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Shine on, Tiny Dancer!!

Posted in A freakin' American hero, Dance, tagged Chelsea Randall, dance, Happy birthday, Luxor, Menopause: The Musical, Savannah Randall on September 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Chelsea Randall, the early days. (Photo courtesy Savannah Randall)

Still wonderful. (Kelsey Simmons photo)

I knew the half-whispered legends, but had never seen real evidence.

At least not until I got up with a headache at 3 AM in the morning and, boom, there it was in the form of a surprise email from her younger sister.

Suddenly, the stories of the early days of Chelsea Randall actually took solid form.

The most talented person I know, captured during her early days as a dance prodigy. Her smile lighting up the world, her love of dance exploding out of a photo from the past.

Before Chelsea became a choreographer, writer, director, editor and a billion other things. Before she became the petite ball o’ fire who lights up the world every day, none more so than in the moments leading up to her 30th birthday Wednesday.

Many in Coupeville will know her as the manager at Christopher’s on Whidbey, a job she handles with great grace under pressure.

A select few will know all that she has accomplished in her life leading up to this day. Her resume, which she rarely discusses, is the stuff of legend.

Springing from a family deeply immersed in the entertainment industry, headed up by grandfather Pitt Herbert, who acted with everyone from Jimmy Stewart to Elvis, Chelsea is born to show biz.

Her mom, Elizabeth Herbert, her dad, Phil Randall, and her lil’ sis, Savannah Randall, all actively involved in theater.

Her parents have spent the summer in Vegas, working nightly on a highly-successful production of “Menopause: The Musical” that’s playing at the Luxor on the Strip.

I could go on and on, detailing Chelsea’s brilliance and talent, but, since she is not fond of self-promotion, let’s leave it at this — she is amazing.

In every way, every day, her light shines across the world and makes it a wonderful place.

I hope her birthday is as awesome as she is.

And the photo? Better than Excedrin.

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Those darn Lippo kids!!

Posted in Baseball, Dance, Happy birthday, tagged Ballet, baseball, CHS Wolves, Happy birthday, Joey Lippo, Skyy Lippo on August 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Skyy and Joey Lippo.

The next wave of Wolf athletic stars are on their way.

In less than two weeks, a new school year will kick off in Coupeville, with CHS being deluged with a fresh crop of ninth graders.

A lot of them will be intent on proving they can build new legends to replace the ones left behind by the stars of yesterday.

One duo that could be at the forefront of the new renaissance are celebrating a joint birthday today, and, in way of getting in good with them BEFORE they hit the big time, we send out our best wishes.

Skyy and Joey Lippo are multi-talented threats, but one field calls each of them the most.

For Joey, who will be trying his hand at tennis this fall, it’s being one of the boys of summer.

He’s a sweet-swingin’, slick-fieldin’ baseball star who has excelled on whatever team he ends up reppin’. Central or North Whidbey, the clothes don’t matter, cause the talent shines through.

This spring, he’ll be in red and black, trying to follow in the footsteps of recent Wolf stars like Ben Etzell and Morgan Payne, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes an immediate impact.

His sister, though, may be the brightest shining star in the family, as she has already scored in one of the toughest fields there is — the art of the dance.

No one is going to call ballet a sport, but everyone should acknowledge that it’s tougher to pull off than 97.4% of what are called sports.

The hours of hard work, sweat and sheer freakin’ pain dancers like Skyy or CHS junior Sylvia Hurlburt put in on the stage is remarkable. And, unlike most athletes, they have to smile through it all.

So, as the Lippo kids prepare for their entrance into the spotlight (with dad Joe live-tweeting the whole way), take a moment to send well wishes their way.

Then, maybe, just maybe, they’ll remember us “little people” when they hit the Big Time.

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Ballet warriors dance till they drop!!

Posted in Dance, tagged Ballet, Nutcracker on December 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Kelsi Lampe (left) and Skyy Lippo. (Joe Lippo photos)

Kelsi Lampe (left) and Skyylynn Lippo. (Joe Lippo photos)

Lippo and Sylvia Hurlburt.

Contributed by Joe Lippo.

There was a war on, between mice and man.

Soldiers brandished their rifles at the vermin that had overrun the mansion, and did their best to follow the orders of their red-coated officers.

The general was actually a giant nutcracker come to life.

An equally life-sized doll pranced through the scene and a wizard cast spells left and right. A bear roughed up the butler, and elves back hand sprung across the forest scene.

The smoke and fog of war obscured the scene at times, and at other times snowflakes drifted down.

It was pure pandemonium, and the audience was absolutely riveted.

Wait, what? Since when are there audiences at a battle?

When it’s the Whidbey Island Dance Theater production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, that’s when.

When North Whidbey, Coupeville and South Whidbey dancers come together to show the Island a little class.

Tonight was the last show out of a demanding two-week, ten-show schedule, but you wouldn’t know it by the high energy level of the dancers.

Unfortunately, not everyone made it through all ten events, but only a very few fell to injury, the understudies filled in without a hitch, and the show most definitely went on.

This was the final show, and a sellout.

The concessions were mobbed and the halls of South Whidbey High School were packed with people there to see the only major ballet production on Whidbey Island.

With over 80 cast members and six choreographers, they all have to plan ahead and make everything mesh, and it has to mesh perfectly 10 times in two weeks.

The audience doesn’t get to see the first two, which are full-speed dress rehearsals.

The choreographers know that this is the last chance to get it right before they go live, and they sound more like hockey coaches than ballet teachers.

“STOP!!” yells one … then she singles out a couple dancers and follows up with a very Herb Brooks-like “AGAIN!!”

