sports illustrated founder

We've all had the dream where we arrive in class naked. And the one where a faceless attacker chases us through the streets. Then there is the dream where we soar like an eagle high above the cliffs.

That's the one Amelia Rudolph turned into reality. She is founder and artistic director of Oakland, Calif.-based Project Bandaloop, an aerial dance company that performs on the face of cliffs and skyscrapers.

At 4 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the company will dance on the south side of the Continental Building, about 150 feet above Olive Street in Grand Center.

"Everyone dreams about flying," Rudolph says. "That is absolutely what this feels like. There is that joy that comes when you push 15, 20, 25 feet off a building."

Project Bandaloop's appearance is the highlight of Grand Center's dance festival, featuring four stages of local dance companies, local bands and dance lessons. Performers will include St. Louis Cultural Flamenco Society, Groupo Azucar, Mayer School of Irish Dance, Harris Stowe Honeycombs, Missouri River Cloggers, Alexandra Ballet, Dances of India, COCA's Ballet Eclectica, aTrek Dance Collective, Patzius Performing Arts and many others.
Rudolph chose the Continental Building after touring other Grand Center venues, including the Fox Theatre and Powell Hall. Her seven dancers and riggers will suspend ropes from the building's roof and use the ledge near the top as a springboard for jetés and somersaults. Rudolph has adapted previous works for Saturday's show.

"I didn't choose the Continental because it's the easiest building ― because it's not," she says. "The back of the Fox would have been easier because it's flat, but the Continental's architecture has such personality. The beauty and the lines are quite spectacular. It will have it's own visual punch."

Rudolph certainly knows how to pick a stage. Project Bandaloop has performed at dozens of unlikely spots, such as the Seattle Space Needle, San Francisco International Airport and the New York Stock Exchange. In the wild, the company has dived off the Sierra Nevada and spun like tops in Yosemite National Park.

Magazines as varied as Sports Illustrated and Dance have chronicled Project Bandaloop's ascent during the past 16 years.

"We're taking it to the streets," Rudolph says. "By celebrating the urban environment, we hope to make people more mindful of the space around them. After people see us dance on a building, it will forever be part of their memory of that building."

Rudolph is an experienced mountain climber, as are most of her dancers. No one has fallen during a performance, but one dancer dislocated a shoulder in Poland. World famous mountain climber Steve Schneider, a wilderness first-responder, is on standby just in case.
BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Carroll Shelby, Bob Bondurant, Phil Remington and other racing heroes will headline the Shelby American Collection's 11th annual celebration at its museum in Boulder on December 1, 2007. The annual holiday party honors the race history of Carroll Shelby, his legendary 1960s Shelby American Team and the automobiles they built. This year marks the 40th anniversary of their victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967, as well as the team's championship Trans Am team. The celebration will debut an original painting by automotive fine artist Bill Neale.

"We've planned the most ambitious gala in the museum's history with a prestigious guest list and historic cars that will make the evening very special," said Steven Volk, Shelby American Collection co-founder. "Carroll and our guests will enjoy a memorable party with highlights such as the unveiling of a Bill Neale painting that will be sold that evening to benefit our endowment fund."

Carroll Shelby, one of America's greatest race car drivers, dominated sports car racing success in the mid-1950s, twice being named Sports Illustrated's "Driver of the Year." His crowning achievement as a driver came in 1959, when he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

When he retired from racing in 1960 due to a heart ailment, Shelby forged a relationship with Ford Motor Company that created performance magic. Attracting talented individuals from the aerospace community and tapping Ford's resources, he founded Shelby American to create the legendary Cobra sports car.

In 1963, Shelby took a team of Cobras to Europe to challenge Ferrari, Porsche and Jaguar on their own turf. Bob Bondurant, Dan Gurney, Ken Miles and others captured the Grand Touring World Championship for Team Shelby in 1965. Gurney and Bondurant returned the next year for Team Shelby to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ford GT40. The team repeated their Le Mans win in 1967. At the same time, Shelby's operations turned out the Shelby 289 and 427 Cobras, as well as Shelby GT350s and GT500s based on the Ford Mustang.

This year, the Shelby American Collection will feature the magnificent 427-powered GT40 Mk II driven by Ken Miles and Denis Hulme to second place in the three-car sweep of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966. The GT40 driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon won first, while the GT40 of Ronnie Bucknam and Dick Hutcherson captured third in one of the closest finishes in the history of the endurance classic.

