In the spotlight

Although a technical difficulty kept Hannah Goddard's music from starting, it did not diminish her star-quality smile.

As the opening act of Fremont Elementary School's annual talent show, the 10-year-old knelt with her arms in the air and the hem of her skirt touching the floor.

Waiting and waiting - until "Avalon" came on, and she came to life with splits, twirls, leaps and kicks.

"I was worried a little," she said afterward. "My dance teacher keeps telling me don't stop smiling, just keep smiling no matter what the audience is doing."

Hannah has danced since "oh, 4 or 5" years, and attends Western Nevada Performing Arts Center for lessons. Surprisingly, the hardest part of performing isn't the near straight-up kicks into the air, she said. It's keeping her concentration.

"(The kicks are) not really hard," she said. "It just takes a few years of stretching and practicing a lot."

Hannah's was one of 14 acts featured Friday afternoon at Fremont. An evening show followed for parents.

"(The talent show) gives the kids a chance to shine," said organizer Sherri Chenin, a second-grade teacher. "They have so many things going on for them that don't get covered in school. It gives them a chance to share their extracurricular talents."

Other acts included hula dancing, sword play, a blindfolded piano player and dancing.

"I think my favorite was with Haley Davis and Tess Corda dancing (to "Witch Doctor") because they had a lot of jazz in it, and they were really exotic," said 10-year-old Morgan Hart, a fifth-grader. "And I liked their costumes."

Morgan wanted to participate in this year's talent competition with her clarinet, but missed sign-ups.

"I like talent shows because you get to express your talent and show people 'I can do this,'" she said. "I think that's really cool."

C.J. Woons, 10, waited eagerly for his classmate Forest Tims to come on. The eighth act of the show, Forest entered the stage wearing peasant-like clothing and swashbuckling with his plastic sword.

C.J. watched the entire time.

"That was really good," he said afterward. "I've never seen him do it that long. He only does it a little bit, but usually gets tired."

Fourth-grader Jeremy Miller, 10, enjoyed Alana Stella's singing to a piece called "Pennywhistle."

"She has a nice voice, and she sings nice," he said.

Jeremy wasn't in the talent show, he said, because he had no talents. A little later, he admitted he plays the recorder and also enjoys break-dancing.

"I used to be able to spin on my head and stuff," he said.

Maybe next year.

• Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.

Fremont Elementary School's 2006 talent show acts:

• Hannah Goddard, dancing to "Avalon"

• Alana Stella, singing "Pennywhistle"

• Karlie Miller, jump-roping

• Tess Corda and Haley Davis, dancing to "Witch Doctor"

• Haley Ridgely, hula dancing to "Little Brown Gal"

• Samantha Lowe, playing an original piano competition called "Music in the Bushes"

• Stephanie Camacho and Kaeli Biggin, dancing to "Kids in America"

• Emily Tiehm, Kayla Hall, Amy Harrison and Megan Goodale, singing a capella to "Have You Ever Seen Such a Beautiful Night?"

• Forest Tims, swashbuckling with his fake sword

• Jesse Lopez, dancing to "Get the Party Started"

• Sean Jones, playing "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" on the saxophone

• Lizzy Jarret, playing an original composition on the piano while blindfolded

• Gaby Palozzolo, dancing to "Yacht Club Swing"

• Cindy Cardinal's class, singing an original composition "Down, Down Doggy"