Katie Johnson said participating in Dancing with the Easter Seals Stars has always been on her personal bucket list.
The licensed funeral director with Lougheed Funeral Home is making 2024 the year that dream comes true.
She and professional dance partner, Gabriel Onadja, have been practicing twice a week since November for the Feb. 23 event.
One of 10 couples taking part in the Easter Seals fundraiser, they’ll be performing a Latin dance and a hip-hop piece that transitions into contemporary jazz.
“We've been having so much fun,” Johnson said, adding that aside from a few years of tap dance lessons as a kid, she’s never previously danced. “He’s very patient with me,” she added.
She said she moved to Sudbury 11 years ago, and has always been amazed with the community stepping up to the plate, holding fundraisers for various causes.
“This way, I can be a part of that and help Easter Seals, which is such a great cause,” Johnson said.
Dancing with the Easter Seals Stars pairs non-dancers with trained dancers, with the pairings competing to win it all.
The evening will begin with a cocktail hour followed by a delicious Italian dinner, with entertainment provided by Dance Evolution. Attendees will also be treated to a demo dance by Daniel Kaltianinen and Louise Tremblay-Croxall, as well as a silent auction and, of course, the live dance competition.
While the event is actually sold out, people can still contribute to the fundraiser by contributing donations in the name of their favourite dancers, as well as casting votes.
Johnson and Onadja are currently in the lead for donations, with more than $7,800 raised as of this article’s publication.
“I’m overwhelmed and grateful for all the donations and support we have received so far, especially from the Lougheed family and staff for not only being extremely encouraging and accommodating but also very generous with their donation,” she said.
MJ Pappin, community development officer with Easter Seals Sudbury, said this is the 13th year the event has run, and organizers hope to surpass the $127,000 total brought in last year.
The money goes toward supporting children and youth with a physical disability, including providing mobility equipment and the opportunity to attend summer camp.
Several youth who have been assisted by Easter Seals attend the dancing event as ambassadors every year, and 2024 will be no different.
With the event having already sold out, Pappin said if you’d like to take in the performances, organizers are currently looking into the possibility of streaming the event live on YouTube.
The theme this year is “amoré” (the Italian word for love), which is a fun tribute to the month of February, which, as we all know, is the month of love.
The fundraiser has expanded in 2024 to 10 dance couples, up from the eight who participated last year.
“With having the 10 couples and trying to keep on a timeline, it's a two-dance competition, all or nothing,” Pappin said.
If there’s a tie, “the differentiator will be the fundraising total” as well as online votes, she said.
“It's just a fun room to be in that night,” Pappin said. “The energy is high. When you see how much time and effort these non dancers have put in to display something,everybody's so proud of their efforts and accomplishments, that I think emotions take over. It's just a fun event to get behind. I kind of always like to say that we put the fun in fundraising. We try to do events that are interactive and that people want to come back to and support year after year.”
The evening will be co-hosted once again by Marc Despatie of Collège Boréal along with Amanda Zurkowski.
Guest judges this year are Samantha Espley of Stantec, Marc Boudreau of DROCOR, Sherri K of Hot 93.5, Pat Drolet of Nickel City Ninjas, and Sheri Tomchick, owner of Plan A Sudbury.
A full list of participating dance teams include: Jedd Smith of Royal LePage Realty and Dawn Condon (dance pro); Jason Gauthier of Northern Plating and Francesca Vairo (dance pro); Shannon Bubalo of Oystrick Bubalo Real Estate Group of ReMax Crown Realty and Russel Fernandas (dance pro); Suzanne Lemieux of College Boreal and Skyler Slywchuk (dance pro); Anne-Marie Couture of Couture Counselling, Coaching & Consulting and Pierre Keyambe (dance pro); Tiffany Whiting of Tie the Knot Nuptials and Tyson Kirk (dance pro); Katie Johnson of Lougheed Funeral Home and Gabriel Onadja (dance pro); David Ghent-Kyle of ReMax Crown Realty and Anne Salter (dance pro); Max Massimiliano of Don’s Pizza and Kaija McDonough (dance pro); and Candice Kirkbride of Candid Moments and John Reynolds (dance pro).
To donate, vote or learn more about Dancing with the Easter Seals Stars, visit the event’s website.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
