Latest news with #GioBattaglia
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Dancing with the Arc' to return to Innovative Field Thursday: How to get involved
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — If you're in the mood to dance, The Arc of Monroe has you covered when its third annual 'Dancing with the Arc' competition returns to Innovative Field this Thursday! Five Rochester 'celebrities' including News 8's Gio Battaglia, alongside five people supported by the Arc of Monroe are paired together to learn a dance. Each duo will perform their routine for a panel of celebrity judges on Thursday. Each duo's dance also has its own theme. Gio alongside his partner Georgana will be performing a tribute to 'Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour' — incorporating songs from the 'reputation' and '1989' eras. News 8 stopped by Sunday morning's rehearsal to watch the dance and hear a bit more about the competition from Gio, Georgana, and their choreographer, Nazareth University student Grace Burkin. 'It's a lot of fun in the studio, just being able to come in and shake it off, having a lot of fun, just kind of being creative through movement and exploring yourself in a different way,' Burkin said. 'Access is one of the most important things for accessibility and inclusion. And so, supporting things like the Arc of Monroe through Dancing with the Arc and other fundraisers is really important.' 'It just worked out perfectly,' Dancing with the Arc dancer Georgana Morsch said. 'The pairing was amazing, and I knew he was gonna be the best partner.' She also added why she likes to dance. 'I like to dance because it's like good exercise and feel the beat of the music,' Morsch said. 'Coming into the competition, knowing that you have a partner with your likeness definitely helped make the dance more energetic. And we're excited to show everyone at Innovative Field!,' News 8's Gio Battaglia said. 'It's just fun. You get to see five amazing couples dance. They put so much time and energy into it that it makes it all worth it.' Tickets for the event are $25 — with $10 of that being a voucher that can be used for food and drinks inside the stadium. And if you can't make it to Innovative Field Thursday, you can show your support with a $5 vote for your favorite couple which goes directly to The Arc of Monroe. For more information, utilize the following links: Dancing with the Arc: Event Overview Dancing with the Arc: Vote for Gio & Georgana Dancing with the Arc: Buy tickets for the event Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing' stars give News 8 an inside look at survival
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — It's all about one thing: survival. In a groundbreaking season, fourteen top survivalists will venture into the perilous Australian Outback, facing extreme conditions, deadly snakes, and fierce competition, as the most intense and surprising installment of 'Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing' debuts. Survivalists Matt Wright and Cheeny Plante sat down with News 8's Gio Battaglia this week about competing in the latest season. News 8's Gio Battaglia: What was it like coming back for the new season? Matt Wright: It was the best. You've got to be a little bit crazy just to keep coming back. That craziness keeps us from going completely insane, I guess. News 8's Gio Battaglia: How does it compare to previous seasons you've competed in? Was there anything that happened that was unexpected? Cheeny Plante: I thought it was way more in action packed. I love the environment. I love the cast that was chosen. The challenges were amazing. Weather was perfect. Everything about it was just great. Matt Wright: This one definitely was a bucket list place being Australia. I think sometimes the most dangerous, deadly places, are sometimes the best adventure Then this one, obviously, you know, that bucket list kind of got knocked down a bit as I found myself going into elimination right off the bat. And it happens, any little slip, it shows you that all the training of everything you could still mess up, it is just about how well you could stand back up. News 8's Gio Battaglia: I know when a lot of people watch the show, they think, 'Oh, I could do this.' But if they were ever presented the chance, they'd probably run scared. What keeps you guys coming back? Matt Wright: What keeps me coming back, I would say is the inspiration. It's the people, the little kid that'll see me on the street, or, you know, anyone that says they've gone through a hard part in their life and because they've watched our challenge, it helped them get through that tough thing. If they were getting through cancer, disability, whatever it might be. There's a lot of people that have messaged me through the years saying, 'Thank you for taking on such a difficult thing when I was going through chemotherapy.' or 'You were my saving grace.' If he's running around naked, doing it, I can do it and and that always keeps