The Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company

The triumphant, grand promenade was only the beginning. The 2nd annual Dancing With the Claremont Stars was truly an event of excitement from the first to the last moment. In our outrageously popular take on Dancing with the Stars, the CCBDC gave Claremont faculty the chance to become Claremont’s Stars and perfect a Cha Cha or a Waltz with coaching from members of the CCBDC. After a month of training, each star competed with their coach in this championship battle to earn the title of Claremont’s Best. At least, that’s the initial idea—any participant in the program will tell you that the event itself is merely icing on the cake.

This year was no exception. After demonstrations by company members, the Claremont Stars took to the floor, competing in rounds of spicy Cha Chas and dreamy Waltzes. With the ballroom packed to capacity with students, family, friends, colleagues and co-workers, it was easy for each Claremont Star to shine. And shine they did! The first round of dancing demonstrated a huge variety in personality and dance moves, leaving a difficult decision for the judges. After a brief pause for tabulating scores, finalists were announced and prepared themselves for another exhilarating round of dancing. An unprecedented volume of cheering and shouts of encouragement kept the finalist at peak performance through the round. The Stars gave it their all, and then the big decision was in the hands of the audience. Each member of the audience voted for the pair they thought should be crowned as the newest Claremont Stars, and after each audience member had their say, the votes were tallied. Everyone held their breath for the final announcements:
In third place—
Prof. Bob Schaffer and Erin Kelly for Cha Cha
and
Ms. Sherylle Tan and Rudy Resch for Waltz
In second place—
Prof. Chris Towse and Kelly Hewitt for Cha Cha
and
Prof. Rachel Levy and Trevor Ashley for Waltz
…and the winners of the title of 2007-2008 Claremont Stars Champions are:
Prof. Jennifer Ward-Batts and Chris Fiorello for Cha Cha
and
Prof. Debra Mashek and Josh Leavitt for Waltz

Congratulations to our newest champions—they will no doubt enjoy the oversized trophy and bragging rights during their well-deserved year long reign. Yet, even as we celebrate our winners, it is clear that the true scores for all our competitors was a dead tie: 10s all around!

The CCBDC looks forward to gathering community members, students and fabulous dancing once again for Dancing with the Claremont Stars 2008-2009.