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The 35th season of the competition show Dancing With the Stars debuts on ABC this week with a cast of reality stars, actors and athletes. Here in Portland, we have our own Dancing With the Stars spinoff happening for the first time onstage at the Alberta Rose Theatre. The lineup includes a Portland Pickle, the Blue Star Donuts founder, an influencer, a dentist, a physical therapist and a fitness instructor.
Casting was all about personality, says dancer Haley Wayt, the show’s producer.
“I am looking for people who are open to something new, something exciting, something unknown, and willing to put themselves out there,” Wayt says. “I’m not looking for someone with dance experience.”
Dancing With the Rose City Stars will be a live ballroom dancing show where local, um, celebrities are paired with professional dance partners to learn dance routines and compete against each other. Instead of getting a Mirrorball Trophy at the end, though, Dancing With the Rose City Stars participants will earn donations to the charities of their choice.
Here’s the lineup for Dancing With the Rose City Stars:
- Katie Poppe, CEO of Blue Star Donuts. Charity: The Dougy Center.
- Ace Cauthen, fitness instructor. Charity: Oregon Dog Rescue.
- Alyse D’Ambrosia, dentist. Charity: Ukandu.
- Foster King, physical therapist. Charity: ALS Northwest.
- Tate Harpster: Portland Pickles baseball player. Charity: Pink Lemonade Project.
- Michele Venlee, influencer. Charity: Oregon Humane Society.
Contestants are in rehearsals with their dance partners now. The pros will perform a showcase of their own in the second half of the show. The winner will be chosen with a combination of judges’ marks and the audience’s vote.
Wayt has been helping produce Dancing With the Stars–type productions in places like retirement communities for the past 10 years, but this is the first time she’s produced a show solo, and her first one ever in Portland. Wayt is a dance instructor at local studios Shawn Gardner Dancing and Vega Dance Lab. Part of her goal with the show is to help re-popularize ballroom dance.
“I want to bring more ballroom dance to Portland because it’s faded over the last 20 years since I’ve been dancing here,” Wayt says. “This is a more accessible version.”
GO: Dancing With the Rose City Stars at the Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St. 503-719-6055, albertarosetheatre.com/event/dancing-with-the-rose-city-stars/alberta-rose-theatre/portland-oregon/. 7 pm Wednesday, Sept. 30. $40.
