BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – “Dancing with the Burlington Stars” returns to the stage at the Flynn Theater in Burlington on Saturday.
“I’m very excited. I popped open Facebook and saw that the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired said there’s three days until showtime and I was like, ‘Ahhh!’” WCAX Morning Anchor Elissa Borden said.
Since June, Borden has been tapping her toes for a good cause. She’s one of seven local celebrities competing in “Dancing with the Burlington Stars,” a celebration of local talent benefiting the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
For 17 weeks, Borden has worked with dance instructor Kimberly Volkari of Fusion 802 to create what will hopefully be the winning performance.
“I was really fortunate actually that Elissa came in and had this really strong idea and we were able to make this list of songs that we both felt really good about,” Volkari said.
Their routine is centered around music you commonly hear at wedding receptions but the choreography has gone through a number of iterations.
“I feel like everything has changed a little bit from the beginning because it’s a mix, we’ve kind of gone section by section and I think every section has had little tweaks here and there,” Volkari said.
Borden hasn’t danced since she was little, so it took a little bit of time to find the rhythm. She and Volkari practice together weekly. Borden says the rigorous routine is worth it for the good cause.
“I’m grateful for the support that our viewers have given us. I know a lot of them have made donations, which has been really, really awesome. Especially with the floods, there’s so much that people could be donating to, so it’s really nice that people have found five, ten bucks to throw to this cause,” she said.
All proceeds will go toward helping blind and visually impaired Vermonters become more independent, aiming to improve their quality of life.
Burlington’s stars will showcase their talent at the Flynn this Saturday at 7 p.m.