Dancing with the Stars

At times Barb reminds me that I have to learn how to say no... and last week was probably one of them. Last week, the German Club at my high school decided to organize a fund raiser for Alzheimers. Using the German theme, they decided on an evening event where they served German pastries and taught waltzing lessons.

That led to the idea of a "Dancing with the Stars" contest using several Performing arts students as the dance experts and staff members as the "Stars." And, you guessed it... I was asked to be one of the stars.

My student expert was Katie, a junior, who had just played a lead roll in our recent school musical performance of Beauty and the Beast. Very talented and ambitious young lady.

She had good ideas. She suggested a "Father/Daughter waltz using the John Mayer tune: "Daughters." She thought it would be cute to act out a daughter showing her dad her engagement ring which led to a father/daughter waltz. Good idea!

Her next idea was not so good and way too ambitious. She said: "Mr. J. You are a good singer. We should do "Bop to the Top" from High School Musical. Ryan and Sharpay do a real cute number and we should try to sing and dance it! Right. Google Bop to the Top to see what we were trying to emulate!

Anyway, we decide to try it. We practiced hard almost daily after school. Six other couples also practiced for the big event last Thursday night. One other couple, a counselor and a male student who will some day be a professional dancer were our main competition. That night, they danced both a waltz and a salsa that included several lifts and spins. They were good!

We also had judges who played the roles of the actual Dancing With the Stars judges. They gave us feedback and with their votes, Katie and I came in second after judging. The final votes came in after attendees placed money in baskets to select their favorite contestants. Katie's parents stuffed the ballot baskets and we won!

And I just know you are dying to see the main event! Here it is:

The Father/Daughter Waltz to John Mayer's "Daughters":

And we rounded out the evening with a rousing rendition of "Bop to the Top" from High School Musical: