Bray harris and Lacey Harrison compete

The Mad Hot Ballroom Celebrity Dancing Gala is a fundraising event for The Whistle Stop's Dancing Classrooms program. In its fifth year, the gala promises patrons an evening of entertainment and fun. Prominent citizens (celebrities) have been paired with local expert dancers to showcase dancing routines for the audience and judges. The event takes local "stars" out of their comfort zone and throws each of them into the spotlight...the end result is a wonderful evening of entertainment for a worthy cause.

The Mad Hot Ballroom Gala helps fund the Dancing Classrooms program for Southwest Louisiana. Dancing Classrooms gives local fifth grade boys and girls an opportunity to learn respect for themselves and others through the art of dance. Dancing Classrooms is a life skills program that the Lake Area is very fortunate to have. The program utilizes a syllabus of ballroom dance that nurtures mastery of an art form in a fun learning environment, while fostering respect, teamwork, confidence, politeness, and a sense of joy and accomplishment. Essentially, it "teaches life skills wrapped up in ballroom dance."

We would like to thank the very talented dance teachers and performing dancers as well as the celebrities who so generously donated their time and money to make The Mad Hot Ballroom Celebrity Dancing Gala happen. Finally, we cannot thank our sponsors enough. Once again, they have demonstrated their strong commitment to this community.

The Competition
Each couple will be performing in costume, to their choice of song and choreography. You will enjoy a variety of dance genres and styles including the Waltz, Salsa, Jive, Quickstep and Swing.

A panel of judges will decide which couple will win the coveted 1st place Mad Hot Ballroom Mirror-Ball Trophy. The scoring will be heavily weighted towards the performance of the Celebrity dancer and will be based on several factors.

The Judges Panel will include people with experience in dance competitions.

In addition to the Mirror Ball Trophy, there will be awards for Second and Third Place, Best Costume and Originality.

Lastly, there is the very important People's Choice Award given to the couple with the most votes from the audience and online voting. Now, because the purpose of this event is to benefit Dancing Classrooms, your vote won't be free. Envelopes will be provided for you to place your vote along with a check (or cash) supporting your favorite couple. You can vote online prior to the event, beginning several months before the competition. One dollar gets you one vote. We will not put a limit to your generosity; you can legally "buy" this trophy. We most certainly welcome that.