ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060016
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-45 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL CROAN STAFF WRITER
Vanessa Fassie is constantly in motion.
"I believe it was my destiny to dance," she said.
The 17-year-old Northside High School senior was only 4 years old when she delivered her first performance.
"I remember I was with my grandfather in southern France ... on a crowded street and there was this man playing music," she explained.
Upon hearing the music, Fassie began to dance, oblivious to her surroundings, not even aware of the crowd gathering around her until the music stopped and she looked up.
Although the sight of her first audience sent her running to her grandfather's knees in embarrassment, Fassie said dancing made her feel great.
"I was happy. It was pure joy."
Fassie realized that modern dance was her favorite form when she attended the American Dance Festival at Duke University last summer.
"Everyone was so interesting," she said. "There were people there from all over the world. There were people that couldn't even speak English who were there just to dance. It was amazing."
Fassie is going to France this summer to dance in Cannes at the Hightower School of Dance, and she will attend Virginia Commonwealth University this fall to major in dance and choreography.
She hopes to get her master's degree at New York University and then join a dance company.
Her eventual goal is to start and dance in her own company in Paris.
Fassie isn't the only dancer Northside is graduating this spring.
Martin Davis, a 17-year-old senior, will dance at the Kirov school in Washington, D.C., for four weeks this summer, studying under Thom Clower, the former director of Ballet Dallas.
Davis has been with the Southwest Virginia Ballet Company for the past six years and has performed in the "Nutcracker" four times, twice with the Roanoke Symphony.
Davis said he has always been into gymnastics, and first took ballet classes at Post's School of Ballet in Salem.
However, he doesn't plan to try his skills on a professional level.
"I'm there because I enjoy it, not because I want this to be my life," he said. "I've had offers from major companies to dance and whatnot, but I want to go to college."
Davis will attend Guilford College this fall and plans to major in chemistry, a far cry from the art form of ballet.
"I don't think I could make a living as a dancer," he said.
But not all students are concerned with the job market.
Ailee Steele, an 18-year-old Northside senior, plans to attend Radford University this fall to major in theater, one of the least promising job markets around.
"I've always been involved in theater, so I may as well spend the rest of my life involved in it in some way or another," she said.
Steele started developing her interest in theater in the fifth grade. She has since worked with the Mill Mountain Youth Ensemble for five years, and for the past three years she has helped write the performances.
She has been in plays at Mill Mountain Theatre, and was one of only two people her age cast in Macbeth.
Steele said she stuck with theater because she "was really, really shy and [she] wanted to open [herself] up to people."
Steele hopes to become a professional actress after obtaining her master's degree, and then teach acting on the college level.
Northside also has a nationally recognized scholar in its graduating class.
Seth Wood, 18, has racked up an impressive list of honors, awards and scholarships, including the National Coca-Cola Scholarship worth $5,000 a year.
Wood was one of the 50 winners out of more than 120,000 applicants for the Coca-Cola Scholarship, and has also been awarded the $3,000 Presidential Alumni Scholarship at Virginia Tech, where he plans to major in history. He then plans to go to medical school.
As one of Northside's three valedictorians, Wood has amassed an impressive academic record while lettering in three sports. He plans to go to medical school after graduating from Virginia Tech.
Wood said he thinks being diverse is important in today's job market. "It makes you more appealing, more diverse for whoever wants to look at you. You're not a one-dimensional person."
Northside's ceremony for 240 graduating seniors will be June 12 at 3:30 p.m. at Roanoke Civic Center.
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. Fassie 2. Davis 3. Steele 4. Wood (headshots)by CNB