me coming back. It's a tug at the heartstrings, and I find myself running around naked all over the world that way. Cheeny Plante: We see the adventure and the chance to get out and get away and kind of go back in time and live how humans are supposed to live? News 8's Gio Battaglia: If this was someone's first time tuning in for the new season, talk a little bit about what they can expect and what some of the competition looks like. Matt Wright: If it's your first time tuning in, what you're going to find out here on this is that 'Naked and Afraid' is trying to survive the elements. You're just trying to like survive, and 'Last One Standing' is you now have to survive your peers in an array of different competitions while you still survive. And as tough as this is, it takes mental strength, physical strength, and it takes a little bit of strategizing, a little bit of pre planning, and being able to improvise on the spot. You'll see on this last one standing. It's gonna be some of the toughest competition yet. And it's one of the toughest places on the planet. And you will see a heck of an adventure. Cheeny Plante: They definitely picked some of the best people that have ever been on this franchise. The challenges are fast paced. There's many moving parts. It's a lot. It's very exciting. It's lots of highs, ups and downs, lows, unexpected twists and turns. You don't want to miss a single episode, because something crazy happens in every one. I promise you. News 8's Gio Battaglia: Talk a little bit about the fan favorites that came back. What was it like being in the lineup with these other fan favorites? Cheeny Plante: It's pretty cool to be right up there with Matt and Laura and Max — some of these hard, seasoned veterans. It says a lot, and it's kind of it's an honor to be amongst these people. Matt Wright: Without a doubt, it's humbling. It's humbling because I understand how tough it is to do this challenge as much as anyone it and to go out there with people who decide to go and to continue to take it on. Whether someone has has done a few challenges like Cheeney, or has done seven, eight challenges, or it's their first or second challenge, it's humbling to be out there with people who have the same mindset to want to go and run around with nothing and try to not just survive, but try to win this challenge. News 8's Gio Battaglia: I guess my last question would be just reiterating that message of why you do it, and the message that people can take away once they watch the show other than trying to see survival skills. Matt Wright: You're going to want to watch 'Last One Standing' as you'll be able to figure out your own strategy of how you might take it on and and see if it works in adapting to this environment. You'll learn a lot of different survival skills. There'll be a lot of things that we're doing out there that you may not have even thought about. You might have to do one day, but it will definitely keep you on your toes, because it's anyone's game, and because of that, it, there's really no way to ever predict what's going to happen next. Cheeny Plante: This kind of stuff takes a lot of grit, lot of hard work, lot of dedication. And I hope people see that the harder you work, the greater your reward will be in life. News 8's Gio Battaglia: Anything else that I might have glossed over that you think is important to hit home before the new season airs? Matt Wright: I'd say one thing is just while you're seeing this challenge unfold, you have to also remember that it's a challenge to survive for a month in the Australian outback. It's one thing to think, you know, individual challenges, maybe won or lost, but you have to survive a month. And to survive a month alone is not an easy task. Not everybody will make it. Not everybody can just survive out there for that month. That is a big thing to take away while you see the challenges take part. Remember that you'd have to also be able to not die while you're out there for a month in the outback. Cheeny Plante: We're under an extreme amount of pressure when we're out there. For sure, we're all human, so you're going to see a lot of mistakes. 'Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing' airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on Discovery. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
INSIDE LOOK: Docu on Ani DiFranco's career to screen at The Little next week
