Vaughan dancer takes top prize in CNE Rising Star competition

yorkregion.com
Sept. 11, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

Alexandra Gorya’s summer break ended in spectacular style.

The 11-year-old dancer from Maple outshone five talented young performers to be crowned junior grand champion in the CNE Rising Star Talent Competition.

“I never have done anything that big before,” said Alexandra, who admitted to being a little nervous, but also somewhat confident going into the final round of competition Aug. 31. “It felt very surprising, very exciting, very overwhelming (to win).”

The Rising Star competition is open to a wide array of performers including comedians, singers, dancers and even jugglers.

It hosts two divisions - Junior Rising Star (ages six to 12) and Youth Rising Star (ages 13 to 25) - with more than 150 acts vying to take home prize money.

Notable alumni include So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) Canada judge Blake McGrath (winner 2000), Broadway’s Julius Sermonia (1999 winner), SYTYCD Canada contestant Austin Dilulio (2004 winner) and crooner Matt Dusk (1998 winner).

Alexandra’s mother, Irina, was surprised and elated when her daughter won.

“I almost had a heart attack,” she said. “It was really shocking because there were so many talented people.”

Alexandra has been studying dance for about five years at Evolution Dance Studio.

She performed an acro dance number choreographed by her teacher, Natalie Cultraro, who was at the CNE for each round of the competition.

Alexandra’s strength and ability to execute very difficult moves were likely key factors in her victory, Cultraro said.

“For people who have never seen her perform before, I think it’s surprising to see such a young person able to do so many hard tricks at that age,” she said.

Given the level of talent in the competition, Cultraro said she too was surprised Alexandra managed to capture top spot.

“I thought some of the singers were incredible and had a better shot at winning than she did, but I was so happy when she won.”

Alexandra, a Grade 7 student at Julliard Public School, plans to put her $1,000 in prize money toward the cost of her dance lessons.

“She just lives to dance,” Irina said. “She just wakes up and she’s dancing all the time.”

Cultraro believes Alexandra has exactly what it takes to be successful as a dancer.

“I think she’s going to be a very talented young girl,” Cultraro said. “She is developing many, many challenging skills at such a young age and she just gets it. I think, she has a very incredible future ahead of her in the dance world.”