Author Archives: robbucher

DANCING FOR THE STARS 2020
CANCELLED

CINCINNATI, OH – Due to the evolving impact of the coronavirus and the directives from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine regarding the ban on public gatherings until further notice, Cincinnati Arts Association’s annual fundraiser, Dancing for the Stars 2020, scheduled for Saturday, April 18, 2020 at Cincinnati’s Music Hall Ballroom, has cancelled.

Guests who purchased tickets and made donations to the fundraiser have been notified, and their tickets and donations will be refunded.

For the most up-to-date information about the status of events at the Aronoff Center and Music Hall, visit www.cincinnatiarts.org/health-update.

#  #  #

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 18, 2020 when the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) celebrates season fourteen of its annual fundraiser 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 – and Arts Education Programs. 

Inspired by the hit ABC-TV show Dancing with the Stars, Dancing for the Stars will feature nine 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 the Foxtrot and each dance pair will have ninety seconds to woo the crowd and the judges.

In addition, Dancing for the Stars will feature:

• Online silent auction
• Dance music by guest DJ “Rockin’ Ron” Schumacher, 103.5 WGRR-FM
• 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

In addition to the winner of the dance competition, Dancing for the Stars will crown a Fundraising Champion – the celebrity dancer who raises the most revenue toward the event’s fundraising goal through table/ticket sales and donations. Fans may 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 direct donations (outside of the event ticket price) 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 – and are 100% tax deductible.

Tickets are currently on sale at the following levels (a portion of the ticket price is tax-deductible):

• $150 – Patron (pre-event reception and two drink tickets)
• $1,500 – Corporate Table (ten Patron level tickets and a half-page program ad)
• $2,000 – Celebrity Circle Table (premium “first-row” viewing of competition area, ten Patron level tickets, full-page program ad, recognition on event signage)

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: 

• 6:00 PM – Wine & Cheese / Meet-and-Greet Reception with the Stars and the Pros
• 7:00 PM – Dancing, Dinner by the Bite, Cash Bar
• 8:00 PM – Celebrity Dance Competition
• 9:30 PM – Dance the Night Away

RESERVATIONS AND INFORMATION:

• www.CincinnatiArts.org/dfts2020
• (513) 977-4188

 THE STARS:

• Gary Cates (Former Ohio Senator/ State Representative)
• Heric Flores (Regional Account Executive, Western Reserve Medical Group)
• Missy Hendon-Deters (Executive Director, Boys Hope Girls Hope)
• Terry Horan (President & CEO, Horan & Associates)
• Jill Jansen (Director of Government & External Relations, Mercy Health)
• Elizabeth Knuppel (President, Skystone Partners)
• Michelle Riegler Krumpelman (Northern Kentucky Philanthropist & Public Speaker)
• Sara Mirus (Real Estate Agent, Keller Williams Realty)
• Lee Tyson (Founder & Owner, Lee Side Wellness) 

THE PROS (WITH STAR PAIRING):  

• Bonita Brockert (Independent Dance Instructor) – Terry Horan
• Brandon Etheridge (Independent Dance Instructor) – Heric Flores
• Maura Garuccio (Independent Dance Instructor) – Lee Tyson
• Desiree Mainous (Arthur Murray Dance Studio – Cincinnati) – Gary Cates
• Jeremy Mainous (Arthur Murray Dance Studio – Cincinnati) – Sara Mirus
• Brian McNamee (Cincinnati Ballroom Company) – Michelle Riegler Krumpelman
• Jozsef Parragh (Independent Dance Instructor) – Jill Jansen
• Josh Tilford (Independent Dance Instructor) – Elizabeth Knuppel
• Alyenendrov Tsorokean (Phoenix Rising Ballroom) – Missy Hendon-Deters 

THE HOSTS:  Chris O’Brien & Janeen Coyle (“Married With Microphones,” 103.5 WGRR-FM) 

THE JUDGES:   

• Douglas Beal (Independent Dance Instructor)
• Michael Betz (2019 Dancing for the Stars Alum & Fundraising Champion)
• Guest Judge – to be announced

EVENT COMMITTEE:  Doreen Beatrice, Amal Daoud, Terry Foster, Ginger Loftin, Rosemary Schlachter, Phil Schworer, and Tracey Skale.

EVENT SPONSORS:  TriHealth – Presenting Sponsor, Arthur Murray – Cincinnati, Bonita Brockert, Cincinnati Ballroom Company, Brandon Etheridge, Maura Garuccio, Graphic Village, Jozsef Parragh, Pebble Creek Group, Phoenix Rising Ballroom, Josh Tilford. 

THIRTEEN YEARS OF DANCING FOR THE STARS WINNERS:

• 2007:    Dr. O’dell Owens (former Hamilton County Coroner)
• 2008:    Jenell Walton (former WCPO-TV9 Anchor and Reporter)
• 2009:    Phil Schworer (past President, Cincinnati Bar Association; Environmental Lawyer, Frost, Brown and Todd)
• 2010:    Donna Speigel (Owner, The Snooty Fox)
• 2011:    Dr. Tracey Skale (Chief Medical Officer, Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services)
• 2012:    Regina Russo (former Director of Marketing and Communications, Cincinnati Art Museum)
• 2013:    Chris Seelbach (Cincinnati City Councilman)
• 2014:    Neal Schulte (Founder & President, Schulte Financial Group, LLC)
• 2015:    Johnny Chu (Owner, AmerAsia Kungfood Restaurant)
• 2016:    Jay Lame (Financial Analyst, Lenox Wealth Management)
• 2017:    Rohan Hemani (Procter & Gamble Fabric Care Intrapenuer)
• 2018:    Dr. Marcia Bowling (Gynecologic Oncology, Oncology Hematology Care, Inc.)
• 2019:    Halle Quinn (Community Volunteer)

CINCINNATI ARTS ASSOCIATION’S ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAMS
CAA’s Education Department promotes life-long learning through its programs, which are diverse, multidisciplinary, and accessible to all ages and cultural groups. SchoolTime presents a series of programs that feature nationally-recognized artists at CAA’s two venues (the Aronoff Center and Music Hall), and Artists On Tour brings the finest local artists in the region to Tri-state schools for interactive arts experiences aligned with the curriculum.

The Overture Awards Scholarship Competition is the largest locally-run arts scholarship competition in the country.  The program annually provides a $4,000 scholarship to six area high school students for education and training, with 18 finalists each winning a $1,000 scholarship. Each year, nearly 400 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 24^th year, The Overture Awards was launched in 1996 by the Cinergy Foundation and Leadership Cincinnati (a Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce program).

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 600,000 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 Bank Broadway in Cincinnati, presented by TriHealth. Since the inception of its acclaimed arts education programs in 1995, CAA has reached nearly 1.6 million students.

#  #  #