“All that Glitters” hits the floor in Dancing with the Stars

October 3, 2018 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

Tony Van Bynen is preparing for his swansong.
The long-time Newmarket mayor is gearing up for his retirement this fall after deciding not to seek re-election, but he’s not going into retirement quietly.
He is burning the soles of his dancing shoes preparing to go out in style as one of the contestants in this year’s Dancing with the Easter Seals Stars, which will take place this Thursday, October 4, at the Royal Venetian on Industrial Parkway South.
The fundraiser, which raises tens of thousands to send kids with physical challenges to summer camp each year, is now in its fourth year, but will take place in Aurora for the very first time.
Lead by Anastasia Trutneva, Kelly Stacey and Patrick Derry of the nearby Artistica Ballroom Dance Studios, this year’s contestants are putting together a program based on the theme “All That Glitters,” and each song and dance selection is tailored around each contestant’s personal stories.
For Mayor Van Bynen, his merengue and waltz will be based around what Ms. Stacey describes as his political “swansong” – and the merengue in particular will offer an especially dazzling finish…which, alas, The Auroran has agreed not to reveal until after it has been executed on the dance floor.
“For the last two weeks, I have been coming into rehearsal virtually every day,” says Mayor Van Bynen. “I am coming in every day this week. I just want to make sure this is going to be good. There are a lot of things going on with your body, so it is a challenge. I’ve never been a dancer, so this is all very new territory for me.”
Joining Mayor Van Bynen on the dance floor this year are Sandra Ferri, Executive Director of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, Sheryl Thomas of Aurora’s Marquee Theatrical Productions, National Karate Champion Brad Jones, former York Regional Police Deputy Chief Bruce Herridge, Maria Ciarlandini of Vince’s Market, property manager Michael Feherty, and HR professional Shannon Clark.
“It is our fourth year that we’ve done this and we will do this until they don’t want us to do it anymore!” says Ms. Stacey of tackling the fourth group of aspiring dance stars. “Creatively, we look forward to it. It does sort of paint us with a different paint brush when we do this event because it is sort of what we do at the studio, but a lot faster with these guys.”
Ms. Trutneva offers a similar view, adding: “It is nice to challenge everyone – and ourselves – every single year. I think we try to make the performance and the show a little bit better, a little bit more entertaining, and we know their limits are a lot further than sometimes we think it is, so we push them to their limits and out of their comfort zones, while bringing them out a lot further than they ever expected. That is really rewarding for us and, at the end of the day, this is all going to such an amazing cause. We enjoy the whole process and, in the end, helping kids get to camp is the icing on top of a fun two months.”
Bringing the dancers out from within each contestant is a huge part of what they do, Mr. Derry agrees.
“At the studio, we get to try and find a way to bring the dancer out of everybody who comes through the door,” he says. “It is just something fun that we really enjoy. Outside of the awesome cause, it is a super fun night. It is always a ton of fun and we meet a lot of people and we get to do something we like to do. It is awesome to see people turn into something they never expected.”
For Ms. Ferri, there was hardly any hesitation on her part to lace up her shoes and hit the ground running with this event.
“I didn’t need a lot of convincing,” says the Chamber of Commerce ED. “I love to dance, it is for a great cause, and I love the idea of helping children and helping them get to camp and have a great summer.”
Ms. Ferri is working on the Viennese waltz and the bachata, the latter of which she says she has always loved.
“This has been a great experience. Artistica is terrific and Patrick, Kelly and Anastasia are fabulous people to work with. [The most difficult part of this] is just trying to get the routine done in such a short period of time. We have only had eight classes for each routine. These are things that sometimes take people years to figure out and we’ve only had eight weeks, but it’s been fun. I’m just looking forward to the whole routine, the elegance of it, the fun of it, and seeing the kids there will be wonderful.”
Her main takeaway that she’s learned about herself through this experience? “You’re never too old!”

For more on Dancing With the Easter Seals Stars Aurora-Newmarket, including tickets and how to support the participant(s) of your choice, visit www.easterseals.org/dancing-with-easter-seals-stars-newmarket-aurora.