By Lori BODNAR, intern

Mountain Avenue elementary students entertained their families, friends and neighbors in a top-rated talent show, “Mountain Avenue’s Got Talent!” in February.  Sixty-five students were showcased in the talent show and performed amazing acts that entertained the audience.The students played instruments, danced, performed magic tricks, sang songs and performed skits. 

Wendy Goldsworthy, Michelle Paxton, Sean Paxton, Jennifer Peñez and Latha Risso were the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) volunteers who organized the talent show.

“Mountain Avenue has a great group of kids that have wonders of talent that need to be recognized so PTA is proud to host this talent show to showcase all of them,” said PTA President Jennifer Peñez.

The talent show opened with fourth-grader George DiMundo on the drums playing “Jump” by hard rock band Van Halen. The song pumped up the audience, leading to a lot of clapping and excitement throughout the program. Another drummer, Jeong-Jae Yoon, played “Sharp Dressed Man” by ZZ Top midway through the show.

Jeong Jae said, “The talent show is a lot of fun!”

Second-grader Laura Lund and her brother, fourth-grader Linus Lund, also performed as a kid band.

“The song ‘Hardest Button to Button’ by the White Stripes is the song we are doing,” said Laura. “I am playing the drums and my brother is playing guitar. We were thinking about entering the talent show and we thought it would be a lot of fun. I am really excited.”

The Lunds’ rock band drum set and guitar riff performance was amazing, complete with blasts of stage fog to wow the crowd. 

Fourth-grade friends Iris Stanescu, Jane Luna, and Lylah Dunlavey sang “Roar” (Katy Perry) combined with dance moves.

“I decided that this year we could show the school who we really are and have a lot of fun,” said Iris.

“We figured out dance moves to the song. We had a lot of fun dancing, singing, and practicing together,” added Jane. “We thought the talent show would be a perfect way to show what we could do. If one person fails, we all fail. If one of us succeeds, we all succeed. We are a team. We practiced and worked together to be our best.”

Second grade friends Kate Walter and Emma McDonald danced to “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” They were dressed “to the nines,” complete with top hat, tails and tap shoes.

“It was a lot of fun being in the talent show and going on the stage,” said Kate. The audience loved their bouncy, joyous performance.

Another dance number that wowed the audience was “Fly” (Avril Lavigne), with second grade friends Suzanna Bodnar and Alisha Singh dancing. The audience breathed in a collective gasp when Suzanna and Alisha took to the stage in lit-up glowing iridescent belly-dance wings and sequined costumes. The pair danced with the large wings that were on telescoping rods taller than they were; then later in the dance they dropped the wings and performed to the rest of the song using colorful rhythmic ribbon wands.

“I love the talent show and I’ve auditioned every year,” said Suzanna. “This is my third time in it. I like to sing and dance.” 

Alisha added, “We made up all of our own dance moves and practiced together to be in sync. It’s really fun to be in the show with friends and perform.” 

Other dances included a colorful and fun number, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Bailynn Bell, Michayla Bell, Allison Curtis, Cora Dziurgot, Harper Goldsworthy, Sienna Kimber-Torres, and Sammy Lee. Siblings Izaan Zaman and Zyan Zaman also performed the dance “Bollywood.” 

Another swinging dance was the “Dancing Cowgirls” by third graders Merribeth Brown and Kara Welch.

An audience favorite was the skit “Kung Fu Fighting” by kindergarteners Nash Dziurgot, Ethan Nakano and Jetson Robbins. A carefully-placed screen and some fancy handiwork made the kindergarteners appear even smaller than they were, as if they were doing all of their awesome “karate moves” in mid-air.

Singers included fourth-graders Brent Fortis and Alex Gharehbagloo singing “Sunflower,” third-graders Lauren Hamlin and Julia Jockin singing “Fight Song,” third-graders Ella Risso and Paige Jensen singing “When I’m Gone,” and Chloe Gerstein singing “Fire on Fire.”  Hudson Chaisson also delighted the audience with his “Hudson the Magnificent Magic Show.”

A flute and violin musical medley, “Flower Waltz,” was performed by fifth graders Claire Buda and Sophia Buda. Piano-playing numbers included Anthony Alexandrian, David Whinston, Cameron Paxton, Willie Rhodes, Pranav Arunachalam, Sevana Gregorian, Miranda Kowalkowski, and Iva Encontro. Fifth graders Bethany Chang and Maya Hakushi ended the evening show with a singing and piano duet.

In order to squeeze in all of the student performers, the acts were limited to a maximum of two minutes in the spotlight.

Pizza and drinks were available for purchase through the sixth-grade fundraising class.

  Lori BODNAR