Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991                   TAG: 9103150013
SECTION: AMERICAN WOMEN'S SHOW                    PAGE: AW4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: ANNE PIEDMONT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`SIZZLE' HAS ALL THE RIGHT MOVES FOR A LIVELY SHOW

The Dance Factory's "Sizzle" will bring its unique brand of entertainment to the fashion stage at 6:30 p.m. Friday. It's a hometown appearance for the Roanoke-based dance group that has performed throughout a six-state area and has appeared in three USO shows.

Vicki Shannan, owner of the Dance Factory for the past 23 years, founded the troupe in 1984 when she saw a need for "sit down and watch" type entertainment. There are times, she noted when "people don't want to get up and dance after dinner." A Sizzle floor show provides the perfect alternative.

It went on tour the following summer and since then, has performed at conventions, concerts, festivals and company parties. It's also appeared with such big-name groups as The Platters, The Four Tops, The Embers and Martha and the Vandellas, in Roanoke and at the Greenbrier, The Homestead and Hilton Head.

Several members of the eight-person group have even been on the silver screen - as dancers in the hit movie "Dirty Dancing." It's no coincidence, then, that the group does the Dirty Dancing Weekends at Mountain Lake, where the movie was filmed. Its Friday night show here will feature couple numbers and some dirty dancing, Shannan said. Both are crowd-pleasers and allow the younger troupe members to show their stuff.

Though the group is relatively small, it is very versatile. Shannan said it can cater its shows to the theme of any event. It does a "total variety show," which includes singing, dancing and comedy. It even provide its own lighting, sound and costumes -- including Las Vegas-style head dresses, Shannan said.

She believes Sizzle is a unique type of entertainment for this part of the country, and called it "a mixture of The New Virginians and Las Vegas." The members - there are both men and women - all have "day jobs," Shannan said, mostly in the dance field. Though there has been some turnover in Sizzle's six-year history, Shannan has no trouble filling vacancies, and usually has several dancers "waiting in the wings."