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Top-Notch Talent: a Talent Show at Hialeah's Goodlet Park on Friday Night Brought Out Some of the City's Best Singers, Dancers and Musical Performers

Posted on: Thursday, 23 March 2006, 06:00 CST

By Rebecca Dellagloria, The Miami Herald

Mar. 23--Bass booms from the speakers as ear-piercing screams rise from the audience and flood the auditorium at Hialeah's Goodlet Park.

Onstage, Amanda Tejuca, Karina Martinez and Kevin Gutierrez are breaking it down to a blend of hip-hop songs, while the backstage area buzzes with nervous energy.

In the 2006 Talent Around Hialeah showcase Friday night, the stakes were high.

Winners in the elementary, middle and high school categories would walk away with trophies and up to hundreds of dollars in U.S. Savings Bonds. One overall winner, culled from the top three finishers in each division, would get a trophy and $500 in bonds.

Not that winning was everything to everyone.

Ninety-eight kids showed up for open auditions the week before. Only five groups in three age categories made the cut.

Kayla San Martin, an 11-year-old singer from Hialeah and last year's first-place finisher in the middle school division, prepares for talent contests as a pro would for a sold-out concert. She takes a few minutes to breathe from her diaphragm and drinks a cup of hot water with honey and lemon before taking the stage.

Kayla earned second place among 9- to 12-year-olds this year for her rendition of Breaking Free from the Disney Channel movie High School Musical.

"You win some, you lose some," she said.

Students from Hialeah's cultural arts program often go on to compete at state and national competitions like Starpower, a national dance and talent competition held in cities around the country throughout the year. One such competitor, 11-year-old Isabel Ferrero, has mastered many forms of dancing -- from jazz and hip-hop to flamenco, ballet and point -- in her afternoons at Goodlet Park.

Her ballroom dance routine impressed audience and judges alike, and earned her top honors in the middle school category and as "Entertainer of the Year."

Isabel already had plans for her new-found fortune: "I'm going to save it for my dance costumes," the Meadowlane Elementary student said.

This year's show boasted more of a range than in years past, with two classical musical performances -- one on piano; another on flute, said Lisangelyk Munoz, 22, who has worked at Goodlet Park for four years. The popularity of belly dancing was evident this year, with more competitors in each division.

A group of high school belly dancers from Mater Academy in Hialeah Gardens took top honors in the category.

More than just a talent competition, the annual showcase is a catalyst for recruiting youngsters to the artsy side of the city's recreation and community services program.

Carmen Cue, supervisor of the city's cultural arts program, said in the more than five years she's been running the program, dozens of show participants have later signed up for dancing, singing, drama and other arts classes. The program offers after-school classes in seven forms of dancing, including ballet, jazz, hip-hop and belly dancing; drama; piano; modeling and photography.

"We give the opportunity to the children of Hialeah to have their five minutes of fame and to showcase their talents," Cue said. "And they get a glimpse of what we do here."

Besides the talent show, park students stage an annual musical and present a spring showcase, while the Goodlet Park Dancers perform yearly at the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition -- and usually take home first place.

"It's the best thing they have in Hialeah," said Juliette Niemyski, whose daughter Julienne is enrolled in four types of dance classes at the park and earned second place in the elementary competition for her belly-dance performance. "They should have something like this in every city."

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Source: The Miami Herald

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