March 26, 2009

Dancing with Almaden stars

Almaden natives and residents Tommy and Laura Holford spent a lot of time in March dancing around the area. Laura graduated from Harker Upper School last spring and then began touring. She benefitted from the extensive dance program at Harker where she learned Chinese, Brazilian, salsa, tango, jazz, ballet and many other dances. Tommy also graduated from Harker and attends the University of Southern California. He comes home and dances when he can but definitely every St Patrick’s Day. The two have attended the World Championships in Ireland several times and have been to the nationals many times. They also enjoyed Irish dance camp when they were younger. Tommy will compete at the Worlds competition in April in Philadelphia. Laura is returning to tour to perform in Greece. The two have danced for Nancy Pyle and the Almaden Senior Center, as well as the Almaden Art and Wine Festival, at Simonds, and many other schools. They also danced at Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger’s inauguration in Sacramento, performed with the Chieftains several times and at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. They are shown here at a performance at Evergreen College on March 17 with Tommy Anderson, center.