Posts Tagged ‘Virginia’

SingStrong – A Cappella Music Festival

A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media
A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media

Reston, Virginia

Last March, I was invited to cover the SingStrong in Reston, Virginia. SingStrong is an a cappella music festival held at South Lakes High School on this occasion. Overall, musicians come together to do workshops, have master classes, and hear from performers from around the country. A cappella, in short, describes a style of music where all of the sounds from the band are create from the human voice. Popular culture has show off these performers especially in movies like “Pitch Perfect” or TV shows like NBC’s “The Sing – Off.”

A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media
A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media
A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media

Main Stage – South Lakes HS

Blue Jupiter are the main hosts for all the attendees of this event. Diana and Jonathan emcee the larger shows over the weekend including the Aca-Idol competition and the main show on Saturday evening. Marty sets up the audio-visual presentation on the stage running the sound board. The sound of the singers sounds amazing from the crowd and along with the theater lights really elevates the concerts.

A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media

The 2015 edition of SingStrong continued their tradition of bringing passionate musicians together. They spend a weekend full of learning, networking, and inspiring each other. I enjoy being a part of the weekend to help preserve some memories that the groups can look back on when they get back home. I hope it keeps them working to sound better, and to continue their progress to be even better. The proceeds from participating or attending the shows over the weekend help to support the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. With the tickets and silent auctions, all of the funds help to support an amazing cause. I hope to see what the groups have in store next year!

Blue Jupiter performing at SingStrong - A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media
Blue Jupiter performing at SingStrong – A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media
Ball in the House performing at SingStrong - A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media
Ball in the House performing at SingStrong – A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media
Main Stage at SingStrong - A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media
Main Stage at SingStrong – A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media

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703-864-8208

2015 Lunar New Year

Fruit bowl at entrance to Lunar New Year celebration at Tysons Corner Center
Fruit bowl at entrance to Lunar New Year celebration at Tysons Corner Center

Tysons Corner Center

To celebrate the 2015 Lunar New Year at Tysons Corner Center, there was an event in their Concourse to show off Chinese culture. The Year of the Goat started on February 19. To attract visitors, there was a lot of color and sound echoing throughout the mall to signal what was going on that afternoon.

Crowd at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center
Crowd at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center
Decorations at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center
Decorations at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center

At the start of the Concourse there was a beautiful display of laterns and fruit that are symbols of luck for the new year. The eyes are drawn to all the color and motion that was on display. Luckily the mall had plenty of space for spectators to take in the action.

Decorations at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center
Decorations at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center

Demonstrations

Live Demonstration at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center
Live Demonstration at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center

Musicians played traditional instruments. One artist gave a demonstration of hanging traditional lanterns, and a group filled the hall with the sound of drumming. The most exciting display was the dancing Dragon that danced to the drums all around the Concourse and to part of the mall hallways to bring more into the audience. The dragon dancers interacted with some audience members that fed him lettuce for good luck.

Drummers performing at Tysons Corner Center
Live Demonstration at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center
Dragon dancing at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center
Dragon dancing at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center

Tommy McFly from 94.7 Fresh FM was the emcee for the events. He is always a professional welcoming everyone to the events in Tysons. He moved easily from in front of the crowd to in front of the camera to make sure everyone that participated had some shine throughout the afternoon. Happy new year!

Getting lettuce to feed the dragon at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center
Getting lettuce to feed the dragon at Lunar New Year celebration at the Concourse in Tysons Corner Center

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

2015 Cupid Competition

Dancers at Arthur Murray Tysons during the 2015 Cupid Competition ©TimeLine Media
Dancers at Arthur Murray Tysons during the 2015 Cupid Competition ©TimeLine Media

Arthur Murray

For Valentine’s Day, the Arthur Murray in Tysons held a 2015 Cupid Competition at their studio. Not all of the competitions that we cover are large, multi-studio, regional spanning events. Some are local studio events that give studios an opportunity to give the taste of these kinds of events in their own venue.

Dance Studio in Tysons, VA during a competition ©TimeLine Media
Dance Studio in Tysons, VA during a competition ©TimeLine Media
Professional - Amateur dancers in Tysons, VA during a competition ©TimeLine Media
Professional – Amateur dancers in Tysons, VA during a competition ©TimeLine Media

Carlos Hernandez, the manager of the Tysons location, had us come out to cover the event. With help from some photographer friends, we got both stills and video of the competition. They had Leonard Theiss come to judge the dancers so they could have some feedback on their dancing to review with their teachers later.

Professional - Amateur dancers in Tysons, VA during a competition ©TimeLine Media
Professional – Amateur dancers in Tysons, VA during a competition ©TimeLine Media
Steve and Leonard Theiss at Arthur Murray, Tysons ©TimeLine Media
Steve and Leonard Theiss at Arthur Murray, Tysons ©TimeLine Media

The staff at the Tysons studio was sure to make everyone feel welcome. They had a few more people in the studio than their regular week nights, so there was a nice energy there for the dancers. I enjoyed making photos of the students dancing with their instructors. I also enjoyed getting photos of the staff performing a professional show to end the evening. It was a nice progress check for dancers in the studio, and it gave them a chance to see what is possible for their dancing by watching their studio mates show off what they have been working on. I am sure that this experience will spur more people to prepare for and dance at their next Freestyles or Showcase event.

Cupid Competition at Arthur Murray - Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media
Cupid Competition at Arthur Murray – Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media
Studio staff and students at the Arthur Murray - Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media
Studio staff and students at the Arthur Murray – Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

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