Dancing With The Last Best Stars: Bozeman community members take to the stage for a night of dancing and fundraising

On Saturday night, the Bozeman community packed into the Emerson to see Montana’s “Last Best” dance their hearts out on stage. Decked out in sequins and glitter, the dancers competed for the coveted mirrorball trophy.

In the fourth annual Dancing With The Last Best Stars event, eight dancing pairs made up of prominent Bozeman community members and their pro partners took to the stage to raise money for the Roots Family Collaborative.  

MSU’s Dean of Students Matt Caires was one of the dancers. He said his dancing journey was one filled with learning and taking risks. 

“I am not a dancer, and it was evident in my first lesson. My fantastic dance partner and coach was like, ‘Yeah, you're not very good at this.’ Her exact quote was, ‘You're not very light on your toes.’ And my response was, ‘You're supposed to dance on your toes?’” Caires said. 

He said that while this new experience was scary, it was also an opportunity for growth. 

“I'm outside my comfort zone. Put me in the middle of a University hearing process, pretty comfortable. Put me in front of 500 people, dancing, I'm scared out of my mind,” he said. “And I think that's the point. I do something every year that's gonna make me uncomfortable — and so that's what this is.”

Caires was paired with local dancer Veronica Nelson, who teaches Latin dance classes in Bozeman. She choreographed a dance which combined samba and the traditional Hawai’ian dance, haka. 

“My heritage is Portuguese, but it's Portuguese-Hawai’ian. My dad grew up on the islands and, even though I was not raised in Hawai’i, we still have deep Hawai’ian roots. So I said, ‘You know, I want to do some haka —  if I get to choose my dance, I'm gonna throw in some haka,” Caires said. “It's Latin culture, but we throw in a little Hawai’ian culture.”

The winners of the event were chosen by the audience. After each dance, audience members were asked to donate in the name of their favorite couple. All of the proceeds from the night were donated to the Roots Family Collaborative. According to its website, Roots connects families with the resources and support they need from preconception to postpartum. 

Flora McCormick, volunteer coordinator of the fundraiser and previous board member of the Roots Family Collaborative, said this event is a great way to combine the mission of Roots and the dancing community. 

“As a dancer in the community, I just really believe strongly in how powerful dance is for moms and all people,” she said. “It's so joyful, moving our bodies, when our bodies have been through so much in childbirth and nursing and everything, it's just so healing.”

McCormick said Roots was a place she could turn to when she was struggling through postpartum with her two young kids. She said that Roots was a grounding space where her feelings were validated. 

“You can be amongst the other moms who are both enjoying and struggling with different parts of motherhood. And that was just so refreshing and so needed,” McCormick said. 

Along with the featured pairs, there were also dances from other Bozeman dance groups, such as The Shrinking Violets, Bozeman Dance Academy Tap, The Deadly Daisies, The Demi Space and more. McCormick said these group dances were a chance to show off all the opportunities Bozemanites have to get involved with dance. 

“People get to celebrate the duos and vote for their stars, but then maybe be inspired. Like, wow, maybe I could get out there and join a dance class locally, and try belly dancing or try hip hop,” she said. “It's been such a fun stretch, and I think the chance to showcase that dance is here for people at all ages and stages is really fun.”

The night ended with the announcement of several superlatives, including “Most Stage Presence,” “Fringiest,” “Best in the West” and “Most Supersonic.” There were two mirrorball trophies given out — one to the couple with the most votes overall, and one that received the most votes during the two-hour show. Those winners were Katy Mistretta and Marissa Valone, along with Sarah Hessler and Tim Edgar respectively. Caires earned the award for “Top Donation Total in the History of the Show,” along with the “Lightest on their Toes” superlative.

Caires said his experience in this event has helped him make a mark on the Bozeman community. 

“I don't just work for Montana State University. I'm a resident of Bozeman. I bought a house here, my kids will go to school here. I am deeply committed to making Bozeman better,” he said. “And this is just one simple way that I'm putting my feet where my mouth is — trying to dance and raise some money and help make the community a little better.”

To nominate a contestant for next year's competition, email contactflora@gmail.com