Faculty and Staff Strut Their Stuff

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The Ballroom Dance Club brought TV to UMass Lowell reality with the first-ever Dancing with the UML Stars. On Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m., 12 faculty and staff members paired with club veterans and performed the six major ballroom dances in the Cumnock Hall Auditorium. The event was free to students and all the proceeds went to UML’s Relay for Life.

The stars included:

• Alan Williams, music professor
• Michael Carter, economics professor
• Erin Crouse, director of orientation and coordinator of admissions events
• Melissa Gardner, marketing coordinator of athletics
• Susan Pulido, student health services
• Nicholas Piscitello, assistant director of residence life
• Christyn Toomey, resident director of Fox Hall
• Paula Telesco, music department chair
• Christopher Carlsmith, history professor
• Trish Dunleavy, management professor
• Victoria Drakoulakos, assistant to Chancellor Meehan
• Steven Rogers, major gift office, advancement office

Those accompanying the stars were UML’s own students and alumni Mary Angeleri, Justin Chin, John Fertitta, Amy Lefavour, Heather Martin, TJ Martin, Jake Meier, Gillian Murphy and Mark Sherman.
 
Each faculty and staff member was able to choose their own dance. The Cha Cha, Rumba, Swing, Foxtrot, Waltz and Tango were all performed to well-known bands and music, anything from Lifehouse to Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back.”

With little or no experience going into the event, the stars and their partners practiced a minimum of two hours a week for seven weeks.

“Each performer is first taught the basics,” says Mark Sherman, ballroom dance captain. “We want them to come away a general knowledge of ballroom dancing, not just the ability to do their specific dance.”

During the practice sessions, videos were made of the stars showing their development and their personalities. The videos were shown during the performance in between each dance so the audience will be able to become familiar with their favorite UML faces.

“The audience doesn’t just get to see the performances, they get to see the work that went into them,” Sherman says.

The Ballroom Dance Club, with a core of about 20 members, had been planning the event since November. After reeling in all of the stars, they began set production. With professional sound, lighting and costumes, the event was remarkably similar to the actual TV show. However, differing from the ABC show, the club decided to let the audience choose the winner by voting for their two favorite dancing pairs. The pair with the most votes wins. But the winner isn’t the most important part of the event, says Sherman.

“Our goal is to bring ballroom dancing as we know it to the UML students and public,” he adds.