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — For nearly 35 years, musician Ani DiFranco has graced the world with her music. With more than 20 albums released to date, the Buffalo native has used her platform to back causes including abortion rights and LGBTQ+ visibility. This month, a documentary highlighting DiFranco's captivating life story is being brought home. Titled '1-800-ON-HER-OWN,' two screenings will take place at The Little Theatre on East Avenue on Thursday, May 15, and Saturday, May 17. Director Dana Flor sat down with News 8's Gio Battaglia to discuss the film and the inspiration that brought it to life. News 8's Gio Battaglia: Tell me about the documentary. What made you want to do this project? Dana Flor: '1-800-ON-HER-OWN' is a documentary about Ani DiFranco. I had the opportunity to meet her, and I was really captivated by her amazing life story. I was also really captivated by her persona. She's so incredibly sort of cinematic and an incredibly honest person with an amazing tale. It was an untold story. So, I'm always kind of drawn to stories like that. News 8's Gio Battaglia: Tell me about how the documentary takes viewers into DiFranco's life. Dana Flor: The film is a mixture of her past and her present. And I had the good fortune to meet Ani at a very specific time in her life where a lot of things were happening. And one of the things that did happen was COVID. So, we sort of ride out that, and we also reflect back on her past as a young teenager growing up in Buffalo, New York, and forging her own record label and all that. It is sort of intermixing of the past and the present. News 8's Gio Battaglia: How did DiMarco react when you wanted to make a film about her life? Tell me about her involvement in the film. Dana Flor: She obviously was present during the whole thing. Towards the end of the film, she was really busy with Hadestown, so probably not a lot of involvement, but she sort of gave me free reign to tell her story. I was really fortunate to have a lot of trust on her part, and spent a lot of time with her. It was quite a few years there. I started it in 2019, and this film premiered and Tribeca last year. So, it's a real labor of love. Took a long time, but we're really proud of it. News 8's Gio Battaglia: What were the fans reactions at the Tribeca Film Festival? Dana Flor: Tribeca was one of the most amazing screenings I had ever been at. It was wild. I mean, I think that her fans are very particular, and they're very passionate. And they were wild, they laughed, they cried. It felt a little like 'Rocky Horror Picture Show.' It was very participatory. We have done a theatrical rollout through the country, and we found that it's been like this a lot. Her fans are super involved and super receptive, and they also have a tendency to drag people who don't know Ani to the film. So that's been really, really fun. News 8's Gio Battaglia: It is so amazing that this film focuses on a Buffalo native. I am so excited that it is showing at The Little. Dana Flor: It really is, I'm really glad to be able to sort of bring the film home. Obviously Upstate New York, Buffalo, was truly formative and who Ani was and is. So, it's great. And I bet there's a lot of people who are going to come out that can say, 'Oh, I remember in 1993 I thought…' I think that'll be really fun. News 8's Gio Battaglia: What else should viewers know going into the film? Dana Flor: This is a timely story. Ani's real North Star is her activism as a feminist. And again, another thing that happened during the filming was the Dobbs decision. So, you know, the death of Roe versus Wade. So, I think her work as a feminist, as an activist, is really central to who she is. It's central throughout the film, and it's sadly, incredibly timely right now. Tickets to '1-800-ON-HER-OWN' are available on The Little's website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
INTERVIEW: ‘Leverage: Redemption's' new season now streaming on Prime Video
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — For four years, action-thriller 'Leverage' dominated TV on TNT. When the show ended in 2012, the producers thought there were more stories to tell. This led to the revival series 'Leverage: Redemption' kicking off its first season in 2021. Now, with season three premiering Thursday, the series is moving from network 'Freevee' to 'Prime Video.' The series follows a Robin Hood-esque team of criminals as they stage elaborate cons against wealthy and powerful individuals on behalf of clients who have been wronged. News 8's Gio Battaglia spoke with the show's stars: Gina Bellman and Beth Riesgraf about what's in store for the new season. Gio Battaglia: It's gotta be an exciting week with season three just around the corner! Gina Bellman: Thrilling. It really is so exciting. I couldn't be happier. Gio Battaglia: Tell me a little bit about what fans can expect this season. I know it's also a move to Prime Video. So a lot, a lot's happening with this new season. Beth Riesgraf: They can expect the same shenanigans with all the characters, and their interpersonal relationships are a lot of fun. There's a lot going on with everybody emotionally this season — and then all the action and international appeal that the show has is really present. Being on Prime has given us this great boost to do chase sequences in Paris and fight scenes in Serbia and all the things. So, I think fans are going to be really excited to see all the worlds we play in this season. Gina Bellman: I think they'll also be pleased that we haven't run out of bad guys to take down. They