The Trinkle Center at the Hillsborough County Community College – Plant City Branch held a packed crowd that came out to enjoy the 2021 Dancing with the Locals event.
Held on Friday evening, nine couples put their dance moves on display, competing for the first-place winner spot.
From the moment the doors opened, the auditorium amplified with non-stop music in rotation, adding to the social atmosphere.
Although, it was the songs that each couple danced to that were met with much applause. It had the audience bobbing their heads, swaying, and moving their feet.
The contestant couples who performed are as follows:
1. Clay and Carmen Keel were first to open the program. Their salsa music had them dancing in lockstep, with Carmen being spun around the floor by her counterpart.
2. Arley Smude and Melinda Sue Phillips were the next runner ups. With upbeat music adding to the performance, Smude lifted up Phillips over his head before spinning her numerous times. They received a heightened cheer as they began to do cartwheels.
3. Lindsay and Tim Hunt acted out a scene where they were outdoors on a hot day. Lindsay laid down on a lounge chair as a radio announced a heatwave. She immediately jumped up, joining Tim to dance to the song “Ice Ice Baby” by the hip hop artist Vanilla Ice.
4. Trent Lott and Zora Millerleile were donning matching black clothes as the spotlight was put on their dance routine. They performed over a hip hop infused tango song.
5. McKenna and Chad Jordan were the father and daughter duo. With a T.V. and couch placed on stage, they enacted a family that couldn’t decide what to watch. Between dances, they struggled for the remote, flipping channels. The theme songs for the television shows The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Golden Girls had them resume their dance moves around the couch.
6. Sheila Jackson and Jimmy Polk found themselves sitting in a golf cart that wouldn’t start, before jumping out. Wearing a leather vest and cowboy hat, Polk flipped his partner upside down and spun her around. Their songs went from country to rock to folk.
7. Elias and Ayerim Calvillo were another couple matching in black clothes. Their rapid spinning and sliding across the floor had the audience cheering and clapping.
8. Crystal and Cliff Brown opened their performance with cheerleaders running to the stage performing with pom poms in hand. The duo then showed off their dance routine with a setting of smoke and miniature firecrackers.
9. Darry and Heather Dykstra were the closing act with a Halloween theme. With a coffin and lit candles, the couple performed a slow dance to a pop-rock song. Their dance ended with Heather kicking Darry inside the coffin.
Toward the end of the show, Kenzie Wheeler, former contestant on NBC’s The Voice, performed a country song, with Cliff Brown playing the guitar. During the performance, those in the audience came center-stage to slow dance with a partner.
Also, an auction was held to collect donations.
Voters cast their ballots putting money toward their favorite dance couple.
Crystal and Cliff Brown accepted their award as they were voted as Judges Choice Winners.
And Darry and Heather Dykstra walked away with trophies in hand after being announced as the 2021 first place winners. They received the most votes by donations given by the audience.