“Don't judge us on the first run,” Kaleena Guzman laughed.
Guzman and her partner Steve Bessette hit Concord Dance Academy's open floor and got into their positions. “Ready?” instructor Jen Hamilton asked before hitting the play button.
Ready or not, Ricky Martin's voice flooded the room.
Guzman, office and events manager at Red River Theatres, and Bessette, president of NHTI's student senate, are gearing up for NHTI's Winter Fling. The Jan. 29 affair will include a road race, a battle of the bands, an international food tasting and the piece de resistance – “Dancing with the Concord Stars.”
During the main event, ten Concord celebrity duos will put on their dancing shoes and answer the question we're all dying to know: Who's got the best moves?
The winner will be determined by whoever gets the most votes. Each event-goer will be given one vote, but can purchase more to help out his or her favorite pair. A panel of student and expert judges will weigh in on factors like technique, personality and crowd appeal. But what's really most important is that everyone has a grand ol' time.
“It's meant to be fun,” said Lee Ann Lewis, director of institutional and alumni development at the college and the fling's main organizer.
Lewis said that the college wanted to do something different to raise money for NHTI's President's Fund for Excellence. In 2010, the fund was established to pay for the college's highest priority needs. This year, the money will go toward a multitude of things. “Now that tuition is up, we need higher quality faculty, new equipment, updated technology,” Lewis said, adding that NHTI could just use “a little more breathing room.”
With that, the Winter Fling was created as a means to raise money and bring people to the campus, but also to get Concordians out and about. So many of us are sitting at home without a thing to do by the time the end of January rolls around, so who couldn't benefit from some fresh air during a road race?
The Jan. 29 date was chosen because it is the first football-free weekend of the year. It's after the playoffs but before the Super Bowl. So don't you dare use football as an excuse to stay indoors, glued to your television.
If running in the sub-zero temperatures just isn't your thing, there's still plenty of indoor fun to be had. Take the international food tasting. After realizing how many perse restaurants Concord has, Lewis thought this would be a great way to involve city merchants while appealing to NHTI's vast multicultural student body. Look forward to treats from Gamil's, Inchiban, House of India, Moritomo, Rasa's Vegan Kitchen are more.
And if that isn't enough to heat you up, Guzman and Bessette's salsa surely will. The duo is confident that they have what it takes to win it.
“I think our chances are pretty good . . . if Steve gets his stuff down,” Guzman teased. Guzman, 20, and Bessette, 29, are the competition's youngest couple. Guzman joked that their flexibility will give them a leg up against their opponents.
To which we say: Have you seen City Manager Tom Aspell's split? Or former Insider publisher Danielle Kronk's double handspring? We know what team we're routing for, but we're a tad biased.
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