Oct. 19, 2007 – Two Students from Music in Motion captured crowns from the VI Royalty Scholarship Pageant held on Sunday, Sept. 30, at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center, St. Thomas. The pageant is directed by Kimberly Rodriguez.
Charlita Schuster, founder and artistic director, decided she wanted to enter five young ladies into the VI Royalty Scholarship Pageant. With only two weeks to prepare for the pageant Schuster had to develop self-esteem and self-confidence in the young ladies.
The young ladies who participated were Breyana Almestica, age 5, Petite Miss; Abeshai Bernard, age 7, Young Miss; Najah Wilson, age 10, Little Miss; Jessica Willock, age 13, Junior Miss; and Lekisha Rantan, age 14, Teen Miss. They competed in five categories: Best Costume, Best Couture, Best Talent, Best Evening Wear and Miss Intellectual. There was also a Director's Award.
Breyana Almestica captured the crown of Petite Miss; she also won Best Costume and Best Evening wear. Abeshia Bernard captured the crown of Young Miss; she won Miss Intellectual, Best Costume, Best Couture and Best Evening Wear. The other three contestants also won awards. Lekisha Rantan won Best Photo, Najah Wilson won the Director's Award and Jessica Willock won Best Evening Wear and the Director's Award. The young ladies were escorted by their coaches Jah-Neisha Withey, assistant artistic director of Music in Motion, and Jamal Drummond.
Breyanna and Abeshai both will travel to Austin, Texas in November to compete in the International Royalty Scholarship Pageant. The young ladies will be hosting different fundraising activities throughout the community to aid in their travel arrangements. On Saturday, Oct. 27, there will be a grand food sale at the Music in Motion Dance Studio located at No. 7A Whim. The food sale will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. All plates are $12. Tickets can be purchased before and during the sale.
Schuster was very pleased at the outcome of her students' participation, especially within the short time frame in which they had to prepare. She congratulates all the young ladies for their hard work and great success.
