NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Anytime we have a major event coming up, we always seem to find a pretty cool local connection. Well, a lot of people are going to be watching a very big event this Sunday.
A local woman is connected to it in a way that couldn't be more unique.
"We are at Area 54," said Jessica Rizzardi. "It's the dance studio I teach at here in Franklin. I love being in the dance studio."
For dancer Rizzardi, there's the career plan. That's come with milestones. One of them was when she started teaching classes.
"I really love sharing the love of dance with other people and see the confidence of people really grow from the beginning of class to the end of class," she said.
Rizzardi's approaching another milestone, a pretty big one. Some of her choreography is about to be seen by a lot of people. We'll come back to that.
Since she very young, Rizzardi's family noticed she was just at home while dancing.
"They just saw that I loved it," she said. "That's all I've done my whole life is dance."
With hard work, the career path's gotten grand milestones all along. That includes dancing with the Nashville Predators Energy Team.
"Working for the Nashville Predators was something I always wanted to do," Rizzardi nodded. "I'm a lifelong Preds fan. Huge hockey fan."
The ultimate goal is to dance in a big tour, an event that has people lined up like a show for Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift.
"I see myself on a big stadium stage and just smiling and connecting with fans in the audience," Rizzardi said.
Often, a dance career path brings surprises.
"I was scrolling my TikTok and Mark Ballas came across my For You page, who is a professional dancer on Dancing With the Stars," Rizzardi said. "He was promoting this contest through SVEDKA. I thought it was an opportunity I definitely couldn't pass up."
Dancers could submit their choreography for SVEDKA Vodka's ad to air during Sunday's big game. The winner was to get $10,000 and their choreography used in the ad.
"I stood in my bedroom and was like, 'alright. Let me start choreographing,'" Rizzardi said. "It only took me maybe 15 minutes to come up with it. They had mentioned something about a robot doing the choreography. I also weaved a little Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader choreography in there cause it's the Super Bowl, obviously, football."
Sure enough, Rizzardi was contacted by SVEDKA with some good news.
"I immediately started sobbing, just breaking down, and my co-workers were jumping up and down screaming," she laughed. "They were like, 'Jess won!' I'm crying. He said, 'I'm assuming you want to accept the prize?' I'm like, 'yes, please.'"
True, this wasn't in the career plan, but Rizzardi loves a surprise milestone; doing choreography for an AI-generated ad to run in the game.
"It's a really prime spot," she said. "It's the first commercial after halftime. A lot of people are watching for sure. I'm inviting friends over. It's not often you get to tell people you worked on a Super Bowl commercial."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
During a week when it seems that frustration is the prevailing sentiment felt across middle Tennessee amid ongoing power outages, Forrest Sanders brings us a story of love, faithfulness and a remarkable family... plus, a little humor on the side. Enjoy!
- Carrie Sharp
