By KATHLEEN DUFFY
The Cherry Hill Sun
These dancers are jigging away to a strong future for Cherry Hill students.
On Sunday, April 28 beginning at 7 p.m., Cherry Hill High School West will play host to the sixth annual Dancing with the Cherry Hill Stars fundraiser competition.
Over the last few months, 16 area couples have been tirelessly dancing away, preparing for the big night and hauling in donations at the same time.
For Francesca Cameli, the lead concierge at Spring Hills Cherry Hill, the practice has been all about teamwork. Her partner is Medford resident Brian Schleper, director of dining services for the assisted living facility and an ordained minister.
Cameli said the team has been practicing two to three days per week, two hours at a time, since February.
“We work really well together,” she said.
The duo is representing the residents at Spring Hills in a “hands on” way.
Since the competition’s theme this year is the 1960s, Cameli and Schleper will dance to “Land of a Thousand Dances” by J. Geils Band.
Cameli is a 2007 graduate of Cherry Hill High School West and said the night is sure to “bring back lots of memories.”
While she danced as a child until her young teenage years, this is a whole new experience.
“It’s great to be picking this up again because I really enjoy dancing,” she said. “It’s all about teamwork really at these practices.”
Coming from a completely different perspective, Paul Stridick, Cherry Hill Township’s director of community development, will be dancing in the competition alongside Deborah Rider, a professional ballroom dancer.
“I always thought that I knew how to dance,” he said, “but until you have to do it professionally with a dance professional… I never knew how hard this was going to be.”
“I figured ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is better than ‘The Biggest Loser,’” he said, laughing.
Practices began in mid-January for Stridick with dance sessions occurring whenever and wherever possible.
“I practice several times a week,” he said. “I’m pretty religious about doing it at least one day a weekend.”
He has danced through his morning showers, in Cherry Hill’s council chambers on a Sunday afternoon, down the wide second floor hallway, on a dance floor in the family room of Rider’s townhouse and at Dance Time studio in Marlton.
“They have a dance floor that’s about the same size as the stage at Cherry Hill West,” he said.
Stridick and his partner will dance to the theme of “Mission Impossible.”
“I’m doing a tango,” he said. “There’s a whole storyline.”
There will be about a minute and a half of actual dancing, with the rest focusing on storytelling.
“You have to see it to understand it,” he said. “It is a blast. It’s a fun effort. I’m finding a new talent that’s yet to be seen if I have it or not. That will be obvious on the 28th of April.”
The charity side of the event is what drew him in, as the students of Cherry Hill’s public schools are the main beneficiaries, though he did think about investing in a smoke machine to avoid his feet being noticed.
Other dancers readying for the event include MSgt. Kenneth Kramer, who is currently serving in the Air Force, and Gervase Peterson, a contestant from the first season of “Survivor,” Show Producer and CHEF President Eleanor Stofman said.
“It’s a very diverse group,” she said. “It’s our signature fundraising event for the Cherry Hill Education Foundation.”
More than 1,000 attendees are expected to fill the seats in the auditorium, reeling in thousands of dollars for the foundation.
One adult and one student from each district school will be performing in an opening number together, she said.
Sponsors from around the county help to put the event together.
“I’d like to give everybody credit,” she said. “It’s such a wonderful, enjoyable event.”
As for the dancers, winning the trophy means bringing in the most money.
The weekend of the show is the only time all 16 couples are together on one stage. Each couple is given a 30-minute time slot on stage to rehearse on Saturday, April 27, she said. On Sunday, the couples report at 11:30 a.m. and stay all day, she said.
The competition surely isn’t for the faint of heart.
“They create their own routine, they select the music, they create their own costumes,” she said. “And then they practice it for a long time.”
The details
The sixth annual Dancing with the Cherry Hill Stars is slated for Sunday, April 28 at 7 p.m. in the Cherry Hill High School West new auditorium. The event has sold out as of publication, but those interested in supporting specific dancers can do so online until 8 p.m. on the night of the event.
Sixteen couples are performing, and all proceeds from the night benefit the Cherry Hill Education Foundation and the local schools.
