{"id":37004,"date":"2025-10-16T13:32:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T17:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=37004"},"modified":"2025-10-23T13:20:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T17:20:30","slug":"unforgettable-dancing-with-the-easter-seals-stars-event-crosses-1-million-fundraising-mark-in-milestone-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/unforgettable-dancing-with-the-easter-seals-stars-event-crosses-1-million-fundraising-mark-in-milestone-year\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cUnforgettable\u201d Dancing with the Easter Seals Stars event crosses $1 million fundraising mark in milestone year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Daniella Altieri has always wanted to dance, but that has often proved a difficult task for the long-time Easter Seals Ambassador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, as she entered the dance floor at the Royal Venetian Mansion on Thursday night on the arm of Patrick of Aurora\u2019s Artistica Ballroom Dance Studio to one of the most iconic tracks from the film Dirty Dancing, she quite literally \u201cHad the Time of Her Life\u201d as, with each effortless-looking move, she helped Easter Seals get ever-closer to helping more kids have the times of their lives as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 9, the Royal Venetian Mansion was transformed into a red-carpet experience as it played host to the 10th<\/sup> annual Dancing with the Easter Seals Stars \u2013 Aurora\/Newmarket. The evening, which was built around the theme of A Night on the Silver Screen, was a milestone not only in longevity, but in funds raised to help youth with physical challenges live their lives to the fullest \u2013 with this year\u2019s efforts handily helping them surpass $1 million raised over the decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining Daniella on the dance floor this year were Tracy Smith of Kitchen Table CEOs; restaurateur Martin McQueen; Town of Aurora Cultural Services Manager Phil Rose; lawyer and entrepreneur Jay Willmot; entrepreneur Shabi Monzavil; Aurora Black Community Association founder and president Phiona Durrant; and restaurateur Samantha Buckley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expertly guided by Anastasia, Kelly, Patrick and Sarah of the Industrial Parkway South-based Artistica, they overcame nerves, a few last-minute tears, and a pulled muscle here and there, to dance the night away to a host of well-known movie music, united by the shared desire to make the world a better and more accessible place for kids \u2013 and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m truly humbled\u2026by the unwavering commitment of the Aurora-Newmarket community,\u201d said Kevin Collins, CEO of Easter Seals Ontario at the start of the evening. \u201cYour presence and generosity, and your shared enthusiasm for our cause, will continue to make a truly meaningful impact for the children we serve, not only within this community, but across this entire province of ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour support has enabled us to provide over 915 children to access mobility and accessibility equipment already this year\u2026. It\u2019s proof of what we can accomplish when we unite behind a shared purpose. But despite the progress, the need for support is growing. As the cost of living continues to climb, families are already managing complex medical needs, they\u2019re finding it harder than ever to afford equipment and supports their children rely on every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to take a moment to [offer] heartfelt appreciation to our dedicated dancers, both professional and amateur, who have poured their passion and dedication into their performances. It\u2019s because of you and your efforts we\u2019re able to continue to provide children and youth with physical disabilities the resources and support they need to reach their full potential and achieve their dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This appreciation was underscored by Easter Seals Ambassador Chloe who shared what being able to go to an Easter Seals camp has meant to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCamp is my favourite place in the world \u2013 it\u2019s where I would be all year long, if I could,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be somewhere that\u2019s fully accessible and I can do all the activities I can\u2019t do because we can all do pretty much the same activities and getting to hang out with the counsellors as well is just such an amazing thing. Making friends as someone with a disability, it can be really difficult at places like school where there\u2019s a lot of challenges and at camp there are no challenges and I feel like a different person when I\u2019m at camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you for coming and supporting Easter Seals because it really is my favourite place on earth and it\u2019s a lot of other kids\u2019 favourite place on earth, so you being here and helping us get to this camp is so amazing and it means literally the world to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presiding over the competition were community leaders \u2013 and Dancing with the Easter Seals Stars alumni \u2013 Jimmy Brennan, Pegi Reininger, Lynette Lanning, and Marco DiGirolomo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith was first to hit the floor, with Patrick, dancing to \u201cWhat A Feeling\u201d from Flashdance, who ultimately took home the Style & Grace Award. Willmot, who secured the Spirit of Easter Seals award when he took to the floor with Kelly to Rocky\u2019s \u201cEye of the Tiger\u201d, was next, followed by Buckley, whose turn with Anastasia to \u201cDance the Night Away\u201d from the Barbie Movie, secured her the Rising Star Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donning a Hercules costume to dance to \u201cZero to Hero\u201d from the titular Disney movie with Sarah, McQueen took home the Best Performance in Fundraising Award after raising an impressive $22,000 for Easter Seals this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helping to round out the evening \u2013 complete with a cartwheel \u2013 was Durrant, who, along with Kelly, had the crowd up on its feet with the musical finale to the 2002 picture Chicago and secured the People\u2019s Choice Award; followed by Showstopper Award-winner Monzavil, whose number with Sarah was inspired by \u201cOne in a Million\u201d from Miss Congeniality; and Rose, who, along with Anastasia, reinterpreted the dance moves of John Travolta and Uma Thurman from Pulp Fiction, and took home the Crowd Pleaser Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Shining Star Award went to Altieri, who rose from her wheelchair and quite literally soared across the dance floor, supported by the Artistica team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has been an unbelievable experience \u2013 I\u2019ve always loved dancing,\u201d she told the applauding audience. \u201cLast year when they did the Easter Seals Dance, at the end of the night, I\u2019m like, \u2018Wow, I wish I could do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrick, she said, overheard her comment and worked with the team to make this dream come true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think I’ve talked in the past about what a special event this is, what it gives for kids to be able to be kids who might not otherwise always have the chance,\u201d said Patrick. \u201cI\u2019ve talked to the paper about what Daniella can mean to other kids, but the truth is, it\u2019s more than that, I\u2019ve worked with so many people along this journey, and this is not about, \u2018Oh, she\u2019s special because she did this and she\u2019s in a wheelchair,\u2019 she\u2019s special because she\u2019s an incredible young woman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Altieri\u2019s mother, Donna, helped drive home what something like this not only meant to her daughter, but also what the evening \u2013 and the organization \u2013 can mean to countless kids and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know anything that was going to happen,\u201d said Donna, wiping away tears. \u201cShe trusted Patrick with her whole heart\u2026. Daniella\u2019s wanted to dance since she was a child, but no dance studio would take her because there wasn\u2019t any such thing as that\u2026. Then we met Easter Seals and Easter Seals took a shy little girl and turned her into Daniella.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s an advocate for kids with disabilities. When a door didn\u2019t work at Durham College, she reported it because kids couldn\u2019t get through the door. She\u2019s become so strong with Easter Seals\u2026. In taking this little girl that stayed in her room all day, and now she works full-time as an early childhood educator at a special needs school, she went on to get a special certificate in autism and behavioural health \u2013 and Easter Seals got her a scholarship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Easter Seals Ontario\u2019s Charlene Myke: \u201cThese are magical moments, and whoever said \u2018nobody puts baby in a corner\u2019 is right. That\u2019s what we try to do at Easter Seals. It\u2019s not just about not putting Daniella in the corner; it\u2019s about putting none of our kids in the corner. It\u2019s about kids going to camp, it\u2019s about kids getting equipment \u2013 as Donna said, the wheelchair became her legs and that\u2019s what allowed Daniella to dance tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s what everybody in the room has helped us do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daniella Altieri has always wanted to dance, but that has often proved a difficult task for the long-time Easter Seals Ambassador. But, as she entered the dance floor at the Royal Venetian Mansion on Thursday night on the arm of Patrick of Aurora\u2019s Artistica Ballroom Dance Studio to one of the most iconic tracks from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-10-16-03.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9CQ","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-16 20:12:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37004"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37006,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37004\/revisions\/37006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}