clark and Jordan Neil, style: hip-hop, dancers: Mariah Urbano, Sidney Domingues, Trinity Terassas, Levi Spriggs, Camille Cattaneo, and me

Large Group Production: Feels Good,

choreographed by Re’Sean Pates, Dylan Tarrant, Jillian Clark, style: hip-hop, dancers: too many to count

Trio: Whipped Into Shape,

choreographed by Keara Blake, style: musical theatre, dancers: Camille Cattaneo, Juliana Keller, and me

Solo #1: Krazi n’ a Box, choreographed by Brooklyn Jai, style: hip-hop

Solo #2: Bees’ Knees, choreographed by Jillian Clark, style: jazz

Solo #3: Cosmic Love, choreographed by Mitchel Federan, style: contemporary

All of these dances I love for different reasons. For example, Tears of an Angel I like because of the technique in it, and Numb I like because of its unique style. I hope you enjoyed me telling you about all of the dances that I am in this year!!!

If you want to see when and where DPAC will be performing – look on my calendar page here.

Dec 04 2013

1

Pee Good News

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance, Friends | 4 Comments

Have you ever heard such good news that you feel like you’re going to pee? Today I’m going to tell you about my encounter with those situations. Usually, this happens to me when I book an audition or win an award. It gives me a rush where I just feel like I could do anything. It also motivates me to keep trying my hardest. Another time when this happens a lot is when I eat lots of sugar. I get super excited and start jumping up and down (then I get the pee feeling). So, I guess for me the things that give me this emotion are things that make go, “Weeeeeeeee!!!” I was going to talk about the opposite of pee moments but I don’t want to ruin your guys’ day. I’ve never tried to hold on to a “weee” moment, but I think that if I were to attempt it, I would try to embrace the good news and take the best out of it.

What I’ve realized as a dancer, is that after a lot of “weee” moments, you start to get used to it. For example, after you keep winning competitions over and over again it doesn’t feel as special as it did when you won that first competition.

I really hope that I can stay as motivated as I am right now to keep dancing and pursuing my goals. As one of my dance teachers always says, “Dream a dream, set your plan, do the work.” I think these are very good words to live by.

I know this was sort of a short blog post but I think its meaningful and explains a lot about me. Thanks for reading!

p.s. Keep on having those “wee” moments. They don’t always last forever.

Oct 24 2013

0

Camp Pulse Dallas

By Alexandra Lund | Convention, Dance, Friends, Travel | 7 Comments

This weekend I will be traveling to Dallas, Texas for a dance convention called Camp Pulse. I will be spending the weekend with amazing choreographers like Lane Napper, Rosero McCoy, and many more. One of them that I mentioned: Lane, actually starred on the Nickelodeon hit show Victorious playing the role of the school’s guidance counselor. Rosero does all the choreography for the Disney show, Shake It Up!

I will arrive in Dallas today, but the convention starts Friday, October 25(a.k.a. tomorrow) and I will be performing my Jazz solo, Gatsby. After that, I have an acting class with Lane Napper! Sounds cool, right? Then, I have a master class with the amazing Wildabeast. He is one of the leading Hip Hop choreographers in LA. He also has his junior crew called Lil’ Beasts. I would probably be a part of it if I lived in Hollywood.

The following day, I will start the convention classes. Those start at 9:30 and end at nighttime because we have something called the Pajama Jam. It is where we get to dance and play games in our favorite PJ’s. I am wearing furry pajama pants with colorful smiley faces on them and a teal colored shirt.

On Sunday, I do basically the same thing except there is a wrap party at 3:00 where they hand out scholarships to the dancers that they think worked the hardest and deserve it the most (fingers crossed). The truth is, all the dancers are excellent, there are just some that stand out more than others.

I am really looking forward to seeing my dear friends Charlize Glass and Sean Lew. I first met Sean when he danced at my dance studio’s sister studio, Dellos Walnut. I met Charlize at another Pulse and we became fast friends. Well, that’s a preview of my weekend. The captain just announced that we are descending into the Dallas Ft. Worth airport and need to shut down all electronic equipment for landing. Wish me luck. If you want updates throughout the weekend, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter – my handle is sparkleslund on all of them.

