There will be plenty of shimmying, gliding, high-stepping, twists, turns, kicks and flicks March 1 at the Riverside Palace — all of it done with the greatest of ease, as far as spectators of the third annual Dancing with the Richmond Stars will be concerned.
For the novice dancers performing, that remains to be seen.
It’s the third annual fundraiser for the Richmond Community Hospice Association which puts a group of eight local celebrities on the dance floor, the majority of them with an instructor, to delight the crowd.
“We have a fabulously talented group,” said Pat Miller, executive director of the hospice association. “They are all giving up their time. They are very energetic and competitive.”
Returning to the event is last year’s winner, Karina Lapalme, head of the City of Richmond’s human resources department who admitted that since winning she had not slipped on her dancing shoes.
“I had to dig them out from the back of the closet,” she said laughing. “But with some good, long practices, it’s all coming back.”
Along with her instructor from last year, Alexandr Cherdanstev, Lapalme will be performing a samba-latin-inspired mix in the non-competitive showcase dance.
In addition to kicking up the fund-raising efforts another notch — the public can pledge funds for their favourite dance couple — Laplame said she is looking forward to connecting with the new dancers to make them feel at ease.
One person already comfortable on the dance floor is Steveston’s Rick Duff, making a repeat appearance.
“It was so much fun last year,” said Duff who is Director of Guest Experiences for the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver. “It was a great time being around great people. And to help such a great cause, when they asked me to come back again I couldn’t say no.”
This year Duff and instructor Sarah Liang are embarking on the jive — last year he performed the cha cha.
“I wanted something a little more rock and rollish,” he said, “but we’re putting an ’80s twist on it with the hit song front the Romantics — What I Like About You.”
Taking on the steep challenge of dancing with her own partner who is not an instructor is Jackie Lee-Son, executive director of the Mr. and Mrs. P.A. Woodward Foundation.
“I realized what a fun event it is to create awareness,” said Lee-Son who is paired up with Don Kirkland, a former Vancouver Police Department Emergency Response Team member.
Asked if he had any misgivings about taking part, Kirkland said no.
“I said okay, but don’t expect much,” he quipped.
The pair will be doing the cha cha and are receiving instruction from Wiiliam Li.
“We chose the cha cha because it’s something we can do afterwards,” Lee-Son said.
“It was the only thing that I could spell,” added Kirkland.
With no instructor to cling to during the roughly three-minute performance does not have the couple worried.
“If we stumble and forget our steps, we’ll have to remember the bigger picture of raising funds for the hospice,” Lee-Son said.
Meanwhile, the partnership of Steveston’s Paul Meyer and instructor Jessie Keillor features the oldest and youngest participants in the event.
Meyer, who runs PM Marine Diesel, is 71, and Keillor is 19. Together they will be performing a waltz.
“He’s doing really well,” Keillor said of her pupil. “Paul has learned a lot over the past four weeks. Ballroom dancing is a really hard thing to learn in a short amount of time.”
With just about half of their performance down pat, they are on schedule to be ready for the March 1 event.
“Depending on which level of the waltz you’re doing, it has varying technical levels,” Keillor said.”We’re sticking to the beginner’s steps. But there are some spin turns in the corners that is very technical in the footwork.”
Meyer said he wasn’t familiar with the hospice association prior to attending last year’s event. But after seeing the community engagement it created, and learning about the services the association offers knew it was something he’d like to get involved with.
What prompted Kaye Wei to put on her dancing shoes was her work with the home care firm Nurse Next Door. Other than performing traditional Chinese dance, Wei is a rookie who has thrown herself into the event with instructor William Wu to perform the jive.
“It’s been challenging,” Wei said. “Chinese traditional dancing, the music can be very slow and soft. With the jive, it’s a lot faster.”
One celebrity with a personal connection to the hospice association is Steveston’s Erin McPherson who works at Richmond Funeral Home.
Her grandmother spent seven months in care before passing away, and it’s that experience which prompted McPherson to jump at the opportunity to be part of the fundraiser, even though she has no dance or performance experience.
“They (hospice association) were so compassionate with my family,” she said. “They treated my grandmother and family with so much dignity that I felt I had to give back in this way by volunteering for such a great cause.”
McPherson said she and instructor, Paul Dinh, have been practising the samba since the second week of January.
Admitting he is operating outside his comfort zone on the ballroom floor is Dr. Aleco Alexiadis, the medical director of Richmond’s Palliative Care Program who will be performing the cha cha with instructor Hilda Li.
“What’s not a challenge,” Alexiadas said joking. “No, you know what, it’s been wonderful, actually. Hilda’s a fantastic coach, she paid me to say that. And this ballroom (Broadway Ballroom) has been fantastic with all the support they’ve provided.”
“I think he’s awesome,” said instructor Li. “I work him really hard, and I am going to make him try more.”
Alexiadas said the work the hospice association does is integral in his role in palliative care.
“It’s a great cause to support,” he said.”
To support the celebrity dancers and their instructors, visit richmondhospiceassociation.com and click on the Dancing with the Richmond Stars link.
Tickets for the March 1 event are $125 each ($750 for a table of eight) and are also available on the hospice association web site.
