Interview

=media type="file" key="Alyssa's Interview.m4a"= = = =Alyssa is an elementary school Spanish teacher, but that wasn't necessarily her childhood dream. Who and where she is now is a direct result of a journey which began when she was only six years old in a small performing arts school in upstate New York.=

=Her true passion for the stage began when her mother enrolled her in a two-week performing arts camp. Those two weeks turned into a 20 year journey where Alyssa learned, through injury and redirection, that performance, no matter the venue, truly is her greatest strength.= = = ="I had huge aspirations for, not necessarily being on Broadway, that wasn't my dream. But, every summer from the time I was thirteen up through the summer before my knee went on me, I did the Rockette summer camp, and that was my dream. My dream was to do the Christmas Spectacular and have that be my route in life. I had great kicks, I was tall, and I was never really a very technical dancer but I could perform the shit out of something. That was my strong area. At least, that's what everybody always said to me, that was my strength."=

=A devastating knee injury took Alyssa out of the performing arts game and forced her to recognize her other passions, the Spanish language and culture being one of them. She took the leap and with a combination of soul-searching, travel, and hard work, she found herself on a new stage: the classroom.=

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