Sep 19 2013

1

SOL Dance Convention Santa Maria

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Dance | 2 Comments

The competition team at Dellos Performing Arts Center … DPAC danced at the first SOL Dance Convention last year. Our team travels to Los Angles, Las Vegas, and San Jose to compete, so it is super nice to think that we are going to a competition where we can go home and sleep in our own beds rather than hotel rooms!

Hope you can make it too. The Veterans Hall has a super nice stage. It was kinda sticky which was hard to get used to, but the room was really cool. It was really intimate for solos and small groups. Our Production piece had to be done down on the floor, which actually was amazing. It was fun to have all of the audience and the other dancers cheering so close. This year is sure to be more of the same!

March is turning out to be a pretty busy month. I will be at Pulse in Santa Clara and SOL. Here is the calendar – http://sparkleslund.com/calendar/#action=calp_agenda&calp_item_id=37

Sep 13 2013

1

The New Season

By Alexandra Lund | Competition, Convention, Dance, Travel | No Comments

I am very excited for the new season of dance competition! There are a bunch of new dancers coming in that have made the studio more lively and fun. I am very grateful for the five group dances that I have been chosen for.

Group Dances:

I really wanted to focus on more small group numbers this year to improve that area of my dancing. I think that I have everyone right in each dance, but I am going from memory and we have only rehearsed once, so I could have missed some people or included some people by accident….SORRY! Love ya!

Jr. Small Lyrical – Tears of an Angel
- Choreography by Keara Blake
- Dancers – JuJu, Ashley, Anna, Maya, Mocha, Taylor, and me.
Jr. Small Jazz – Proud Mary
- Choreography by Tahirih Ellison
- Dancers – Larkin, JuJu, Trinity, Mocha, me
Jr. Small Hip Hop – (no name yet)
- Choreography by Jillian Clark and Jordan Neil
- Dancers – Sidney, Mocha, Trinity, Mariah, Levi (Jr), and me
Jr. Small Open – Numb
- Choreography by Katie Scofield
- Dancers – Mariah, Mocha, Trinity, Anna, Clair, Larkin, Maya and me.
Hip Hop Production – (no name yet)
- Choreography by Dylan Tarrant, Jillian Clark, and Re’Sean Pates
- Dancers – Everyone.

My first year in competition, I only did group dances. My second year, I did one solo that qualified for national champion; so I had to have another solo for regular competition. Last year, I did the same thing. This year, I have three solos ready to go, and may add a fourth if I can get the three clean enough.

Solos

Jazz – The Bees Knees
- Choreography by Jillian Clark
Hip Hop – Krazi ‘n a Box
- Choreography by Brooklyn Jai
Lyrical – Titanium
- Choreography by Mitchel Federan and Keara Blake (cleaner)
Surprise – TBD if I can master the three above

My parents and I tried to lay out the schedule through February to see what competitons we will be attending. Our studio does three required competitions, two optional competitions and one national finals. To be in the dance company, it is also required that you attend competition rehearsals one weekend every month. As a result, there are only a few more open weekends that I have available for attending other conventions and competitions on my own. I also have the chaos of auditions and jobs to juggle along with school. I am not sure if these dates will all work out, but I have published the schedule that we have planned through February. Click on the Dance Calendar in the top menu bar to see where we will be. I hope to see you somewhere! Until Next time….

Toodaloooooooo!!!!

Sparkles.

Aug 31 2013

0

12013-2014 DPAC Trio Crew

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, Friends | No Comments

Mocha, Juju and I were selected by DPAC to work with a company choreographer for a trio this year! Not sure what style the number is going to be, but I am totally psyched to dance with my girls.

We had a break dancing session together with Joey, he is on the Cal Poly B-Boys team. Afterwards we worked on tumbling – front hand springs, back hand springs, aerials, and some other crazy cray stuff we just goofed around and made up. Mocha’s brother Bear was fierce with his summersaults. We were so sore we spent over an hour in the hot tub.

We are having a three family BBQ tonight with a fire and an outdoor movie. Not sure what we are watching yet. Watch www.instagram.com/sparkleslund or follow www.instagram.com/jjjjjuju

Feb 05 2013

0

Third Place Is Still Winning

By Alexandra Lund | Dance | No Comments

I spent last weekend in Burbank, CA attending the iHollywood Dance competition and convention. Obviously when you go to compete, you always want to do your best. What you learn as an athlete in an individual sport is that you can only do your best, and you will not win every time. Think about the worlds best race car drivers, golfers, gymnasts, and tennis players. Even at the highest level in their sport, it is hard to be the best every time.

