ON POINTE

CENTER

STAGE

Meet US International Ballet’s principal dancer

by Elizabeth White photo by Terah Wilson

ALEXANDRA GOSIENGFIAO has been dancing her way through life. The third-generation Filipina American dancer began her ballet training at the age of six, but “my real love and passion for ballet began when I was just two years old,” she says.

She recalls her mother taking her to The Nutcracker, which went on to become a family tradition.

Gosiengfiao inherited a love for music from her mother and watching ballet performances only increased her love for music, and then eventually, dance. The fact that Gosiengfiao could sit still through a full-length, two-act performance at such a young age impressed her mother.

“I was definitely not your typical toddler,” she says. “As my mom recalls and shares all the time, I sat comfortably in the mezzanine section of the San Francisco Performing Arts Center for two hours all to my heart’s delight without making a fuss.”

Gosiengfiao started taking classes and tried other activities such as gymnastics but longed for something with more artistic expression. She continued with ballet at a pre-professional level training five-plus days a week alongside her high school curriculum. After following one of her instructors to a new studio, Gosiengfiao became fully committed to pursuing a ballet career.

Making a full-time commitment to any sport can be time-consuming and take you down many paths while deciding who to train with and where. That was the case with Gosiengfiao. Eventually, her training led to numerous summer opportunities. She trained for four to six weeks at such prestigious camps as the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, American Ballet Theatre’s Austin Texas program, and the Boston Ballet.

“These opportunities were critical and segued into a professional dance company,” she says. “It truly gave me a realistic glimpse of what my life could be as a professional ballet dancer.”

After graduating high school in 2013, she auditioned for Ballet San Jose in hopes of receiving acceptance into its trainee program.

“My life as a trainee was very strenuous and extensively stressful but further catapulted my skills and artistry to a higher level as a ballerina,” she says.

Gosiengfiao tackled a grueling training schedule and suffered an injury halfway into the season. This halted her training for almost two months. With high hopes and a renewed spirit to continue her training, she accepted a trainee offer with State Street Ballet in California.

Gosiengfiao’s next step was pursuing a dance contract with an actual company. She opted to make the 3,000-mile move to Wilmington as a founding company member for the local US International Ballet (USIB). She was cast in multiple soloist roles, and within two weeks of arriving, was asked to dance a solo variation as Mercedes from Don Quixote.

Her solo roles continued through the season playing the fairy godmother in Cinderella and the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.

“I chose to dance for a smaller company versus a big ballet company,” she says. “The multiple opportunities to do this as a newly appointed company member are rare in a larger ballet company.”

In February 2020, Gosiengfiao was promoted to principal ballerina of USIB in Wilmington. Her role as a principal ballerina includes not only dancing, but she is a role model for the company, her peers, and the students she instructs. After years of practices, classes, different camps, and companies, perhaps this is the role Gosiengfiao cherishes most.

“I love giving back to the company, the community as I believe dance is meant to be shared and can be taught,” she says. “Teaching has helped me reach greater levels in my own technique. Ballet is a beautiful way to express art on stage and teaching this art is truly a privilege.”

Gosiengfiao believes strongly in spreading her love for ballet but also sees the need for creating awareness beyond the studio.

“I have also had the opportunity to help market and brand USIB even before becoming a principal ballerina,” she says. “I created and developed numerous sponsorship programs, special USIB promotions, and events and partnered with local businesses to further create excitement and support in the arts for our community.” W

Alexandra Gosiengfiao’s profile appeared in a recent WILMA Downtime email. To sign up for daily WILMA emails, go to WILMAmag.com.

WILMA ONLINE

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DIGNITY MEMORIAL

NEW MAUSOLEUM DESIGNED TO MEET GROWING DEMANDS

In an effort to meet the growing demands of the Wilmington market, Greenlawn Memorial Park is building a new mausoleum. The new space, which will be located nearby the new funeral home on the grounds of Greenlawn cemetery, will have 348 crypt spaces and 150 niches.

With a design concept and approach that is consistent with our new cremation gardens and other memorial facilities, along with a covered area for services and protection from the elements, this represents a significant investment into the Wilmington community from Dignity Memorial.

Part of the reason we are anticipating increased demand for our services is that Baby Boomers, which total approximately 78 million people nationwide, are getting into their senior years. This group was generally born in between 1946 and 1964 and was one of the largest population groups in history prior to the advent of the Millennials.

Considering the broad date range in which they were born, it is possible that Baby Boomers could be starting a new family, caring for aging parents, retired, or paying for children to go to college. From the many articles I have read about this age group, a common thread is that they are often tasked with caring for their children, their parents, or both.