In any case, this is ultimately a Coupeville blog, so I know you all can’t wait to hear about the only two Coupeville students to make the cut: CHS sophomore Sylvia Hurlburt and CMS 8th grader Skyylynn Lippo.

Hulburt performed wonderfully as a Cousin and a Rat, adding boundless energy to the crowded and very precise battle scene, while Lippo was also a Cousin and performed in the Flower scene.

Skyylynn also had to step up and replace an injured dancer in the technically grueling Snow Scene, and was up to the task, performing the part in the last three shows.

In the end, everyone involved was exhausted, and all the dancers wanted to do was sleep, and recover from two weeks of Gatorade, tape, carb loading, and Motrin.

Lots and lots of Motrin.

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Lippo, Hurlburt dance into spotlight!!

Posted in Dance on November 8, 2013| 1 Comment »

Sylvia Hurlburt (Holly Craggs photo)

Skyy Lippo (right) performs on stage. (Joe Lippo photo)

Contributed by Joe Lippo

Every year, we step forward into a challenge.

There’s always that big game, or that pivotal match, or a come-from-behind victory. We prepare for this for the entire year.

Now it’s time for the big show outside the diamond, off the field, and on the stage at South Whidbey High School.

It’s time for “The Nutcracker.”

This is when the entire island comes together.

There are open auditions, and many people try their hand (or feet) at different types of dancing, from ballet to classical.

Unlike many other sports on the island, there are cuts. That is to say, if you’re not good enough, you are asked to practice up, get better, and come back next year.

It’s a rough gig.

I mean, how do you tell an eight-year-old she didn’t make it? The truth is that dancers, unlike any other young athlete in this day and age, are prepared for rejection very early in the game.

In other words, dancers are tough.

If you are selected, your challenge is only just beginning.

Even if you DO make the cut, there is a backup, an understudy. If you fail to learn the part, or are injured, there is somebody (literally) waiting in the wings to take your spot.

The show, after all, must go on. And it will go on, with or without you.

Additionally, the show is in December, and auditions are in September. Rehearsal is for the next three months. You might get Sunday off IF you’re doing well.

Dance instructors know that this is THE show.

They are not the touchy-feely people that you are imagining in your heads right now; they are more like drill sergeants.

Your motivation to succeed is that other boy or girl that is just waiting for you to fail.

It does not matter what your part is, from the smallest bumblebee to the stars of the show, such as Drosselmeyer, the Snow Queen, or Clara.

There is a certain amount of soft talk at first as you learn your parts, but as the show draws ever closer, the instructors will lose patience with that step you are missing or that leap that isn’t high enough, or if you can’t lift that ballerina.

And they will lose their patience in a very loud and direct manner in front of everyone.

Especially if you have been here before.

So it is a huge accomplishment when somebody can manage to make the cut on a regular basis.

Like Coupeville’s own ballerina Skyylynn Lippo (CMS 8th grade) and tap dancer Sylvia Hurlburt (CHS Junior), who have earned parts in the big show for the better part of a decade.

They have been facing down the pressure, enduring the grueling three month, six-day-a-week rehearsal schedule, then executing in front of hundreds of people per night in an equally challenging show schedule.

Eight shows in two weeks is the norm, and twice on Saturday. Each show you have one chance to get it right.

Skyy and Sylvia are up to the challenge, and are routinely flawless.

Yes, this is the Coupeville Sports blog, but don’t even try to tell Sylvia and Skyy that dance is not a sport.

They ignore the smaller aches and pains like football players. They dance hurt like hockey players.

In addition, there are 60-second costume changes, something that no other sport does.

If they fall, they get right back up and reserve the tears of pain for after the show. Tears, after all, will streak your makeup, and nobody has time to redo it.

Come find out for yourself in December. Ask Sylvia or Skyy for directions.

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“All the support means so much to me!!”

Posted in Dance, Whidbey's Best on October 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Zoie Tingstad

Things are getting better.

That much is certain as 2004 Coupeville High School grad Zoie Tingstad continues to recover from major surgery in a California hospital.

Tingstad, who has been working as a professional dancer in L.A., has been in the hospital for 10 days, suffering from a pleural effusion (a buildup of fluid between the layers of tissue that line the lungs and chest cavity) and pneumonia. It follows on the heels of an incident in 2006 when she battled a similar illness.

This time, she had thoracoscopic surgery Saturday and chest tubes were put in to drain fluid. She suffered a setback when the tubes were discovered to be clogged, which resulted in one of the odder experiences of her life.

“They realized they had been clogged, so, instead of the tubes being removed, they were unclogged through some massive suction,” Tingstad said. “Weird feeling! Painful…

“Hopefully, I’ll be out soon and hopefully this doesn’t happen again!,” she added. “Every day I hear ‘the chest tubes will come out tomorrow’.”

After recognizing a familiar pain in her chest, Tingstad had gone to her doctor for an x-ray. She was given some “Godzilla-cillin” and pain killers and sent home to rest, only to have the infection get worse later in the week.

Now, as she recovers from the surgery and faces a difficult road back to full recovery, she is extremely grateful for the many people — family, friends and strangers — who have reached out to her or sent prayers and positive thoughts her way.

“Thank you everybody! All the support means so much to me,” Tingstad said. “It’s the silver lining of the whole thing. Your thoughts mean a lot to me and make this whole thing a little easier to go through.

“I am happy to be getting the care I need, am eager to be healthy and am very touched to see so many people care about me,” she said. “I am hoping for the best so I can get back to work and dancing as soon as possible. I am hoping that sooner than later everything will even out and I will have a healthy body and be back on top.”

***You can send a personal message to her at zoie48@hotmail.com***

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