Lawrence students will perform on aerial silks, sing barbershop tunes, Irish step dance and more at the Ovation! talent show on Sunday.
It will be the ninth year of the interscholastic talent show originally created by a Lawrence Public Schools student, with proceeds benefiting the Lawrence Schools Foundation. The show begins at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2 at the Lied Center.
Performers will hail from Lawrence schools at all levels, including Lawrence and Free State high schools, West and Southwest middle schools and Woodlawn Elementary School.
“It’s cool that we’re getting the opportunity to perform at the Lied Center,” said Lawrence High senior Cooper Grant, who will sing with a barbershop quartet. “I’m pretty nervous though, because it’s going to be the biggest event we’ve sung at.”
Brian Hanni, voice of the Jayhawks, will host the event. Renee Dvorske, a senior at Lawrence High School, is the student executive director.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students and youth. They can be purchased at the Lied Center or online.
A full list of acts includes:
- Aerial Silks – Nora Talbott, 7th grade, Southwest Middle School, and Ellie Earl, 8th grade, West Middle School
- Ja’Liana Ayala – Vocals, 10th grade, Lawrence High School
- Barbershop Quartet – “Ha-Tune-Ah Fermata”: Cooper Grant, 12th grade, Lawrence High School; Parker López, 12th grade, Lawrence High School; Asher Sikes, 12th grade, Lawrence High School; Thomas Sikes, 12th grade, Lawrence High School
- Kylee Chee – Original Spoken Poetry, 12th grade, Lawrence High School
- Hadleigh Duris – Vocals/Ukulele, 12th grade, Free State High School
- Members of Dance Hues Studio’s STAMPP Performance and Competition Company: Kenzie Hall, 8th grade, Southwest Middle School; Phoenix Holman, 8th grade, West Middle School; Lila Huebner, 5th grade, Century School; Amaya Nelson, 6th grade, West Middle School; Sophia Pouppirt, 9th grade, De Soto High School; Mattie Shaw, 11th grade, Jefferson West High School; Kira Shepard, 12th grade, Free State High School; Layla Simmons, 8th grade, Southwest Middle School; Kaliyah Stallings, 5th grade, Woodlawn Elementary School
- The Galway Girls – Irish Step Dance: Aleisha Lohfeld, 11th grade, Free State High School and Amelia Lohfeld, 9th grade, Free State High School
- Lawrence Ballet Theatre, representing Lawrence High School, Free State High School and Southwest Middle School: Photina Adrian, 10th grade; Rhubarb Brubacher, 12th grade; Allie Gates, 10th grade; Isla Gnojek, 10th grade; Zoe Kaul, 10th grade; Zana Kennedy, 12th grade; Annalise Lantz, 11th grade; Marcella MacGonagle, 11th grade; Belzimere Maletsky, 11th grade; Phoebe Morris, 11th grade; Maria Mosconi, 11th grade; Mattea Rasmussen, 9th grade; Jahnava Sibilla, 12th grade; Celeste Stinson, 12th grade; Mary Swartzlander, 8th grade; Sydney Tiemann, 9th grade; Genevieve Williams, 9th grade; Ruth Yang, 9th grade
- Harrison Leiszler – Violin/Loop Station, 9th grade, Free State High School
- Matthew Liu – Piano, 12th grade, Lawrence Virtual School
- Elizaveta Smirnov – Ballet Dancer, 7th grade, Lawrence Virtual School
- Sara Song – Calligraphy Dancer, 6th grade, West Middle School
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.
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