(Photos by David Nance)
By David Nance
Reason to Dance, Reason for Hope is a celebrity ballroom dance competition, which will benefit Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Local celebrities will learn and practice two dance routines with professional dance instructors from Fred Astaire Ballroom of Carmel, and then compete in a contest similar to an episode of the “Dancing with the Stars” television show. Each celebrity will gather sponsors who will purchase tickets to the event or make donations to Riley Hospital for Children.
Global Health Systems Foundation is presenting the event. The dance competition night, on March 13, will begin with a silent auction and a three-course meal, followed by the ballroom dance competition. Each celebrity-instructor pair will perform both a ballroom style and freestyle dance before a panel of three judges. Several awards are offered, including Grand Champion for the celebrity who raises the most money, and Judges’ Choice and Runner Up for first and second place in the contest respectively. In addition, video recordings of each dance routine will be sent to the kids at Riley Hospital for Children, who will vote for the winner of the Riley Children’s Choice award.
The participating celebrities are Marianne Lyles, Dr. Tom Ferarra, Cristina Goebel, John Schneider, Alicia Schulhof, Bryan Lord, Heather Stopczynski and Stephanie Michael. The event will take place from 6 to 11 p.m. March 13, at Indiana Roof Ballroom, at 140 W. Washington St., Indianapolis. For more information, visit www.reasontodance.org.
