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Local dancers advance

Posted on August 19, 2010August 19, 2010 by Staff

By Henry Gargan, Staff Writer

Carrboro native Ryan Gaunt is slated to compete in the semifinal round of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” next week. His act, titled “AscenDance,” is a fusion of climbing and dance and features his fiancé and climbing partner, Isabel von Rittberg.

The duo’s journey began with an audition in Portland, which earned them a trip to Las Vegas, where they qualified for the quarterfinals. Gaunt and Rittberg performed live in Hollywood on July 20 and advanced to the semifinals, which will air on Aug. 24 at 9 p.m. The results show will be broadcast the following day. A $1 million prize, as well as a year-long booking in Las Vegas, await the winner of the NBC competition, which is closing out its fifth season on the air. Other popular acts will embark on a nationwide tour in the fall.

Gaunt, who graduated from Chapel Hill High School in 1998, now lives in Berkeley, Calif. with von Rittberg, founder of the AscenDance project. He has been a dedicated climber for a little over a decade and joined the act with von Rittberg in 2006.

Gaunt took sewing and advanced sewing classes during his time at Chapel Hill High and designed and made the act’s costumes. He now owns his own line of urban climbing apparel, Aeré Fashion.
Clips of AscenDance’s performances on “America’s Got Talent,” some of which have been viewed upwards of 100,000 times, can be found on YouTube.

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