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12 * WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, December 19, 2007 I imo rides, celebrity spotting, Maury vich and a plane on fire. No, this is not the plot of an upcomâ€" ing madeâ€"forâ€"TV movie, it‘s just a taste of what happened to a group of young Waterloo dancers on their recent trip to New York City. Samantha Diehl, 9, Tanner Matthews and Olivia Mckerrow, both 10, are a dance team from Davenport Dance Project in the city‘s north end. After winning a recent dance champiâ€" onship, a video of their performance was uploaded onto the Internet. Producers of Povich‘s daytime talk show saw the video and invited the dancers to participate in an episode featuring talented child performers. Waterloo kids dance on Maury Show And while the images of boot camp and troubled teens are what most peoâ€" ple associate with Povich, the kids weren‘t sure what to expect. "I‘d heard of it but never watched it," Tanner said. "I‘d seen it on TV lookâ€" ing through channels but never stopped to check it out." Nonetheless, they were excited, if not overwhelmed. The dancers were contacted on a Wednesday and were flying to the Big Apple just over a week later. s â€"In that time, the dancers had to rework their routine to a new song that the show could obtain the rights to. . After getting the new routine down pat, the team took their first limo ride to Pearson airport in Toronto and took off for their shot at fame. "It was kind of weird, having to do it again," Tanner said. e It was Samantha and Olivia‘s first time in New York. "I‘ve seen a lot of movies with New York and it‘s kind of what I expected," Olivia said. "But it was kind of cool seeâ€" ing it in real life." _And while the city was impressive, the Maury studio was not. o s "The studio was a lot smaller than you‘d think it would be," Tanner said. "And the places you have to wait are actually really small." The episode they filmed featured dancers from all over the continent, but most had auditioned while the Waterloo team had been invited. The kids got an additional thrill when Sabra Johnson, winner of the telâ€" evision competition So You Think You Can Dance, visited them on set and signed autographs. _At the end of the show, which will air on Dec. 20, Povich invited viewers By GrEc MAcDonaLp Chronicle Staff of Runners . . . Not Just End Rolls * Carpet * Berbers + Laminate * Ceramic * Hardwood 50 Victoria Street N., Kitchener + 519â€"570â€"2722 ||_ _ Canada‘s largest retail flooring chain‘! Samantha Diehi, Tanner Matthews and Olivia Mckerrow, dancers from Waterloo, recently competed against other child dancers on Maury Povich‘s talk show. to go online and vote for their favourite act from the episode. 8 The Davenport Dance Project team figures they have a good chance at winâ€" ning and being invited back to the show. They‘ve already started soliciting votes. "It was really good because (after the show) when we were on the street we met people and told them to vote for us," Olivia said. "They‘re going to get all their family to vote too." "My classmates said they‘d all vote," Samantha added. But it doesn‘t matter if they don‘t win, the experience was rewarding and all the kids said they just love to dance.. "It gives you new challenges and you get to meet a lot of new friends," LIFESTYLE Samantha said. Their adventure did not end after the taping. _ _ â€" o On the flight home, the pilot had to ground the plane due to an electrical There was no room for Olivia and her family on the replacement flight and they were left behind. _______ "I was kind of crying, I didn‘t know why I wasn‘t allowed to go home with my friends," she said. â€" But it all worked out and everyone got home safe. Olivia‘s family took a later flight and the dancers were reunited. af yoh would like to vote for the team, log on to www.mauryshow.com. They are now practising for upcomâ€" ing competitions. The Area‘s LARGEST Selection GREG MACDONALD PHOTO Wa(erloo‘s Princess Cinema will be presenting a free showing of the Ringo Starr/Peter Sellers film The Magic Christian one night only, on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. Admission is free to those who bring a nonâ€"perâ€" ishable food item. This is a screening of the 1969 British film. It looks today like a bridge between thenâ€"conâ€" temporaneous but overlapping styles of comedy, from Terry Southern satire to Goon Show silliness to Monty Python surrealism. Sellers stars as the world‘s wealthiest man, who sets out with a young ally, Starr, to demonstrate that people, most especially rich people, will do anything for money. The film is more of a series of sketches than an actual story, and some of those get pretty nasty, parâ€" ticularly when a bunch of aristocrats start feeding from a vat of blood and manure. But in general this is a pretty funny film, and it‘s great to see a lot of famous and soonâ€"toâ€"beâ€"famous faces on the same screen. Written by Southern, Joseph McGrath (who also directed), Sellers, and Python‘s John Cleese and Graâ€" ham Chapman, the film is rated "family." _ _ _ This is the cinema‘s annual food bank benefit Christmas screening. ] loliday celebrations put on by the UpTown Busiâ€" ness Improvement Area are coming to an end, but there‘s still some excitement for the whole famiâ€" ly. Free horseâ€"drawn trolley rides are still running through uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park startâ€" ing at Willis Way near Caroline Street. First pick up leaves at 5:30 p.m., with four to five rides per night. Each trolley carries 20â€"25 people. The last ride is on Dec. 20 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Victorian carollers will sing everyone‘s favorite holiday songs as they stroll through the streets of uptown Waterloo. _ Their hours are subject to weather, but they‘re expected to wander up King and Regina streets on Dec. 21 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. _ â€" _ The 14th annual Festival of Lights is still on nightly at Waterloo Park. For information, go to www.wondersofwinter.ca. For information about festivals and events put on by the UpTown BIA, call 519â€"885â€"1921. Annual food drive and free movie runs at the Princess Cinema Holiday celebrations are coming to an end in uptown Waterloo {=~#