It's Winner Take All In This Best of Ballroom Brouhaha
Working it out - Utah Ballroom Dance Company Executive Director Mark Lowes gives Erika Wilson some steps to mimic as they practiced last Sunday. They are preparing for Dancing with the Gorge Stars set for Friday, Jan. 14 at The Dalles High School Auditorium at 7 p.m. Get your tickets now.
By Tom Peterson
Not since the movie Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo has there been so much electricity about dancing.
This is like 1984’s Footloose chaos. Think playing chicken with tractors.
This Week in our Very Own House of The Dalles, Dancing with the Gorge Stars will be busting out at 7 p.m. at The Dalles High School Auditorium on Friday, Jan. 14.
And Kevin Bacon has nothing on this plot.
Six locals - amateurs, if you will - have been dancing their tails off with professional dancers during the past week. Who will take it all on Friday night - mirrored ball trophy included?
Just 90 seconds - that’s it - 90 seconds to impress the judges - Pam Jensen, Scott Hege and Addie Case.
And its stiff competition in this Ballroom blitz.
So who would dare to be this vulnerable in front of friends and neighbors to help raise funds for the Mid-Columbia Community Concert Association?
Wait a minute; tickets are $30 at the door or $25 at Klindt’s Booksellers or The Dalles Chamber of Commerce.
And before you make any bets, here is a little precursor on the teams. Comfort levels are on a scale of 1 to 5 - 5 being the most comfortable - like LA-Z-Boy comfortable.
So, with no further ado, the intrepid toe-tappers are:
Todd Carpenter and Bailey Stephens
Carpenter comfort level: “0” - Over underestimated - we smell a dark horse.
Carpenter, 54, is the owner of the Last Stop Saloon. Hopefully, he is as quick on his toes as he is on his taps.
“I think it is going well,” he said at rehearsal on Sunday, Jan. 10. “It took me a long time to say yes” to the competition. “But you know me, I like to help the community. I’m in this race.”
Stephens, 26, is packing a punch. She comes from a background of gymnastics, ballet and most recently ballroom dancing. “When it comes to the actual choreography, we have been sailing through this,” she said.
Hey Dennis, get your own partner. Dennis Morgan poses with Kylie Burns as his partner Annika Pound, was delayed by weather. Owner of Utah Ballroom Dance Company, Mark Lowes came off the sidelines to show Morgan his footwork. “He’s a wild man,” Lowes said. Expect some big steps!
Dennis Morgan and Annika Pound
Morgan Comfort Level: 5 - super comfy with a hint of naivete!
Morgan, 72, is a Principal Broker with Copperwest Real Estate and no newcomer to the stage. He has been in dozens of local plays.
“I love to dance,” he said. “I’m going to put the adrenaline to work. I’m just an overgrown kid, anyway. I plan to be a mirrored ball trophy winner.”
Morgan had been dancing with Utah Ballroom Dance Company executive director Mark Lowes as Pound was delayed.
“He’s a wild man. He’s got such big steps,” Lowes said. “I have to reign him in. He’s got this.”
“These routines are not easy. This is a great group,” Lowes said of all the participants. “High energy.”
Annette Byers and Drew Innis
Byers Comfort Level: 4 - strong sense of skill set! Geometry could be used to their advantage!
Byers, 58, is a mathematics instructor at Columbia Gorge Community College and it just so happens Innis, 26, is also a big math buff, taking courses at Oregon State University.
Look out for the logic in this pair as their count will never fail them.
“I think it is going pretty well,” Byers said. “It’s kind of nice that Drew’s major is math. I was nervous on day one, but it feels a lot better after practice.”
Innis comes with a background in tap, hip hop and mostly ballroom genius.
“We got a shot at winning,” he said, describing their dance as “upbeat and splashy.”
Tria Bullard and Tim Gillespie
Bullard Comfort Level: 3 - is she sandbagging? She just got higher billing!
Bullard is a leadership skills trainer at Google, so don’t let that comfort level 3 fool you. She may be psyching her competitors out. All the greats underestimate themselves. She also let it slip that she had a Peloton instructor who had inspired her to dance - so stamina will not be an issue.
“He’s a really good teacher,” she said of Gillespie who has been tapping and throwing jazz moves for years. “It’s less than 2 minutes. I am comfortable enough to get better. Life is short and it’s fun to learn new things.”
Gillespie said he was pumped to get in front of a crowd. “We can win this,” he said.
Aaron Carter and Kylie Burns
Carter comfort level: 4 - Oh, that’s comfortably fun!
Carter, 37, is a managing partner at Columbia Gorge Motors and is not afraid of a little theater.
He has been making commercials for the local car dealership.
“I was delirious from COVID fatigue,” he said. “This was a great chance to get out and do something. When Patti called, I said, ‘I’m in.”’
Carter also has a little experience. He played Kenickie in Grease in high school in 1996.
So watch out for that Greased Lightning on their shoes, as Burns and Carter put the ballroom into overdrive. They’re dancing for pink slips.
Erika Wilson and John Meo
Wilson comfort level: 8 - oh that’s explosive!
Wilson, 53, is the owner of Columbia Laser Skin Center, and she will be dancing with a passion having taken a new lease on life after a life-threatening illness several years ago.
“I have not danced since high school unless you include the Macarena,” she said. “This is way out of my comfort zone… you got to get out there and be in front of people and be uncomfortable - that’s the good stuff.”
Wilson also has a little Waltzing to Journey’s Open Arms in her back pocket. - You know the standard circle step dance with a foot of space between you and your partner in the middle school cafeteria. - We share in that experience, Erika. And my mom picked me up afterwards too.
“She’s picking it up really well,” said Meo, 21. “We’ve got three more rehearsals. All we have to do is make it look nice.”
Pop those arms and smile, smile, smile!
Final Note
Patti Blagg and Ronnie Smith with the Concert Association have been organizing the event behind the scenes and garnering sponsors for years.
But Blagg said it is wrestling the local male contestants into performing that takes the biggest push.
“I have a whole lot of women that have expressed interest in this,” Blagg said. “The fellows… not so much.
“When I ask Scott Hege, he just folds his arms and says ‘no’. Aaron Carter was the first guy in 8 years that immediately said yes.”
