Dance contest packs the house in The Dalles; fundraiser has huge success

Jan 13

The Dalles, Ore. — Rachel Carter may have taken home the mirror ball trophy Friday night, but at the 12th annual Dancing With the Gorge Stars, the real winner was the community.

More than 700 people packed The Dalles High School Auditorium on Jan. 9, filling nearly every seat on the main floor and spilling into the balcony for what has become the largest single-night fundraiser in town.

By the end of the evening, thousands of dollars had been raised to support affordable live music, music education, and outreach programs across the Mid-Columbia region.

“We definitely made money, which is wonderful,” said Patti Blagg, vice president of the Mid-Columbia Community Concert Association. “We printed over 700 tickets, and the auditorium holds about 648 on the lower level alone. Seeing it that full is just incredible.”

The high-energy competition marked the event’s 12th year and featured 72 local dancers — a testament, Blagg said, to the generosity of community members willing to step far outside their comfort zones.

“This event simply would not exist without the amazing people who agree to dance,” Blagg said. “They train, they practice, they put themselves out there in front of everyone, all for the sake of live music and community arts. That’s huge.”

This year’s competition brought together six contestants paired with professional dancers from the Utah Ballroom Dance Company, based out of Corvallis and led by owner Mark Lowes. Audience members voted enthusiastically throughout the night, ultimately crowning Carter the 2025 champion.

But Blagg emphasized that the fundraiser’s purpose goes far beyond the competition itself.

“Our concert series is incredibly affordable — five or six concerts for about $80,” she said. “Are you kidding me? That accessibility is really important to us.”

Beyond concerts, MCCCA’s mission includes education and outreach. Funds raised through Dancing With the Gorge Stars help bring professional musicians — often artists who typically command $5,000 to $10,000 per performance — into schools, assisted living facilities, and community spaces across five counties: Wasco, Hood River, Klickitat, Skamania and Sherman, stretching from Mill A to Wishram, Hood River to Sherman County.

“We pay artists extra to do educational programs,” Blagg said. “Sometimes it’s $500, sometimes $1,000, but the impact is priceless.”

She recalled a recent outreach performance at a local assisted living facility that left a lasting impression.

“One woman hadn’t spoken in years, but she was mouthing every lyric as the singer performed old country songs,” Blagg said. after drying a tear. “Another time at Down Manor in Hood River, a woman who doesn’t speak at all was singing along. It brings tears to my eyes every time. That’s what this is really about.”

This year’s event introduced a new twist to the opening number. Instead of the usual youth performance by The Dalles Dazzling Dancers, 19 alumni dancers from past competitions returned to kick off the night.

“They came out in these red outfits — oh my god, they were beautiful,” Blagg said with a laugh. “They got the crowd going immediately. It was amazing to see so many alumni come back.”

Looking back, Blagg said it’s hard to believe how far the fundraiser has come since its humble — and uncertain — beginnings.

“When I first joined the board, we were financially strapped,” she said. “We were doing garage sales and a lot of work for not much money. I went to a booking conference and stumbled onto this idea. The board loved it, but we couldn’t afford it.”

So she took a leap of faith.

“I paid for that first show myself,” Blagg said. “Tickets were $20. Two weeks before the event, we had sold 18 tickets. Then the sun came out the next day, and suddenly we sold 485. I knew then it was going to work.”

That first year raised about $10,000. Twelve years later, Dancing With the Gorge Stars has become MCCCA’s biggest fundraiser and one of the most anticipated nights on The Dalles’ community calendar.

“It’s the biggest show in town,” Blagg said. “It’s a lot of work — I do this while working full-time — but I’m so proud of it. To see where we started and where we are now is just incredible.”

As the applause faded Friday night and the mirror ball trophy was handed off, the spirit of the evening lingered — not just in the dance steps, but in the shared commitment to keeping live music thriving across the Gorge.

“Let’s put it this way,” Blagg said. “Twelve years later, here we are. And it’s all because the community keeps showing up.”