by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
For the past five years, Pine Castle has used its annual Gala as a primary fundraiser. According to Pine Castle Development Director Duval Malone, the event has generated as much as $100,000.
This year, the Jacksonville non-profit that offers specialized programs to adults with various genetic physical defects or life-altering injuries is trying something new. Taking a lead — pun intended — from the popular ABC show “Dancing with the Stars,” Pine Castle is holding the Jacksonville “Dance for Castle” competition Saturday night at the Hyatt.
“Our board president, Cathy Harrison, is one of the show’s biggest fans,” said Malone. “We have had great support from our local celebrities and our sponsors. We hope to do this year after year.”
The competition features six local “celebrities” paired with six professional dancers from Arthur Murray Dance Studio. The celebrities are Ken Amaro of Ch. 12/25, Times-Union columnist Laura Capitano, Jarik Conrad of Blueprint for Prosperity, City Council member Michael Corrigan, Marty Lanahan of Regions Bank and Charlene Shirk of the PGA Tour.
Malone said a Pine Castle committee came up with the final concept and there isn’t enough similarity in the event’s name for there to be any copyright conflict with the TV show.
Shirk spent several years at Ch. 12/25 as a reporter and anchor. That means live TV and a large audience. But Shirk said the concept of live TV never bothered her as much as dancing in front of a live audience.
“I am nervous and terrified,” she said. “I am so afraid of blanking out. There’s no teleprompter.”
Shirk is paired with Russian dancer Peter Perzhu. She said the first step was to learn what type of dancing would suit her best, then choreograph a routine.
“I’m not telling my dance. That’s my competitive edge,” said Shirk, adding she has practiced up to four times a week for the past several weeks in an effort to get ready for Saturday and memorize the routine.
Corrigan’s dance experience includes a couple of cameo dances with his daughter in her studio.
“But, I’ve never done anything like this,” said the former Council president. Corrigan admitted the idea of a live audience that may be scrutinizing his every move — as well as the judges on hand — will be daunting.
“It was totally different when I ran Council meetings,” said Corrigan, who’s dancing with Amanda Crawley. “You had 18 other people providing input. There are really no rules of order Saturday night, so there’s added pressure to do good.”
Corrigan said he appeared on Ch. 4’s morning news show Tuesday to help promote the event. He has declared himself ready.
“I think I’m about what I expected,” he said. “I think I’m OK.”
Corrigan said regardless of the outcome, he expects a bit of good-natured ribbing from family and friends in attendance. He said he was asked to take a survey and one of the questions was whether friends and family would go watch him dance.
“I told them it was like a car race,” he said. “You tell people you are going to watch the race, but you are really going to watch the crashes. That’s a lot of pressure.”
Both Shirk and Corrigan insist the event will be fun and for a very worthy cause.
In addition to the celebrity competition, two employees from Pine Castle will perform an exhibition dance. Blake Struss and Lissette Pelegrin beat out several competitors to earn the right to dance Saturday night. Both work in Pine Castle’s AT&T Southeast production area where they assemble telephone interface boxes.
For more information about the event or to buy tickets, call 733-2650, ext. 282 or log on to www.pinecastle.org/gala.