Area Dance Teacher Tries to Make It Big: Martha Nichols is in Top 20 on Fox Reality Show
By Charity Apple, Times-News, Burlington, N.C.
Jun. 14–Raleigh has two reasons to celebrate tonight.
At 8 p.m., the Carolina Hurricanes are competing for the Stanley Cup on NBC. And at the same time, 18-year-old Martha Nichols of Raleigh will be participating in the Fox reality show dance-off “So You Think You Can Dance.”"You can watch both,” urged Brooke Roberson, an instructor and choreographer at the Burlington Academy of Dance & Arts and a friend of Nichols. “Just be sure and turn to ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ to see Martha dance and vote, vote, vote.” The reality show works much the same way as “American Idol.” Viewers phone in votes for their favorites. But with this competition, the winner gets $100,000, a new car and a yearlong contract to dance in a Celine Dion show in Las Vegas.
“It’s one of the best gigs you can get as a professional dancer,” Roberson said.
After a nationwide search, Nichols was picked to be one of the top 20 dancers in the competition. It’s an honor that Patty Brothers, owner of Burlington Academy of Dance & Arts, said is much deserved.
“She’s absolutely incredibly talented,” Brothers said. Nichols was a guest teacher, performer and choreographer at the area dance studio. “We were real excited when she made it to the top 20. We’ll be voting for her tonight!” Roberson couldn’t reveal too much about tonight’s show but she did say that Nichols will be paired with “another incredible dancer.” She said she knows most of the dancers that were picked for the competition.
The biggest thing that Roberson is looking forward to is seeing Nichols’ story on TV.
“It’s just such an incredible story,” she said. “Her mom died last year and she was adopted by another family in Raleigh. But her dancing is a tribute to her mom. She does it for her.” Brothers added that Mary Jane Nichols “sacrificed a lot so that her daughter could do what she loved. She was a very big part of her daughter’s life.”"She’s an inspiration to all of us,” Roberson added.
“So You Think You Can Dance” airs at 8 p.m. tonight with a live results show at 9 p.m. Thursday on Fox. Charity Apple can be reached at charity_apple@link.freedom.com or (336) 506-3057
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Copyright (c) 2006, Times-News, Burlington, N.C.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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