Stefania Johnson

The ELA dancers.

On Saturday, September 21 Emerald Lakes hosted our very own version of Dancing With the Stars, and discovered that we have quite a bit of talent in our community! This evening of fun began at 5 pm with a buffet dinner and, by the time of the show, there was standing room only in the dining room and bar.

Judges, Amelia, Ana and Destini made their way to the judges tables to prepare their judges paddles (1 = not so good, 5= ok, 10= excellent) for the kids’ performances, but first up were Linda and Wayne Koslowski. Although they were not competing, they have trained

Wayne and Linda Koslowski

in ballroom-style dancing for 6 years. They danced a swing number to Moondance by Van Morrison.

First up for the kids’ competition were the Bat Girls (Teyanna Green, Gabby Skidmore, Brianna and Samantha Castro), who did a remix version of The Cupid Slide (final score, perfect score of 30). At the end of the show, they were tied for 1st place. Next we had Zandee, (Xandria Adams), who performed to the song Wings by Little Mix and earned a second place title (final score, 28). And finally, D Kool, (Dylan Colford) performed a DJ Scooter ReMix of Michael Jackson’s Thriller with makeup and glove to boot! (final score, perfect score of 30). The tie drove a freestyle dance that the audience called for and, after their amazing freestyle dancing, I decided to give them both 1st place and will purchase additional 1st place trophies for both acts.

The Kids’ Competition

We then closed the curtain for Ms. Silhouette’s (Heather Kelly) Intermission performance of an amazing modern jazz dance viewed through the see-through curtain. The song was Sail by AWOL Nation. When the curtains were opened again for the Adult Acts, our next judges took the stand. Adult Acts Judges (Sheri Ornitz, Cookie and Eileen Avrich) scored just like the actual DWTS competition.

First up was MJ Robot (Marquie Jardine) with a Mime/Robot style which showed amazing precision, performed to the song Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. (final score, 29). Our second act was The AWA Water Babes (Arlene Ciervo, Clara Bryantt, Joan Gregorio, Kathy Banghart

and their fearless leader, Heather Kelly) who did a mixed artist/music dance to the Twist, NY NY, Ring My Bell and finally, Skinny Dippin. They kicked off their shoes and dressed up with yellow sunflowers in their hair! (final score 25) The third act was our very own sous chef, Cool Runnngs (aka Bremmer) with a freestyle dance to As Your Friend by Chris Brown. His R&B/Pop style dance made the girls in the crowd go wild, especially when he took off his shirt and threw away his hat during the performance. (Final score: 27). Then came The Duet (Heather Kelly and Dennis Green), who did a Merengue Freestyle number to Calabria by Enur that was both spicy and fun (Final score: Perfect Score of 30). Finally, we had an encore

The Adult competition acts

with MJ Robot who brought his cousin out with him. Although he performed before, he wanted to add a little more fun to the show before our closing performance. Although we didn’t count his score in this act, he received a 28 for this one.

The final tally gave us The Duet in first place, followed by MJ Robot in second, and Cool Runnings in third.

Before we closed out the show, I mentioned the recent news of John Belly’s passing and we had a minute of silence and requested prayers for his wife and family. I then acknowledged all involved in the preparation and execution of the show and urged our guests to get involved and make a difference in the community by taking time to be involved. We really believed this show demonstrated to all what our community is all about!

After the trophies were awarded, our final performance brought out all the performers to do “The Wobble”. We pulled audience members up out of their seats and onto the dance floor dance to join us. The show ended at around 8:45pm, when we opened the dance floor for the after party!