BOSTON, Mass. (WPRI) — This week’s Cardi’s Furniture & Mattresses Hometown Sports Hero is Fallon Santos.
The 9-Year-old Providence resident is showing off her best moves to some of the biggest crowds in New England, performing on the court at Boston Celtics and Connecticut Sun games with her Lil’ Phunk Dance Team.
“It’s very, very, very, very nerve wracking, but when I’m with my team and myself, we just give each other energy off the crowd, off of us, and our coaches, off everyone here in the stadium,” Santos said. “So basically, we go by the energy and it’s just like, ‘Whoa!”
A 4th grader at the Lincoln School, Santos has made sacrifices to be part of Lil’ Phunk, which is based in Everett, Massachusetts.
“I don’t even know how I balance everything, because I dance in a lot of places, and I dance at home and I practice and stuff so it’s hard to combine dance with school,” Santos said. “With projects, with everything, it’s like ‘Whoa, I have to get this done and then I have to get this done and then I have to get this done.’ So, it’s like, OK, I have to do this then I have to do this, then it will be all set.”
Fallon is planning to continue with Lil’ Phunk next season, and she’s hoping to take her dancing to another level in her second season with the squad. Performing on the biggest stage, something she wants to pursue as a career.
“I kind of feel like I want to become a professional Hip Hop dancer, or just dancer,” Santos said. “I feel like I love either one. I just want to be myself and express myself with dance.”
“She just has that ‘It,’ factor that really lights up the court and when she’s on the Jumbotron, you can see her face shining,” said Lil’ Phunk Coach Reia Briggs-Connor. “And she’s a hard, hard worker, always listening, always focused. She’s just a great kid to coach.”
If you have a Hometown Sports Hero you’d like to nominate, email sports@wpri.com.
