Vecchiarino makes it big as member of Celtics Dancers
ETHAN SHOREY
Valley Breeze
July 17, 2012
PAWTUCKET – City native and local dance instructor Jessica Vecchiarino has won a spot on one of the most elite dance teams in the world, the Boston Celtics Dancers.
Just 20 years old, Vecchiarino said she was “super excited” and “really ecstatic” to be selected last week as one of 18 women to make this year’s squad, a chance she was only dreaming about weeks ago.
Vecchiarino, who told The Breeze she’s never had a opportunity anything like this one, is currently attending Community College of Rhode Island to study nursing.
The Pawtucket native and former North Providence resident, who now lives in Providence, is the only Rhode Islander to make the 2012 Celtics Dancers squad.
The daughter of Dawn and Dennis Vecchiarino said she couldn’t be happier to join such a great team and organization in the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics and its famous dance team. Equally amazing, she said, will be the chance to work with Celtics Dance Team Director Marina Ortega.
A member of the second graduating class at Pawtucket’s Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Vecchiarino said she rose to the top of a nationwide search by doing what she does best.
“They said I’m really disciplined, that I pay attention and want to learn, and that I have a lot to offer,” she said.
As a dancer and instructor at Pawtucket-based Dancin’ Spirit Performing Arts, said Vecchiarino, she has plenty of experience with the rigors of a disciplined schedule, long rehearsals, and the tough demands of dance instructor John Rondeau. Those experiences prepared her like nothing else could for the tough auditions, she said, and the Celtics’ talent evaluators got to see the results firsthand.
Vecchiarino said that Dancin’ Spirit owner Christine Atamian Bairos, a woman she called “the best,” could do little but scream when she learned that her prot?©g?© had made the Celtics Dancers team.
“We’re so proud of her,” said Bairos.
Vecchiarino said she knew she needed to take control of her finals audition in order to stand out among hundreds of participants.
“One of the compliments they gave me is that I really attack when I’m dancing,” she said.
Vecchiarino gave her Facebook friends updates during last week’s finals.
The first was on July 10.
“Learned the jazz piece, and half the hip-hop, and finished with the interview,” she wrote. “Happy to announce all went great.”
The second came on day two of final auditions.
“Learned the rest of the hip-hop piece, and ran through everyone’s solo. Also had a feedback session,” she wrote. “My biggest critique is to come tomorrow with bigger hair and more makeup. All my hairdresser friends I need your help.”
Then, on July 12, the final audition by 28 contestants for 18 spots on the 2012-2013 squad, came the news Vecchiarino’s friends and family had been waiting for.
“I am officially a dancer for the Boston Celtics!” she announced.
Vecchiarino said that winning a spot on the Celtics Dancers will open up a world of opportunities in a competitive dance world. She said she wants to be a Celtics Dancer as long as she keeps making the team. After that, she said, who knows what will happen.
Being part of the Celtics Dancers, Vecchiarino will make numerous appearances, learning how to speak and present herself. Being a Celtics Dancer will be “a part-time job with a full-time commitment,” she said. Practices will happen every Tuesday and Thursday, and she and her colleagues will perform at every home game during the upcoming basketball season.
Vecchiarino said she hasn’t talked contract yet, and said pay is one of the last things on her mind as she looks toward the opportunity ahead. Getting a spot on the Celtics Dancers was the big break she’d been waiting for.
