Miss Alison – Applause Studio Managing Director / Dance Instructor / Performance Troupe Coach Miss Alison has been singing, dancing, and acting on stage pretty much constantly since early childhood. Years of watching MGM musicals on TV have taught her to happily spring into action at the words, “Hey! Let’s put on a show!” Combine the musical and theatrical experience with extensive dance training, a diverse business background, and a talent for organization… and the job as managing director of a performing arts studio appears to be a custom fit. In the world of dance, Alison began by studying ballet as a child in Great Falls, Montana, under Virginia and Lisa Zirker. During her teen and young adult years she found outlets for the dancing bug outside of traditional classes in a studio, and then was called back to a serious study of dance at the ripe old age of twenty-eight. After a year of jazz classes at Keller’s Dance Studio in Tacoma, a happy marriage brought her to the Bothell/Mill Creek/Everett area in 1985. Here she has studied tap locally for a total of 4 years under Letha Speros, Nadine Snyder, and Lynn Johntry. She also studied jazz for a total of 15 years under Jennifer Greene, Nadine Snyder, Ray Bussey, Lynn Johntry, and Anthony Manuel. Finally, after studying hip hop for 4 years under Marc Castillo and Anthony Manuel, she decided to pursue a career as a dance instructor. Since 1999, Alison has taught hip hop (and sometimes jazz) for Lynn Johntry (The Studio) in Lake Stevens, Nadine Snyder & Jessica O’Bannion (Sky Valley Dance) in Monroe, Jennifer Greene (Everett Dance Theatre) in Everett, and Robert & Pam Hohner (Express Yourself Studios) in Mill Creek. From December 1998 until the April 2000 performances, Alison served as Choreography Director for her church’s Regional Dance Festival 2000 – “A Time to Dance”, which showcased nearly one thousand teen dancers from Bothell to Bellingham. Since her early teen years, Alison has choreographed dance numbers for countless stage plays, soloists, and performing groups, including Choir of the Sound, under the direction of Bob Metzger. Less noteworthy, but worth mentioning because it was so much fun, was the time she won a Double Tree Plaza Hotel twist contest highlighted on KIRO television’s regularly featured “Larry at Large” segment of the evening news. Thankfully, duties as a dance instructor have often expanded into opportunities to teach singing and musical theater. Life prepared her well for these endeavors! Alison’s father performed often as a vocalist, enjoyed leads in all his high school’s musicals, and could never say no to offers of roles in church and community musical productions. Her mother once had ambitions of becoming a world-renowned classical pianist, but kept on playing the piano in other capacities when life took her in a different direction. Happily, Alison learned a lot about music as a result of piano lessons from mom, listening to YEARS of others’ piano lessons and voice lessons from the next room, and intensive page-turning duties for important choral performances that mom accompanied. Her own piano-playing ambitions were greatly overshadowed by the need to belt out songs in front of anyone who would listen and applaud, usually accompanied on the piano with great enthusiasm by that same proud mother. This love of singing found Alison leading the congregational singing in church at age sixteen, participating in every school and church choral group and talent show that came along, and struggling constantly to learn every camp song and show tune ever written. As a senior in high school, she served as Puyallup High School Concert Choir & Swing Choir’s student director under Pat Havens, and has directed and/or sung with dozens of choral groups since then. Alison is a former Sweet Adeline (co-directing the Puyallup Valley Chapter), a former Infinity Lip Sync Superstar (Oops! That’s not really singing!), and former co-owner of Song & Dance Company, delivering G-rated singing and dancing telegrams. For four years she served as president and manager of Heaven's Sounds, producing and promoting concerts and plays centered around gospel music. As such, she frequently had the pleasure of directing the fabulous Heaven’s Sounds Choir. From 1986 through 1993, Alison managed and performed with female quartet Mill Creek Harmony Connection, and mixed vocal ensemble Party of Eight, arranging many of their numbers. Best of all, when she married her very talented husband Sid, Alison finally found her perfect musical match. Together they have enjoyed nearly nineteen years of performing as a duo - singing all kinds of music on all kinds of stages throughout the Puget Sound area. A major highlight of their years of singing together was the opportunity to sing the Chorale from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Seattle Interfaith Choir in the Seattle Opera House, for the opening of the Seattle Goodwill Games in 1990. Then in 1992 they both traveled to Saint Petersburg, Russia to sing for televised Easter Services in Saint Isaac’s Cathedral with the North Creek Presbyterian Church Choir. Performing as a singer and dancer, Miss Alison enjoyed many additional opportunities to get in touch with her own “inner ham.” With a definite leaning toward musical comedy (Thank you, Carol Burnett!), she has often found herself on stage in a variety of roles in many school, church, and community theatrical productions. More often than not, involvement in these productions included responsibilities of script writing, auditioning & casting, producing, and/or directing. Additionally, Alison has studied commercial acting/modeling with Patti Kalles of Kalles Casting, and Scott Thompson of Thompson Media Talent. (Pursuit of a serious commercial acting career was cut short by the need and desire to care for an ailing mother.) For five wonderful years Alison worked as a professional nanny. At the urgent pleading of the parents, she finally managed to find time to record a CD (home studio produced), entitled “Nanny’s Greatest Hits,” so that moms and dads could learn the words to all the songs their children were singing all day, and regain some status in the eyes of their offspring! In addition to nanny-ing, and the previously mentioned duties of president and manager of Heaven’s Sounds, work experience includes time as a State Farm customer service representative, a Halloween costume salesperson, assisting in the management of a family-owned manufacturing business, and Public Relations/Activity Director for the Bellevue Centre of the exclusive singles video dating service, Great Expectations. Sid and Alison are a Great Expectations Success Couple, and as such have done many radio and television news interviews and commercials. Sid and Alison combined their families when they wed, and together finished raising five terrific children. There are five delightful grandchildren, and hopefully many more to come! If she ever has any spare time again, Alison would like to continue her family history research, and find a publisher for the several children’s books she has written. Since her REAL dream job as a creator/performer for Sesame Street is probably not realistically attainable while living on the west coast, she is grateful for the chance to lead students of all ages to the joy that is to be found in music and dance – through lessons and experiences at Applause Studio. (Alison sends many thanks to all of you who have made this delightful adventure possible.)