just keep coming thick and fast, just like in the real world, and you can always rely on our crew to bring them down. Gio Battaglia: I love that. So, since the original show ended in 2012. How did it feel to kind of come back into these characters and continue these stories? Gina Bellman: It was the craziest journey for us. We all got the same phone call from our boss, Dean Devlin, who is a legend to all of us and television in general, he called us each individually and said, 'How do you feel about putting the band back together?' And that was such an innovative way of putting it. And we all just like, jumped up and down, and we've been celebrating ever since. Gio Battaglia: What's been the reaction from the fans? Beth Riesgraf: They're flipping out. They've been so supportive. I mean, they're the reason that we keep coming back. It's so great. Our community is so supportive and so engaged in everything we're doing along the way. They're so supportive. So, they, I mean, from Facebook to X to Instagram. I feel our audience is really growing and growing and growing, and I'm so excited for new people to also join us on Amazon Prime this time around. Gio Battaglia: I know that we touched on, obviously in the first response, what fans can expect. But take me a little bit deeper. What was your favorite part of taping this season? Gina Bellman: My favorite episode this season takes us actually into the future, where we meet a bad guy who is freezing people after their death, and he's charging their families like an exorbitant fee to keep them going with the promise that maybe they can be resuscitated. But we kind of fake a future world and for and that's a Jonathan Frakes episode, who's one of our great regular directors, who's wonderful with comedy. So, it's like, my favorite episodes are always the ones with the great, like hijinks, like super comedy. And that's, that's one to look forward to. What's yours, Beth? Beth Riesgraf: I think, as a performer, diving into the horror genre, which we do during one of the episodes this season, we've never done this like this before. That was really exciting. And then as a director, it would be, you know, personally, I just love the episode, which is based actually on a true story about a corrupt judge who's also the mayor and is stealing from the townspeople, essentially set up a speed trap and taking their money and doing horrible things. So, I loved working with Gina, especially in this episode, because she has a really beautiful arc for Sophie, and she absolutely crushed it. And I designed an incredible fight sequence that Christian actually nailed the heck out of in a way almost that we've never really done before. So, for me, it was really challenging in a way. As a director, that was really exciting for me. Gio Battaglia: It's evident in the clips that I watched that the cast enjoys working together, and it's told through the plot lines of these episodes. So, talk a little bit about the cast dynamic. Gina Bellman: We've always just had a really good click. I don't quite know how they pulled it off, but you know what I think we all love about the show is that it is a true ensemble in that we read a script, and it comes in and I might like call Beth and say, 'Hey, actually, this, this is a really good moment for you. Let's ask them to expand that.' Or Christian might say, 'Hey, this is a moment for you and I to have some rapport.' And we're always collaborating. And this year, the three of us, are acting as executive producers as well. So, it's really nice to have that acknowledgement that not only do we click, but and lift each other up, but that we're so invested in making the show better and better and better for the fans. Beth Riesgraf: I think that thing that essence and fun that the fans show up for, we really are feeling that as characters, but as performers and artists. And it's like, I think that is the thing, at least, when I watch TV, I show up because I feel like I know the people I'm about to hang out with, and I'm excited to see what they get up to, and we organically, like Gina said, we all just bounce off each other in such a fun, authentic way. But I think that's what keeps us all coming back with such excitement. And it really is fun. Gio Battaglia: Do you guys have anything else you want to highlight before anything else you wanted to add? Gina Bellman: I think what's great about this show is that you can dip into any episode. So don't worry if you haven't caught up with the show yet. Come to us on season three, fall in love with the characters and on Amazon Prime, and then you can go back and discover the origin stories. Beth Riesgraf: I think fans that have been with us since the beginning of 'Leverage' are going to be really excited to see some of that edge and action and danger being heightened even a little more this season. And I think they're going to have a lot of fun watching it. Season three of 'Leverage: Redemption' is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
