Beth Bales: A 'Dancing' Update (Tickets Selling Faster Than Even)

We 12 dancers have been practicing our fancy footwork. That’s good, because more than 300 people are signed up to watch the six couples compete in “Dancing With the Geneva Stars” on Feb. 4, at Eagle Brook Country Club.

Carolyn HIll, a member of the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission, which sponsors the popular fundraiser, estimated Sunday evening that roughly 60 tickets remain.

Those tickets cost $35 each and are for open seating (meaning that when the doors open, your group grabs seats where you can and where you see one). 

Reserved seats—10 people to a table, at $50 a ticket and with each table full and all money accounted for at the time of the booking—were sold out by mid-afternoon on the first day it was available.

“We had three phone calls at 12:03 and 12:04 a.m. that day,” Hill said. Those seeking the reserved tables had to call the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission phone number and leave a message; calls were returned in the order received.

In fact, generally the commission sells only 20 reserved tables, but this year they sold an extra. Dance teams each reserve two tables, and all 12 of those tables were indeed taken. Dancers said they were amazed at how easy it was to fill two their two "fan" tables. "In fact, we could have used more tickets, but our overflow (guests) have already made general reservations so they can be there to encourage us to victory,” Mike said.

This is the fourth year for the event, in which six couples each learn and perform a dance, a la the popular Dancing With the Stars television show. People cast votes with dollars; the couple with the most dollars notched wins. 

“The first year, we didn’t have a clue as to how many people were going to come,” Hill said. That year the event sold out a week ahead. The next two years, it sold out two weeks ahead. With less than three weeks to go, Hill said committee members will be carefully tracking ticket sales this week.

As for votes, all couples have votes on the board, so to speak, Hill said. People can vote either online or by sending a check via vote cards that dancers send out and that were included in the invitations. “Those vote cards are really working,” Hill said, noting that they’ve even received $2 tucked into a vote card envelope, up to much larger checks. “Every dancer has generated votes.” (What a relief. At least someone out there likes .). 

In fact, more votes and dollars are received ahead of time than at the event. Last year, $8,187 was received pre-event, with $6,804 plunked down in votes at “DWTGS.” Those votes go not only to the commission but also to the Geneva Academic Foundation, which partners with the commission and receives 25 percent of the profit.

Online voting will continue until Feb. 3, she said.

“Everything’s coming together,” she said. 

From her point of view, that is! We dancers still are practicing, practicing, practicing. My husband and I brought along two of our three daughters to our most recent lesson. (And it was absolutely humbling to watch each of them pick up the steps very quickly, when instructor Alex Artega demonstrated a move here and there, with them as a partner.) 

That part was humbling, but their reaction was encouraging. “Mom,” our eldest said. “You made it sound like you’re horrible. You guys are awesome!

“You just need to practice.”  

And so we are. I don’t think we’re awesome. But I think we finally know what we’re doing!