America’s Got Talent: Area Dance Studio is Going to Vegas!

They’ve already conquered New York City, now the dancers from Studio 19 in Cranberry are poised to take Las Vegas. 

During Tuesday’s appearance on America’s got talent, the TK-11 group, which consists of 11 girls ages 11 to 18, wowed celebrity judges Howie Mandel, Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B—and earned a ticket to the next round of competition in Sin City.

“You have every single quality and more to have your own show in Las Vegas,” Mel B told the dancers. 

 Mendel also praised the girls, who were clad in eye-catching neon leotards, for their interesting and “athletic” performance. 

The dance team's journey to AGT began over the winter. 

Studio 19 owner Tammy Croftcheck-Tallarico said she received a call in February from a show producer after a talent agent saw her girls perform at a dance competition. 

 “We never submitted anything to them,” she said. “They actually scouted us out.” 

Croftcheck-Tallarico said her TK-11 group flew out to Chicago a short time later to perform live in front of executive producers for the show. The group features girls from Cranberry, Wexford, Mars and even from the South Hills of Pittsburgh.

The judges obviously liked what they saw. 

“I received a call that they were flying everyone to New York City for a taping before the celebrity judges,” Croftcheck-Tallarico said. 

In late April, the group performed before the celebrity judge as well as 2,000 audience members. Croftcheck-Tallarico said the girls were thrilled by the experience. 

“For them to be given the opportunity to perform for over 2,000 people in a New York City theater was overwhelming,” she said. 

Croftcheck-Tallarico said she was under a confidentiality agreement not to reveal how the girls did, including if they made it to the next round of the competition in Las Vegas, but added the group received a standing ovation. 

“It’s really exciting,” she said. 

This isn’t the first time fame has come knocking for the studio. 

Croftcheck-Tallarico, a Cranberry resident, said producers for the sometimes controversial Dance Moms, which often features Abby Lee Dance Company owner Abby Lee Miller locked in battle with the mothers of her young protégées, approached her to appear in the first, second and third seasons of the show. 

She turned them down. 

“We kept turning down the show because we thought we wanted something a little more positive,” she said. 

Croftcheck-Tallarico, who has had students go on to perform on Broadway and dance backup for stars like Jennifer Lopez and Kanye West, said AGT felt like the right opportunity for the studio—and it may be only the beginning. 

The longtime dance studio owner, who runs her business with partner Katie Watts, said a children’s show and other dance opportunities are in the works for Studio 19. 

“We’re hoping that this is just the start,” she said. 

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