Organisers are now ready to reveal which local community heroes will be hitting the dance floor for Dancing for Life Education on Saturday 14th November.
All dancers involved are local community heroes with no previous dance experience who will sacrifice several months of their personal time training to perfect their performances, ready to wow an audience come event night.
Event Organiser Jo Finlay from Proevents says there is a strong local business focus and theme to this year’s dancers. “Given the trying times that local business owners and staff members have faced in the past 6 months, we believe it’s even more admirable that these people are willing to take part. It goes to show their incredible generosity and dedication to the community.”
Keep an eye out over the coming weeks as organisers continue to announce more community heroes who will be hitting the dance floor come November.
Tickets for the event will go on sale in August and all proceeds will benefit Life Education Trust EBOP, a charity that has been educating New Zealand children for over 30 years.
Today we are the largest independent provider of health education for primary and intermediate aged children in the country. Through mobile
classrooms specialist educators travel throughout the country using technology and individualised lessons to engage children creating a unique and memorable learning experience.
For more information visit www.facebook.com/dancingforlifeedebop
Tramel Edelsten
“I am 32 years old, Whakatane born and raised and I love our town! I am a Mum to 3 gorgeous boys Baxter 13, Nash 6 and Aeken 3, they definitely keep me busy but along with that my husband Tony and I own a couple of local businesses Javaman Café, Jord Espresso and an exciting new project happening very soon so watch this space. I absolutely love what we do and am excited about the future.
I decided to do Dancing for Life Education for a couple of reasons, firstly I love Life Education Trust and think it is such an amazing cause. I can remember Harold from when I was kid and was always so excited to head off to the caravan with the stars on the roof to see him and learn about our bodies, healthy eating and about having a healthy lifestyle.
Secondly I am scared out of my brain about doing this, I am actually quite a shy person and the thought of standing up in front of everyone and
dancing absolutely terrifies me, so I am wanting to put myself out of my comfort zone and achieve something for a great cause and myself.
I want to show my boys that just because something is scary doesn’t mean you can’t achieve it!”
Matt Glasse
“Encyclopaedia Britannica defines dance as “the movement of the body in a
rhythmic way, usually to music, for the purpose of expressing an idea or emotion, releasing energy, or simply taking delight in the movement itself”. My dance style can be defined as simply shaking what my mama gave me until I fall down or someone insists I must stop immediately, usually my wife Tracy.
My name is Matt Glasse, known to my friends and a number of Whakatane residents, as Mr Shady. Tracy and I are the owners of the local shade sail company Shade and Style, hence the name.
When asked if I would step up for such a fantastic organisation as Life
Education Trust, I didn’t hesitate, they do amazing things for the youth in our community and YES was the only thing I could say.
Apart from the funds that will obviously be generated by the dancers in this competition, the other driving force for me is supporting locals, we are huge supporters of local businesses and the community in general.
Needless to say, I’m uber excited to be “competing” in such an awesome event….. This is Mr Shady….See you on the dance floor.”
Demi Arbuckle
“I’m born and bred in Whakatane, and upon leaving Trident High School I moved to Auckland for three years graduating with a Bachelor of Communication Studies at the Auckland University of Technology. Shortly after graduating, I moved back to my hometown – I couldn’t keep away from the Bay!
In a past life, I was heavily involved with Theatre Whakatane and loved anything to do with singing, so I’m incredibly excited to have been given the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing event for Life Education Trust, as well as getting the opportunity to be back on the stage again, albeit in dancing shoes.
The last event was so much fun to watch and I only hope we can give back in that same way that previous dancers did in terms of making the audience smile and raising money for such an awesome cause – I still remember my Harold visits fondly from schooling years.
I’m looking forward to having a laugh at myself throughout this journey in terms of testing my dancing capabilities and testing my limits.”