
by Jeremy Couso
SusanvilleStuff Publisher
It’s showtime! This weekend Lassen Family Services is going to be presenting their big annual fundraising event, Dancing for a Brand New Me and it is something special. If you have a chance Friday or Saturday you should stop by the Veterans Hall and see some very talented local dancers performing for a great cause.
For those of you that haven’t seen the show over the last nine years, it features dancing couples made up of a ‘pro’ dancer and a member of the community – the pros teach the community members and then, after a lot of arduous work, they perform to three songs in front of an audience, and judges, who both have a hand in determining the ultimate winners of the weekend event.
Dancing for a Brand New Me is a good, old-fashioned, community production from top to bottom. I think that is one of the things I genuinely love about the yearly dance fest.
Along with the dancing competitors you also have young dancers from the local dance studios – J and J Performing Arts, Dance Elevation and Joan’s Studio of Dance – all contributing to the evening’s entertainment.
This year’s competitors are Seanne McElrath and Kaitlyn Midgely, Nicomi Reed and Prairie Burt, Ivanna Orozco and Quinn McGinnis, Celeste Wiser and Matt Lively and Jillaine Singleton and Dalton Leighton.
And behind the scenes there are a wealth of talented and hard-working people who make the show run. Lori Watson, who I think has worked backstage at every single Dancing show since the beginning. Adam Danes runs sound and Kayla Pacheco does lights. It is a huge group effort and every single year it turns out pretty darn well.
You can purchase tickets at Lassen Family Services on Riverside Drive, Margie’s Book Nook in uptown or at Zaengles Floor & Home for $20. Your ticket purchase helps support domestic violence survivors in our community.
Here at SusanvilleStuff we are sponsoring couple number one Seanne McElrath and Kaitlyn Midgely and we encourage you to also support them, or any of the contestants, by following this link and making an online contribution.
These are two of my favorite people in the whole world! Seanne has been performing in Dancing for a Brand New Me since year one, and he and Kaitlyn were awesome at rehearsal last night. In fact, all of the dancers were great at rehearsal, and it looks like this weekend will be a heck of a show.
On Friday night the event begins at 7:00 and Saturday it begins at 6:00. Purchase tickets online by clicking here.
Also, I want to note that Jennie Hoffman and Kendra Zaengle decorated the entrance to the Vet’s Hall and it looks awesome. And, if you need any more enticement to show up tomorrow, Terra Avilla will be one of the judges.
And the Lassen Cougar Baseball team even came down to help set up the chairs in the hall. See what I mean? That is a community production!
See you there everybody!