Also, something that is important to them is working to make the world a better place, whether caring for the environment or local charitable groups. Generally, the Baby Boomer generation is proactive in the way that they care for the world and for other people.

The proactivity of this generation is a major reason why we are encouraging those who may have an interest in our services to pre-plan their final arrangements. The youngest Baby Boomers will turn 65 in 2029, which doesn’t seem too far away to me at this point. This will take the percentage of people aged 65 or older as of 2029 up to a shocking 20 percent. To provide a reference, it was 14 percent in 2012.

In Wilmington in 2021, there were 19,880 seniors out of 98,773 adults. This shows that the senior population was already over 20 percent, and with the influx of retirees and seniors moving into our area, it is likely that number will only continue to grow.

With substantial numbers and more interest in being proactive about things, we believe the Baby Boomers will present a growing demand for our services, so the importance of pre-planning cannot be understated. Aside from alleviating the financial and emotional burden experienced by those who are left behind, pre-planning makes it possible to lock in services at current rates.

After understanding that the cost of funeral and cemetery services doubles every eight to 10 years, it is easy to see why pre-planning makes sound financial sense. To connect with someone who can help you create a plan that will save the people you love and care about unnecessary pain and an increased financial burden, call 910-799-1686 or visit www. dignitymemorial.com.

910.799.1686 | DIGNITYMEMORIAL.COM

Michael Higgins is Sales Manager for Dignity Memorial®, which cares for more than 300,000 families each year through its network of more than 2,000 providers throughout North America. Learn more at www.DignityMemorial.com, or call Greenlawn Memorial Park, Oleander Memorial Gardens and Coble Funeral and Cremation Services at Greenlawn Memorial Park, (910) 799-1686.

MARKRAFT CABINETS

EASY UPGRADES FOR YOUR MEDIA ROOM

It is often said that the kitchen is the hub of the home, and it is one of the spaces that usually gets the most attention when it comes to design. A quick tour through a new home community will illustrate the importance of the kitchen, as nearly all newly built homes have the kitchen open to the family room.

But after last year and all of the forced downtime, many of us are realizing that the media room is one of the most important spaces in our homes. After all, if you’re going to binge-watch seven seasons of a TV show, you might as well be comfortable right?

Though the ideas and suggestions listed here may not improve the content you’re watching, they can definitely enhance the look of your space and make the experience more pleasurable: • Use artwork to conceal the TV - If your media room doubles as a family room or living room, having a sliding art panel or a set of custom bifolding doors to conceal the TV can make the room feel more intentional and sophisticated. • Bring the theater home - Painting the walls a dark color, bringing in plush, movie theater-style seats and blackout curtains are relatively easy, inexpensive changes to make. • Use built-in cabinetry - Having custom cabinetry built around, under and beside the TV can be a great way to enhance your home’s aesthetic appeal. By creating a space to hide speakers, DVDs, remotes and game controllers, a clutterfree design concept can be achieved. • Increase surface space - Integrating a corner side table into your design can help ensure that the popcorn, soda and candy is never too far to reach. It can also allow for the use of a big comfy ottoman instead of a coffee table. • Home network upgrade - That giant brand-new 4K TV may not be very enjoyable to watch if the network is constantly freezing up. Most of the new content requires a lot of bandwidth to stream it without a problem, and who wants to wait for a video to load? Upgrading the Internet can be a simple way to improve your home viewing experience. • Use custom accent lighting - Having a few small accent lights that are dedicated solely for movie watching can make it feel as if you are inside a theater instead of at home, but with technology being what it is these days, it is now possible to control everything from the shades, lights, speakers and TV with as little as the touch of one button.

For some practical ideas for enhancing the aesthetic appeal, comfort factor and technological capabilities of your media room, living room or family room, contact the professionals at Markraft today. They are excited to have the opportunity to help create a design plan that meets your needs and talk with you about how to begin renovations and/ or make the most or your current space.

910.793.0202 | MARKRAFT.COM

President and General Manager Cee Edwards and his team of talented designers invites you to visit Markraft’s Design Studio, 2705 Castle Creek Lane, just off Castle Hayne Road. Markraft’s professional kitchen and bath designers consult by appointment.

