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The things a mom does for her child

A woman will give up her home and career to move to New York so her daughter can get her start in show business.

By CAMILLE C. SPENCER
Published July 31, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - Combine dreams of stardom with a leap of faith, and the result is Josephine and Alyssa Williams.

The two are moving to New York next month so Alyssa, 12, can begin a career in show business. Josephine has bet the ranch - or, more specifically her New Port Richey home - on her daughter's success. She has put her house on the market and is looking for a New York apartment to sublet.

They hope Alyssa's audition for a Broadway musical (Josephine won't say which one) will lead to a future in show business for the dancer, who has been performing since she was 7.

While Alyssa auditions, Josephine, a divorced real estate investor, will wait tables at the Hard Rock Cafe.

A petite 38-year-old, Josephine is optimistic. When discussing the move, she smiles often, convinced that Alyssa will find success beyond the walls of the Safety Harbor dance studio where she practices.

Josephine sees New York as a change of pace and the perfect location for Alyssa to do things she never has before.

For Josephine, giving up her job and home wasn't a tough call.

The important part, she said, is making sure her only child gets a chance to do what she loves.

"She's going to be able to start fulfilling her dreams," she said.

Meanwhile, Alyssa hopes to one day see her name in lights.

"I want to do it all ..." she said, "sing, dance and act."

Her long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, the pint-sized dancer with sea green eyes whirled around the studio.

"Up, up, Alyssa! Posture!" dance instructor Eric Thomas said. "Lift!"

Alyssa, soft-spoken and polite, heeds Thomas' instruction on a sunny Friday morning.

In a dark blue halter top, black pants and beige dance shoes, Alyssa watches herself in the studio's mirrored wall while she and five other girls practice routines at the West Florida Youth Ballet.

Most of the girls are preparing for Thomas' upcoming show. He changes the music on a CD player. Seconds later, Beyonce and Jay-Z's Deja Vu blares from the speakers.

Alyssa concentrates on a hip-hop routine as her mother sits in the studio's hallway.

Until they leave for the Big Apple, their days will be filled with about six hours a day of dance practice and the business of moving.

Josephine hopes to find a private tutor for Alyssa, who finished sixth grade last year at World of Knowledge Montessori School in Holiday.

She is careful not to be perceived as a stage mother. And she acknowledges how risky moving to New York could prove.

"I'm probably more positive than most people," Josephine said. "She (Alyssa) has had so many special things happen. It'll work out. If I didn't give her the opportunity to do it, I'd regret it."

Even at 12, Alyssa's resume rivals that of some show business professionals twice her age.

Her career began when she was 7, when Josephine began putting her daughter in recitals.

It wasn't until Josephine's father commented on Alyssa's performance at a recital in Fort Myers a few year ago that she thought her daughter's talent was something special.

"My father was probably the most skeptical," Josephine said. "Then, he saw her dance. She was 7, and she was in with 12-year-old kids doing a ballet number. He said, 'She can really dance.' I looked at her and thought, 'She's doing beautifully up there.' "

Since then, Alyssa has danced at the halftime show at the 2003 Orange Bowl in Miami, modeled for billboards and fliers for Sun Splash Water Park in Cape Coral, performed with the Sarasota Ballet in Tampa and attended courses at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York.

Thomas, who has performed worldwide as a singer and dancer, has worked with Alyssa for about a year. Thomas, who trained at the Broadway Dance Center in New York, will visit Alyssa periodically to help her brush up on her dance skills for auditions.

"She's amazing at tap," Thomas said. "It's the foot thing. She has amazing foot coordination."

Toward the end of dance practice, Thomas reminds the girls to keep practicing their routine. Behind him near the studio's mirrored wall hangs an Irish proverb.

"Dance as if no one were watching, sing as if no one were listening and live everyday as if it were your last."

Alyssa hopes her future mirrors those words.

"I want to be really famous, and in a couple years, I hope something good happens."

[Last modified July 30, 2006, 22:03:59]