We went to LA thinking about Mr. D, who was in an awful car accident. He broke his neck and they were doing emergency surgery to save his life. We had no idea what was going to happen. Just before we started competing, we learned that he was fine and the doctors were successful. Our prayers were answered.

With lifted spirits, I hit the stage for Sparkly Money, then half way through – the music stopped and the lights went out. I did my best to stay in character. After I got off stage, they put me back on, and I had to wait more than a minute before my music started….. very stressful. I did my best once again, and the music and lights went out once again. I received the “Girl on Fire” award and came in first in the category for my age group.

Watcha Need was great. The number placed first in the Jazz category. The score was good enough to place Third Overall for the competition. Here is a video that I put together to share the story of Hollywood Connection in Santa Clara, and iHollywood Dance in Burbank. Hope you enjoy it. Share with friends.

Jan 19 2013

0

Dream Duet

By Alexandra Lund | Dance | No Comments

My friend Mocha Cattaneo stayed over last night. We woke up at 8 this morning and began working on some choreo for a dance. Our dads (both) and my mom helped by filming the dance. We ran it 4 or 5 times from different angles.

Then my dad loaded them onto my computer and Mocha and I picked cuts from the 4 takes into one video. It took over 3 hours to put this together – great learning experience. Now Mocha and I can edit our own videos. We plan on putting together a company called Spocha TV. This is our first production. If you like it – please post to your social media pages so we can get traffic and fans!

Jan 11 2013

1

Hollywood Connection 2013

By Alexandra Lund | Dance | No Comments

OMG, This weekend I am going to my first dance competition of 2013! DPAC is going to Hollywood Connection in Santa Clara (as always) to start off the season. It’s going to be super fun!

Because I am ICON OF THE YEAR, I get to be in the faculty dance with all of the teachers and one of my good friends, Trevor Quezada!

My group dances this year are entitled:

Breakin’ Dishes – Small Group Jazz

Push the Limits –Large Group Contemporary

Parental Warning – Production Hip Hop

Rockin’ Queen – Production Tap

Go Girl – Small Group Hip Hop

My solo is called Whatcha Need.

In Push the Limits, I do some really cool partner work with another one of my friends named Jordan Clark. That beautiful dance was put together by the one and only choreographer, Tahirih Ellison. Rockin’ Queen is a tribute to the classic rock band, Queen. It was choreographed by some of my favorite teachers, Jill and Johnna Clark. I hope I do the best I can this weekend and the many to come. Wish me luck!

Oct 19 2012

0

Tribute to Evelyn Champagne King

By Alexandra Lund | Dance | No Comments

When you are a young dancer who is offered a gig, you say yes! And I am sure glad that I did. Evelyn Champagne King was a great entertainer. I was able to learn about her music with other child entertainers and meet her. It was super fun. Enjoy some Video

Aug 30 2012

0

Backstage at Central Coast Follies

By Alexandra Lund | Dance | No Comments

Central Coast Follies is an Arroyo Grande Tradition. Ladies who love to dance and raise money for charity put on a great show every year. I see them practicing at DPAC (Dellos Performing Arts Center) every Sunday like clockwork. It is great to have them around. Practicing your solo in the studio alone can be pretty creepy.

DPAC is fortunate to be invited to add to their show. It was an honor to dance with them. We had a blast. Here are some of the backstage antics with DPAC studio owner Johnna Clark.

Aug 22 2012

0

Some Of My Sparkley Friends

By Alexandra Lund | Dance | No Comments

DPAC Family

I just wanted you guys to meet some of some of my friends from dance. They are super cool I think you’ll like them…Well here they are.

The first is Camille, we have been best friends since we were three. Whenever I feel sad or lonely she has my back. We are always in the same competition dances so we get to hang out and see each other all the time. When we were little, Camille played this joke on me by telling me that we were “Home Sisters.” She said it meant we were biological sisters that live in different homes and have never met. I don’t know why but I believed her because both of our moms were allergic to cats and we both have blond hair. Anyways I love Camille and I know we will be best friends for life.

