‘Dancing With The Stars’ Hamptons Style

Toes will be tapping for sure at the upcoming charity benefit, “Dancing with the Hamptons Media,” which will put local print, web and broadcast reporters in the spotlight, and all for a worthy cause.

Those hitting the dance floor and showing off their best moves include: Press News Group senior reporter Mike Wright, Hamptons.com contributor Douglas Harrington, Plum TV reporter Cassie Spreitzer and Plum TV producer/editor Drew Beebe, Sag Harbor Express reporter Claire Walla and Dan’s Papers reporter David Lion Rattiner. Each participant received 10 dance lessons leading up to the event, which will be held on Friday, March 4, from 7 to 10 p.m. at Seasons of Southampton. The purpose of the evening is to raise money for Your Day Away, a non-profit organization which provides a day of rest and relaxation for parents of children with special needs or illness.

“Dancing with the Hamptons Media” was the brainchild of Nassau County resident Vicki Fuller. She has volunteered with Your Day Away for several years and has been instrumental in organizing fundraisers for the charity, including a number of dance-offs and contests.

Dancing has been a longtime hobby of Ms. Fuller, she reported during an interview last week. For the last six years, she has traveled 150 miles every week from her home up-island to take various dance lessons at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Southampton with instructor and studio manager James West.

“James is a great teacher and he is truly, a great human being. He offered to donate lessons to Your Day Away and it sort of went from there,” Ms. Fuller said.

Mr. West, who has an extensive background in dance (he has been working with Arthur Murray Dance studios for more than 20 years and has traveled around the globe competing) has also had a track record of reaching out beyond himself in order to help others in need. He has served as a youth program coordinator and mentor to AIDS Project Rhode Island and he also founded and directed The Organization of Men of Ethnicity Geared to Advancement project.

The concept for involving members of the media was a shared idea, but Mr. West explained its impetus simply.

“Your Day Away is a really amazing program because it gives parents or caretakers a moment to step back and just relax for a day,” he said. “And when Vicki and I discussed it, well, we wanted to bring attention to the benefit and to Arthur Murray and what better way to invite our local media members? They are like local celebrities and that sort of ties into the whole ‘Dancing with the Stars’ theme.”

Though the basic concept is similar to the popular television program—a panel of judges will judge the dancers in swing, rumba, tango, foxtrot and cha-cha—the dance performances will be interspersed throughout the evening while guests will also enjoy opportunities to hit the floor.

“It’s a social event; people will enjoy a bit of dancing, something to drink, there will plenty of fine hors d’oeuvres. It’s going to be a memorable night,” Mr. West said.

According to The Press’s Mr. Wright, memory, whether it’s the memorization of steps or the resulting muscle memory developed after extensive practice, and a good teacher—his is Judy Klinghoffer—have a lot to do with the success of all participants.

“I am hardly a good dancer,” he said. “My mother taught me the basic box step in our kitchen the night before prom in high school and I took a starter class years ago with my girlfriend but otherwise, I’m not exactly gifted on the dance floor.”

But, as a result of the lessons he has taken in preparation for the benefit, progress has become evident, he noted.

“The basics of the foxtrot, the dance Judy and I are doing, are fairly simply of course, but the choreography of the full dance designed by James is a lot to learn,” Mr. Wright said. “Judy has been a great teacher though and we’re putting it together piece by piece. I’m stepping on her toes less and less each week.”

When the request for participation by members of the media hit his news desk, Mr. Wright said that he jumped at the chance.

“When you’ve been to as many weddings as I have, you learn that knowing how to lead a dance properly is a wonderful skill ... Regardless of the specific dance you are doing, knowing one classical ballroom dance will help you with any form of dancing you’re doing with a partner in the future,” he said.

Tickets to “Dancing with the Hamptons Media,” which will be held on Friday, March 4, from 7 to 10 p.m. at Seasons of Southampton, are $55 per person and are on sale at Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Southampton or through ticketleap.com. All proceeds will benefit Your Day Away and ticket holders will have an opportunity to enter a 50/50 raffle, win door prizes or a grand prize of one-week accommodations in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For additional information, call 283-1488.