CINCINNATI, OH – Who will be voted Cincinnati’s best celebrity dancer? Which stars have the right moves to rule the dance floor? Find out on Saturday, April 12, 2014 when the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) presents its eighth annual Dancing for the Stars at the Music Hall Ballroom to benefit CAA’s Overture Awards – the nation’s largest locally-run high school arts scholarship competition.
Inspired by the hit ABC-TV show Dancing with the Stars, Dancing for the Stars will feature eight Cincinnati celebrities paired with some of the area’s finest professional dancers in a competition program, at which the audience will vote for their favorite celebrity dancer. The competitive dance for the evening will be Swing, and each dance pair will have 90 seconds to woo the crowd and the judges.
In addition, Dancing for the Stars will feature:
- Silent auction
- Showcase performance by a 2014 Overture Award finalist in dance
- The swinging sounds of Sound Body Jazz Band
- Pre-event reception and wine tasting
- Open dancing before and after the competition
- Lite bites provided by some of Cincinnati’s finest restaurants and caterers
- Cash bar
New to the event this year is the Dancing for the Stars Fundraising Champion – the celebrity dancer who raises the most revenue toward the event’s fundraising goal through table/ticket sales and donations from fans, who can add a donation under their favorite celebrity’s name at the time of ticket purchase, or simply make a donation if they cannot attend the event. These donations will help one of the fans’ favorite celebrities win the Dancing for the Stars Fundraising Champion award, which will be announced the evening of the event. These direct donations (outside of the event ticket price) are 100% tax deductible.
The event will benefit the stars of tomorrow – the talented high school artists who participate each year in CAA’s Overture Awards. The Dancing for the Stars committee includes: Dr. Tracey Skale (chair, Dancing for the Stars 2011 winner), Phil Schworer, Christina Bolden, Terry Foster, Sue Gilkey, Jim Howland, Ginger Loftin, and Rosemary Schlachter.
Tickets are currently on sale at the following levels (a portion of the ticket price is tax-deductible):
- $100 – Patron (includes pre-event reception and two drink tickets)
- $1,000 – Corporate Table (ten Patron level tickets and a half-page black-and-white program ad)
- $1,500 – Celebrity Circle Table (premium “first-row” viewing of competition area, ten Patron level tickets, full-page black-and-white program ad, recognition on event signage)
RESERVATIONS AND INFORMATION:
- (513) 977-4104
- Aronoff Center Ticket Office
- www.CincinnatiArts.org
THE STARS:
- Linda Bessey (Faux Painter)
- Devinder Mangat, MD, FACS (Founder, Mangat -Kuy-Holzapfel Plastic Surgery Centers)
- Britney Ruby Miller (Director of Operations, Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment)
- Rick Pawlak (Managing Director, Ultimate Air Shuttle)
- Neal Schulte (Founder & President, Schulte Financial Group, LLC)
- Kay Smith-Yount (Philanthropist; Wife of The Cincinnati Herald Editor-in-Chief, Dan Yount)
- Christianna Stephens (Philanthropist; Wife of Mercy Health-West Market Leader and President, Michael Stephens)
- Keith Wilson, MD, FACS (Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, UC Health)
THE PROS with Star pairing:
- Leigh Bradshaw (Cincinnati Ballroom Company) – Neal Schulte
- Bonita Brockert (Independent Dance Instructor) – Devinder Mangat, MD, FACS
- J. Patrick Clements (Step-n-Out Studio) – Britney Ruby Miller
- Grace de Guia (Dare to Dance) – Rick Pawlak
- Brian McNamee (Cincinnati Ballroom Company) – Christianna Stephens
- Jeremy Mainous (Arthur Murray Dance Studio – Cincinnati) – Linda Bessey
- Desiree Mainous (Arthur Murray Dance Studio – Cincinnati) – Keith Wilson, MD, FACS
- Jozsef Paragh (Independent Dance Instructor) – Kay Smith-Yount
THE HOSTS: Chris O’Brien & Janeen Coyle (“Married With Microphones,” 103.5 WGRR-FM)
THE JUDGES:
- Douglas Beal (Independent Dance Instructor)
- Doreen Beatrice (Step-n-Out Studio)
- Dr. Michael Leadbetter (Cosmetic Surgeon, Plastic Surgery Group; Dancing for the Stars 2012, star)
EVENT SPONSORS: Stock Yards Bank & Trust, Arthur Murray – Cincinnati, Cincinnati Ballroom Company, Dare to Dance, Step-n-Out Studio, Bonita Brockert, and Jozsef Parragh.
THE OVERTURE AWARDS
The Overture Awards Scholarship Competition is the largest locally run arts scholarship competition in the country. The program annually provides a $3,500 scholarship to six area high school students for education and training, with 18 finalists each winning a $750 scholarship. Each year, more than 450 students are nominated by their schools to compete in one of six artistic disciplines: Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theater, Visual Art or Vocal Music. There are three levels of competition: Regional, Semi-Finals and Final.
The Overture Awards was developed to recognize, encourage and reward excellence in the arts among Tri-state students in grades 9-12. It also provides students an opportunity to share their talents and interests among their peers in a supportive environment outside of their individual schools. Now in its 18th year, The Overture Awards was launched in 1996 by the Cinergy Foundation and Leadership Cincinnati (a Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce program).
CINCINNATI ARTS ASSOCIATION
Founded in 1992, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management of two of the Tri-state’s finest performing arts venues – the Aronoff Center for the Arts and Music Hall – and is dedicated to supporting performing and visual arts. Each year, CAA presents a diverse schedule of events; serves more than 700,000 people in its venues; features the work of talented local, regional, and national artists in the Weston Art Gallery (located in the Aronoff Center); and supports the work of more than one dozen resident companies, including Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Symphony/Pops Orchestras, May Festival, and Fifth Third Back Broadway in Cincinnati. Since the inception of its acclaimed arts education programs in 1995, CAA has reached more than 1.3 million students.
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 