Growing up, Olivia Ceci had big ambitions for her career, but Broadway wasn’t one of them. For one thing, she doesn’t sing or act. In fact, she knew nothing about the world of musical theater. But when her chance to win Season 11 of So You Think You Can Dance slipped through her fingers, her dance teacher, Bette-Ann Rossi, saw the loss as an opportunity to light a new flame. “I know it’s your dream, but I really think you’ll be on Broadway one day,” said Rosie, who the dancers affectionately call “Miss Betty.” As it turns out, she was prescient. Cece’s career on Broadway is flourishing. In fact, you can catch her rock heart Now on Broadway!
Sissy was born and raised in Rhode Island and spent most of her training at the Atwood Center for the Performing Arts. There she met Rosie, a woman who would become the most important teacher in her life. After discovering Sissy at a middle school talent show, Rosie invited the 7-year-old to dance at her studio. “It’s a great school, very well-trained,” Cese said. “Miss Betty [was a ballroom dancer known for her old-school jazz classes. She was phenomenal.”
During her senior year of high school, Rossi told Cece she had cancer. “She told me to meet her at the studio early so it would be just us. Then, she showed me her hair falling out and said, ‘Miss Bette’s got a little bit of cancer.’ ” It was stage four, and just four months later, Rossi passed away. “She told me that I was one of her proudest accomplishments—it was one of the last things I remember her saying to me,” Cece says. Before her passing, Rossi gave Cece a necklace with a small bird on it. “She said I was her free spirit. She told me to go off and fly and do all the things that she and I had planned. I got that bird tattooed on my hand.”
And fly she has. Cece earned her BFA in the commercial dance program at Pace University. While there she expanded her training to singing and acting, and built relationships with major choreographers in Los Angeles and New York City. Through her senior showcase, she signed with Clear Talent and started working straight after graduation. Her first job was American Dance Spectacular, with Al Blackstone, followed by dancing on “Saturday Night Live” with Miley Cyrus (choreographed by Nick Kenkel). “Those jobs felt like gifts to me as I crossed the bridge from student to pro dancer,” Cece says. From there, her career took off. Her film and TV credits include Disney’s “Better Nate Than Never” and Nickelodeon’s “Blue’s Big City Adventure,” and her theater credits include Kaylee in the first national tour of The Prom, the 5-week workshop of Andy Blankenbuehler’s Only Gold, the first national tour of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Moulin Rouge! The Musical on Broadway. “I was asked to come in and do [Moulin Rouge] I stayed for just three weeks in December 2022, but I never really left. That is, until February 2024, when Cece is currently booked in the original cast of Broadway rock heart.
When booking rock heart: “My whole audition was done in one day. Before they cut it, they had us do a full ’80s jazz techno set that included some stepping and some improvisation. Then they asked me to stay on as a partner and then go on For another cut, I was asked to stay and sing for them. I sang some Stevie Nicks songs for them and I came away feeling really good about it, even wearing something from my own 80s style Ilogear dance clothing line: A high-cut bodysuit paired with a bandeau sports bra and flared pants.
“For four weeks I didn’t hear anything and then I got an email from my agent saying I was still in it. My mom said she would pray for me and if this was meant to be, then Got it. The following weekend, I got it. this A call from my agent. The office was almost closing, but she didn’t want me to wait. “You will be part of the original cast rock heart,’ she says. I’m very excited.
On Rossi’s influence: “Miss Betty will always hold the most important place in my heart and my life for many reasons. I spend more time in the studio than at home. My family has been through different challenges, And the studio is my rock. Miss Betty is a strong, solid figure in my life, and the studio is where I feel most visible and comfortable. She not only trains me, but gives me everything I need as a dancer. , and she’s also a role model for me as a woman. We had a wonderful friendship, and if I could have one person looking out for me right now, it would definitely be her. Moulin RougeI would look out into the audience and sing “Come What May,” and I would get excited imagining her there, seeing her vision come to life.
On her future dreams: I would love to continue to be involved in new programs and processes at the theatre. I love the creative collaboration found on this show and hope to do more of it. I also wanted to create some major pieces that really highlighted the dancers. In addition to acting, I would like to use my leadership and business experience to direct or run a project. I already had my degree and I wanted to go back and get my master’s degree. I could see myself running a school like Pace one day. It would be cool to be able to give back and share something that I wish I had more of while in school.