In addition to Carroll Shelby, museum special guests will include 1964 Le Mans GT class winner and 1965 F.I.A. World Championship driver Bob Bondurant, Shelby American Team driver Lew Spencer, team R&D Director Phil Remington, GT350 Project Manager Chuck Cantwell and Tom Yaeger. Shelby Automobiles president Amy Boylan and Bill Neale will also be on hand.

A founding member of the Automotive Fine Arts Society, Bill Neale's paintings form the centerpiece of many exclusive private and museum collections across the globe. While a contributing artist for magazines and books, he is best known for his private commissions of cars ranging from vintage race cars to the newest models out of Munich, Detroit and Tokyo.

The Shelby American Collection's 11th annual event is expected to draw a crowd of over 400 attendees. The party is the non-profit organization's sole fund-raising event of the year with proceeds benefiting the ongoing operation of the Shelby American Collection museum.

About the Shelby American Collection

Founded in 1996, the Shelby American Collection is dedicated to the preservation of Shelby automobiles and the history of the 1960s Shelby American racing team. The non-profit organization's 10,000 square foot facility museum in Boulder, Colo., houses one of the world's most extensive and significant collections of Shelby American racing automobiles. The collection also includes many rare, prototypical and developmental parts, race trophies, historical records, driving and crew uniforms, artwork, vintage models and many other unique items. The Shelby American Collection museum is open to the public on Saturdays. For more information, visit the website at

What other dance company can claim that?

"It makes us difficult to define," Rudolph says. "People want to know if we are dancers or climbers, athletes or graceful artists. We aren't either-or. We are athletes and graceful artists. We are hybrids of all of those things."
When the gun sounded on Detroit's 59-14 victory over Cleveland in the 1957 championship game, hundreds of fans stormed the field and carried linebacker and captain Joe Schmidt and quarterback Tobin Rote off on their shoulders.

One of those fans became a famous collegiate head coach.

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A week later, 18-year-old Riverview High senior Bill McCartney was delighted to open Sports Illustrated and see himself -- identified by his varsity jacket -- in the crowd carrying Schmidt off the field.

"My high school band was invited to play at the game, and the director asked me if I would like to come along, so I got in without a ticket and stood on the field," said McCartney, the former University of Colorado football coach and founder of the Promise Keepers.

"I was a linebacker, and Joe Schmidt was my hero, so I immediately ran to him at the end of that unforgettable game. It was such a thrill to be there on the field with Schmidt and later showing everyone the Sports Illustrated photo."

NEW YORK, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell,
Tiger Woods, and NBA Chairman David Stern top BusinessWeek's inaugural "The
Power 100" ranking of the 100 most powerful people in sports. Peyton
Manning ranks as the top NFL athlete at No. 13, U.S. newcomer David Beckham
comes in at No. 17, and Katie Bayne, Senior VP at Coca-Cola, is the
highest-ranked woman on the list at No. 67.
What is power in sports? In the October 8 issue, BusinessWeek combines
its business insights with the sports knowledge of ESPN The Magazine's
writers and editors to reveal, for the first time, an in-depth examination
of how power manifests itself in the sports world. Both publications will
feature shared content that analyzes "Power and Sports," and each will
offer articles that are exclusive to their magazines.
BusinessWeek exclusively undertook the mammoth and challenging project
of producing "The Power 100," a ranking of the 100 most powerful people in
sports. (ESPN The Magazine, itself a powerful sports brand, did not
participate in or contribute to the ranking.) The result of these efforts
is an insightful roster of league commissioners, top athletes, media execs,
high profile agents, team owners and leading sports brand CEOs.
To compile this first-ever list of sports figures, BusinessWeek reached
out to 21 distinguished people from the worlds of sports and media. The
panelists were given several criteria to help guide them. Among the
criteria: how an individual rates against his or her peers; how much money
he or she controls, generates, or influences; how long someone has
exercised power and the lasting consequences of that person's tenure -- his
or her legacy. For additional help, BusinessWeek turned to the fans. In the
space of four weeks, 160,000 fans stormed BusinessWeek.com to nominate
their favorite powerbrokers.
In addition to "The Power 100" ranking, BusinessWeek's October 8 issue
features:
-- Case studies on trailblazers in the sports industry
-- Profiles of select sports figures, including NFL Commissioner Roger
Goodell
-- The shadow players -- relatively unknown, but influential all the same
BusinessWeek's October 8 issue, "The Power 100," will be available on
newsstands Monday, October 1. Expanded content, including infamous moments
in sports, profiles, exclusive videos and slideshows, and the full
methodology of the ranking, will be available online at