Published: October 03, 2008 11:30 pm         

‘Dancing with the Terre Haute Stars’ earns money for CHANCES for Indiana Youth

TERRE HAUTE — After learning a dance and performing it himself, Ray Azar has a newfound appreciation for “Dancing with the Stars” participants.

Azar was one of 10 local personalities who competed Friday night in the second annual “Dancing with the Terre Haute Stars,” a fundraiser from which proceeds benefit CHANCES for Indiana Youth.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Azar, who performed the hustle, “but I’m also glad it’s over.”

He said the contest was more than he expected, but he would do it again.

“Now I watch the show on TV and I have a different perspective,” he said, “because it’s a lot harder than it looks.”

Azar is director of student services for Vigo County schools.

Each contestant was paired with an instructor from The Dance Studio to spend 10 hours learning a dance to perform in the contest. The dances were the samba, waltz, mambo, rumba, hustle, paso doble, tango, merengue, cha cha and swing.

Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett learned the tango. He said it was difficult because he’s “not much of a dancer.”

“I want to do well for the organization,” he said. “My whole goal is to go out and do the best I can.”

Compared to what CHANCES for Indiana Youth does for the community, Bennett said this was a small way for him to help.

CHANCES for Indiana Youth is dedicated to substance abuse prevention and positive youth development throughout the state. It serves 18 counties within the state.

The judges for the event were Vigo County Superior Court judges Mike Lewis, Chris Newton and Barbara Brugnaux, who acted similar to the television show judges with their comments and scores.

“Great footwork, fabulous hips,” Brugnaux said after Tony Butler performed the samba.

Money from the event will go toward supporting the organization’s programs such as Afternoons ROCK, an after-school program designed to educate students about negative influences, conflict resolution and substance refusal/resistance skills, and the Safe Kids Coalition, which teaches young children how to live and play safely and includes free car seat clinics, bicycle safety and fire and pedestrian safety.

Safe Kids Coalition provides 500 car seats annually, and the Afternoons ROCK programs have served about 20,000 children since it started in 1998.

Last year, “Dancing with the Terre Haute Stars” netted $22,000, according to CHANCES assistant director Todd Pierce. The event sold out also, and sold out again this year even after more seats were added, he said.

More than 500 people attended. In addition to dancing, a silent and live auction of many items donated by local businesses also took place.

Participants usually volunteer, Pierce said, but sometimes they call and ask people if they would like to dance. Anybody can be a Terre Haute star, he said.

“I would like to think that anyone willing to volunteer to help an agency such as ours is a Terre Haute star,” he said.

Plans and ideas already are in the works for next year, he said.

For more information about CHANCES for Indiana Youth, visit www.cfiy.org or call (812) 232-5190. The office is in the Booker T. Washington Community Center at 1101 S. 13th St.

Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.