MCKEE HOMES

MCKEE HOMES - SUMMER 2021

We’ve Moved! Being the rapidly growing North Carolina born and bred homebuilder we are, McKee Homes has relocated our headquarters to the North Hills area of Raleigh, NC. In addition to the new corporate office, construction is currently underway for the opening of a brand-new Raleigh Design Studio in November. McKee Homes Wilmington Design Studio is getting an upgrade as well. Beginning later this year, our design studio in Wilmington will be remodeled to showcase all the latest and greatest features offered by McKee Homes. These positive changes are to better serve our Raleigh, Fayetteville, Pinehurst and Wilmington-area based homebuyers! New Communities Update

Our newest coastal community, Colbert Place, features 45 boutique style homesites offering upscale living in the heart of north Brunswick County. Located in Leland, just across the Cape Fear River you can enjoy historic downtown Wilmington shoppes, the popular Riverwalk, your favorite seafood restaurants as well as some of the best beaches in North Carolina. Colbert Place just recently released its first few homesites to the public with prices in the $300’s and will be move in ready this Fall.

McKee Homes has released several new home opportunities in our current Wilmington communities. Seaside Bay, located in Supply, is a beautiful, wooded, gated new home community with direct access to the Lockwood Folly River from its own community boat launch. Seaside Bay is perfect for entertaining the whole family with outdoor living in mind including a community fire pit, gas grill and gazebo. Just a few minutes away is New South Bridge, our single-family home community with tons of amenities and quick move in homes opportunities.

For those looking for a 55+ community, check out The Courtyards at Scott’s Hill Village, Bellaport and The Courtyards at Mallory Retreat. These neighborhoods offer several maintenance free features and are sure to impress.

Don’t forget to check out our website at www.McKeeHomesNC.com to keep track of our expanding footprint in the coastal region. We have several communities coming to the market later this year.

910.672.7296 | MCKEEHOMESNC.COM Coastal Community Involvement

As part of our Community Embrace initiatives, members of Team McKee were excited to participate in the annual Brigade Boys and Girls Backpack Campaign. This campaign provides children with backpacks that are piled high with school supplies to begin their school year. McKee associates banded together and raised over $1,200 and 10 backpacks for these children, with the generous support from Julie and Pat McKee matching all employee donations to the cause! Best of luck to all the students headed back to school.

PATHFINDER WEALTH CONSULTING

FINANCIAL LITERACY DOESN’T HAVE TO BE ROCKET SCIENCE

In past generations, financial literacy was simple. If you did not have the money in your pocket, you didn’t buy it. Credit, loans, and other financial products have all come about as consumer habits have changed. This means financial literacy has also changed. Financial literacy is an understanding of your financial situation and the options available to you. This knowledge equips you to manage your current assets and income, and to build a framework for future decisions. It is not just about the money you are spending; it is about the choices you are making every day, with a focus on the future. While the level of financial education varies across education and income levels, evidence has shown that highly educated consumers with high incomes are not immune to financial illiteracy. We have worked with a couple who had an annual income of about $1million. Most people would assume that family was very financially literate. However, despite this impressive income, the family’s net worth was not increasing, and their savings rates were unimpressive. It is not simply a matter of how much income you are bringing in, it is about how much money you are putting away. The focus cannot just be on growing your income but growing your net worth in the most efficient way (a combination of increasing assets and reducing liabilities). Simply put, it is about living below your means and investing the difference.

A good first step is taking an inventory of your financial situation and knowing where you are today, so you can connect the dots to where you want to go. Creating a household income statement, balance sheet, and budget, is a great first move. From there, identify the differences in your needs, wants, and wishes so you can prioritize and balance your current lifestyle with the future you want.

Your financial situation also includes your resources, net worth, insurance policies, etc. You should be able to conduct a cash flow analysis to understand your savings rate, contributions to retirement accounts and other investments, and your future potential for social security and pensions. On the investment side, financial literacy goes beyond knowing what you are invested in; it is also understanding the risk associated with your portfolio, the potential upside and downside, your rate of return, and income potential.

As you approach retirement, there will be even more factors to consider: navigating insurance and Medicare, establishing an income stream and portfolio withdrawal rates, understanding your Social Security options, and maximizing your tax situation. Major transitions are when all the work gets done; therefore, it is important to plan ahead, so the execution is seamless, you aren’t playing catch up, and you avoid major mistakes.

The good news is that you do not need to be an expert in all these areas. A basic understanding will give you the knowledge to speak with a trusted advisor to create a long-term plan and be your guiding light for important decisions.

At Pathfinder, we pride ourselves on providing that sense of security for our clients. Everyone needs to have a role in their financial life, but you do not have to walk the path alone. If you are ready to take the first step, give us a call at 910-793-0616. We are here to guide you forward.

Katie Henderson is Marketing Director for Pathfinder Wealth Consulting, an independent financial planning and investment management firm in Wilmington. Pathfinder’s comprehensive financial planning process is driven by a step-by-step process that will direct each individual down the path of developing their financial goals and putting them into action.

910.793.0616 | PWCPATH.COM 4018 OLEANDER DRIVE, SUITE 102, WILMINGTON, NC 28403