Fil-Am 'Billy Elliot' makes waves in Broadway
09/06/2011
HALF MOON BAY, California - John Peter “JP” Viernes may only be 15 years old but his career as a dancer is soaring high.
 |
It all began when he fell in love with dancing at the tender age of 7. This was when JP saw his older sister Lexi perform at the dance studio.
“I thought it looked fun. So I tried it out once and it felt right for me and so I just kept on going,” he said.
His sister’s teacher Shely Pack-Manning also started teaching JP some moves. She said she knew he had great potential even at a young age.
After 8 years of training, his hard work has paid off. Manning believes JP will have a long career in Broadway.
“He has a bright future ahead of him,” she said.
His passion for dance and his natural abilities as a performer helped land JP the lead role of “Billy” in the “Billy Elliot Musical” in 2009.
He became the first and only Filipino to win the lead role. Only 17 lead performers were chosen out of all the thousands that auditioned for Billy.
“When I heard that I was chosen, at first, It didn’t really register. Later on, I was like, ‘wow!’ I’m actually in the show now,” he said.
JP performed as Billy for two years, headlining in Toronto, Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco.
JP and his family sacrificed a lot for this opportunity.
For other young Filipino American dancers, JP has this to say, "Even though it’s hard and there are a lot of things going against you, you have to keep going forward and keep your eye on the goal and don’t give up,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment