Dancing with The Erie Stars
Dancing with Erie Celebrities is a viewers-promotion based on the ABC reality series Dancing with the Stars. The promotion airs on WJET-TV 24's morning newscast - Good Morning Erie.

Professional dancers, from Connie's School of Dance teach local Erieites how to dance four dances. The "lessons" air every Wednesday on Good Morning Erie (Nov 7, 14 and 21) and on Monday Nov 26. Viewers are asked to visit WJET-TV 24's web site to vote for their favorite dancers - not necessarily the best dancers. Voting takes place on Monday Nov 26 and Tuesday Nov 27. To see the video segments click on one of the thumbnails below.

Week 1 :: Click thumbnail to play    Week 2 :: Click thumbnail to play

Week 3 :: Click thumbnail to play   Week 4 :: Click thumbnail to play

Week 5 :: Click thumbnail to play  

And the Winner is  . . .  

The Dances and the Dancers The Tango: Tom New got stuck was lucky to be picked to do the Tango. It is with-out-a-doubt the most difficult dance in the world. In fact in all of human history the Tango has only been danced successfully twice.  The first time was by Irish Prince Brendon and Spanish Queen Latifah - this dance (by the way) was the catalyst for the Great Irish-Spanish Barley Wars. And the second time was never seen, but accurately depicted in Peter Paul Rubens' Rape of the Sabine Women. Tango is a social dance and a musical genre that originated in the area of La Boca in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It spread initially to Uruguay and to the rest of the world soon after that. The musical styles that evolved together with the dance are also known as "tango". Early tango was known as tango criollo, or simply tango. MORE Swing: The term "swing dance" is commonly used to refer either to a group of dances developing in response to swing music in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, or to lindy hop, a popular partner dance today. Perhaps the most famous of all of the 1920s Swing dancers was Lisa Zompa. Erie is very fortunate to see Lisa - once again revive her steamy "It Ain't got a Thing' swing dance   While the majority of swing dances began in African American communities as vernacular African American dances, there were a number of forms which developed within Anglo-American or other ethnic group communities. Balboa is one of the most commonly cited examples. Though they technically preceded the rise of swing music, and   MORE The Foxtrot: After he learns to walk the first thing a baby horse (popularly called a pony) learns to do is the Foxtrot. In fact within minutes of birth stable hands often hear the cooing sounds of a mother horse purring; 'one, two, three. one two three.' Fresh from his farm in Waterford Chuck Priestap will dance the dance of the baby horse. The Foxtrot is a ballroom dance which takes its name from its inventor, the vaudeville actor Harry Fox. According to legend, Fox was unable to find female dancers capable of performing the more difficult two-step. As a result, he added stagger steps (two trots), creating the basic Foxtrot rhythm of slow-slow-quick-quick. The dance was premiered in 1914, quickly catching the eye of the talented husband and wife duo, Vernon and Irene Castle, who lent the dance its signature grace and style. MORE The Waltz: To dance the waltz all one needs to know is . . .  how to count to four. If you make your living in broadcasting counting to four is easy. In fact before any reporter records a story the first thing that they must learn to master is how to count backwards from four: "Four, three, two, one, This is Wolf Blitzer an I'm standing in front of what's left of circus star Jumbo. . . Because of her broadcast experience Trina Orlando was selected to dance the waltz. The waltz first became fashionable in Vienna around the 1780s, spreading to many other countries in the years to follow. The waltz, and especially its closed position, became the example for the creation of many other ballroom dances. Subsequently, new types of waltz have developed, including many folk and several ballroom dances. In the 19th century the word primarily indicated that the dance was a turning one; one would "waltz" in the polka to indicate rotating rather than going straight forward without turning. MORE