Caldwell-West Caldwell Presents Season Two of 'Dancing With Our Community Stars'

Who will be voted Caldwell-West Caldwell’s Best Male, Best Female and People’s Choice dancer? Which stars have the right moves to rule the dance floor? Find out on Saturday, Feb. 23 when the Caldwell-West Caldwell Education Foundation (CWCEF) presents season two of Dancing With Our Community Stars at James Caldwell High School’s Center for Performing Arts starting at 7 p.m.

Inspired by ABC's Dancing With the Stars, Dancing With Our Community Stars will feature 14 local celebrities paired with professional dancers from Montville’s Fred Astaire Dance Studio. The competitive dances will include the tango, salsa, hustle, Bollywood and cha-cha, and each dancer will have two minutes to woo the crowd and the judges.

This Year's Stars and Judges 

This year's competitors are Jonathan Barrett, Ann Dassing, Martha Fava, Doreen Golembeski, Johnny Guerrero, James Heinegg, Jason Lembo, Diane Lilli, Leslie List, Len Luciano, Rob Masella, Jensyn Modero, Barbara Pucciarello and Sonal Parikh.  

As an added attraction, the James Caldwell High School student cast of Kiss Me Kate will provide a preview of their upcoming spring musical.

Judges Ilya Ifraimov, a professional judge and choreographer, Jean Penatello, a professional judge, a dance coach and a Fred Astaire Regional Director, and Susan Gartland, former Mayor of Caldwell, will rate the dancers’ performance.

This year the audience will be able to vote for the best male and female dancer via text messaging. Twenty-five percent of the votes from the audience will be added to the judges total to determine the winners of the Best Male and Best Female Mirror Ball Trophies.

People's Choice Award

The third mirror ball award will be the People’s Choice which is based on the amount of money the dancer raises. Dancers will collect monetary votes with fans contributing donations prior to and during the event that will be used to determine the winner.

From now until Feb. 22, the public can begin voting for their favorite dancer to win the People’s Choice Mirror Ball Trophy by visiting www.GoFundMe.com/CWCEFDancingWithOurStars and donating a minimum of $5. Votes can also be cast at the event.   

Buy Tickets, Ad Journal Space, Shout-Outs

Reserved seats are available at www.Showtix4u.com or by calling toll free 1-866-967-8167. Preferred seating is $20 per person. General seating is $15 per person. A $5 discount is limited to General Seating only for students and senior citizens (65+). Please note that these orders are subject to credit card fees. Tickets purchased at the door will be $25 for preferred seating, $20 for general seating and $15 for general seating only for students and senior citizens (65+). Snow date is Sunday, Feb. 24 at 4 p.m.

Shining star sponsors of this event are The Norman & Bettina Roberts Foundation, Lakeland Bank, The Kiwanis Club of Caldwell-West Essex and The North Jersey Orthopaedic Group of Wayne, NJ. Anyone interested in sponsoring the event, or wishing to purchase an ad or shout out for the program booklet, can contact the CWCEF at 973-228-4390 or e-mail cwefinfo@gmail.com.

The Caldwell-West Caldwell Education Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All proceeds from this event will benefit the students of the Caldwell-West Caldwell district. For more information on the CWCEF, visit www.cwcef.org.