Dancing With the Local Stars: New organizer revives community dance competition, raises funds for charities

For a time, it seemed Burke County’s annual dance competition, which features local “celebrities” raising funds for area charities, would not happen. Originally scheduled for Feb. 10, Dancing With the Burke Stars 2024 was first postponed, (with no official date ever announced), then canceled by organizers. The event was to have been the seventh annual production.

But in early February, producer Travis Stancil announced its postponement. The professional dancers brought in to perform with local community members walked out of the production, alleging mistreatment by Stancil. The money paid to Stance Productions by sponsors and community members, reportedly tens of thousands of dollars, has not been returned.

Then in late March, Carlos Foster, who grew up in Morganton, stepped up and volunteered to bring a new, but similar show, to Morganton. The show, titled “Dancing with the Local Stars,” premiered on Saturday, June 29, at CoMMA.

Foster said his aim was to return the show to what it was in the beginning — “a great show for the community that also raises money for charities.”

Eight local community members — including two from the show that was shelved — paired with professional dancers to compete for Burke County’s mirrorball trophy.

A modest but enthusiastic crowd cheered for each duo and at the end of the evening, Foster thanked the audience, the judges, the professional dancers and others who helped with production. He pronounced the evening a success.

“I was very pleased with how everything turned out,” Foster said. “We ran into some issues on the back-end with the short planning time but it all worked out in the end.

“The stars were incredible, and we were very thankful for such a great group,” he added.

Three judges scored each dancer and audience members, as well as those not in attendance were able to cast votes for their favorites via an online system, available for 30 minutes during the show.

Those combined scores determined the winner of this year’s production. The overall winner and recipient of the mirror ball trophy was Dr. Dustin Houser.

Dancer Debra Benfield was named top fundraiser and people’s choice award winner. Houser also picked up the top dancer trophy, as the star with the highest judges scores.

Local dancers raised the following amounts for these organizations: Blue Ridge HealthCare Foundation, $3,213.50; LAMB Foundation of NC, Inc., $1,200; Brighter House, $500; Southern Swag Dance Foundation, $250; Burke County Animal Services, $200; South Mountain Children and Family Services, $100; and A Clean Wilson Creek, $100.

According to Foster, his production company, FC Presents, is already hard at work planning next year’s event. Dancing With the Local Stars 2025 will take place Feb. 15. Foster is currently seeking community members to star in the show and will be making announcements about the production in the coming months.