Mariah is my bestie too, but I haven’t known her as long. I met her when I joined the competition team, two years ago. There is only one word to explain her A.W.E.S.O.M.E. She is a great hip hopper especially in Marco’s class. She sleeps over at my house all the time so I’ve gotten to know her REALLY well [Did you know she sleep talks?] If you know her at all you know she absolutely loves One Direction, Liam Payne especially. If your reading this I love you Mariah.

Last but not least, this is Estelle. I miss her so much because she just moved to the bay area but she is one of my favorite people on the planet. I admire her a lot. She is an extraordinary dancer, she is so flexible and dances with so much emotion. I luv u.

I have tons of other friends that I care about very much – Peyton, Grace, Tyler, Paige, Nyah, Julianna, Anna D, Kiki, Jenae, Trevor, Jordan, Sidney, Lily, Alyssa, Jayci, Alexa, Alexis, Sara (blondie), Zoe, Miabella, and so many others. I am already embarrassed because I know that I missed someone. It kinda freaks me out that I cannot list everyone I know. Have you ever tried?

Aug 09 2012

1

Hollywood Connection Icon of the Year

By Alexandra Lund | Dance | One Comment

A few weeks ago at Hollywood Connection Nationals I won……. ICON OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hollywood Connection gives out the award based on classes, sportsmanship, passion and your solo. I wasn’t sure but, when Robert Schultz gave me the rainbow afro in the ICON group dance, I thought it was a hint that I was at least getting close to being the winner.

It felt so good when we were at the HC (Hollywood Connection) banquet when they were announcing the winners of ICON and they called my name. Not to mention it really inspired me when I was taking pictures with all the teachers from HC such as; Brandon Henschel, Chonique Sneed, Brooklyn Jai, Brooke Lipton, Lisette Bustamante, Jason Kalish, Katie Miller, Lindsley Allen, last but not least the owners Bill Bohl and Kimberly Lyon.

It was a great experience to win ICON OF THE YEAR… I hope I will do as well next year…
Thank you for reading my blog. ~Sparkles.

Oct 26 2011

0

Red Ribbon Week

By Alexandra Lund | Dance, School | No Comments

Red Ribbon Week serves as a vehicle for communities and individuals to take a stand for the hopes and dreams of our children through a commitment to drug prevention and education and a personal commitment to live drug free lives with the ultimate goal being the creation of drug free America.

That is what the website said about Red Ribbon Week. For me it was a day when I skipped going to my own school and went with DPAC Dancers to perform dances at local public schools.

We went to Grover Beach Elementary first. My dad took me there this morning and watched our first performance.

I did three dances.

The first dance was Jr. Large Hip Hop. We danced to the song Fix Up Look Sharp (video below).

The second dance was Mini Jazz. The dance has a medley of songs, the one I remember is called BubblePop Electric.

The third dance was Mini Tap. We danced to Its A Hard Knock Life (ABDC version) from the Broadway production, Annie.

Then we rolled along to three more schools and performed the dances again. The last school (Shell Beach Elementary) was a bummer because the music was messed up and I had to do Mini Tap with one shoe because I misplaced one.

Dance

Now on its third year, Buildabeast 2017 #babe17 is set up to the the biggest and best hip hop convention on the planet.

Here is a little inside scoop – the theme for Buildabeast this year is School.

Help Teen Beasts Get Dinner At Mastros!

Janelle Ginestra Crushes This Choreo to Marian Hill – Down

About Marian Hill

My Video Dropped yesterday to Bruno Mars 24k! I was inspired by choreo learned this weekend in Vegas at The Pulse On Tour!

24K Magic is the first single on this third album that will be titled “24K Magic.” Mars calls 24k magic “an invitation to the party!” How cool is that? The song hit the top 5 on the first day, which has never happened for any artist in 2016.

Here Is My Dance to Bruno Mars 24k Magic – Hit Play on the Video – sharing is caring!

About Robert Schultz

Small Group #1: Numb,

Small Group #2: Proud Mary,

Small Group #3: Tears of an Angel,

Small Group #4: Rags or Riches,

Large Group Production: Feels Good,

Trio: Whipped Into Shape,

Solo #1: Krazi n’ a Box, choreographed by Brooklyn Jai, style: hip-hop

Solo #2: Bees’ Knees, choreographed by Jillian Clark, style: jazz

Solo #3: Cosmic Love, choreographed by Mitchel Federan, style: contemporary

Instagram

Recent Posts

Categories

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories

Categories

Recent Posts

Meta