Whitsundays Dancing CEO’s head to Women’s Legal Service fundraiser dance competition
A group of dedicated Whitsunday women are set to compete at a fundraising dance competition after raising an eye-watering amount for Women’s Legal Service Queensland.
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A group of Whitsunday women have trained hard and fundraised harder to face off in a dance competition for a powerful cause.
Julie Telford from SeaLink Whitsundays, Kate Purdie from Coral Sea Marina, Candice Crossley from Whitsunday Transit, and Alice Harriott from Whitsunday Family Dental are heading to Brisbane for the annual Dancing CEO’s fundraiser event.
The women will take the stage at Brisbane’s City Hall on Saturday night, putting all of their hard work to the test.
This year’s eight competing teams were tasked with raising $41,000 each, as a symbol of Women’s Legal Service Queensland’s 41 years, but team Whitsundays have well surpassed that goal with over $192,000 raised to date.
Principal Owner at Chez’s House of Dance in Proserpine, Chez O’Brien, coached the team for five months, training them three days a week, every week.
“When I came on board, the ladies knew what they were doing but needed help to clean up the routine, correct their spacing, perform in time, increase their confidence and add back-up boys who aren’t even physically here,” she said.
“There’s been so many elements to making sure that the performance they put on is
great, but they have done an amazing job and wow, they’ve come so far.”
Mad Dance House Artistic Director, Che Pritchard, has been choreographing the team’s dance and said, while he didn’t want to give too much away, the performance would be a reflection of the women’s personalities, the group dynamic, and the Whitsundays.
“You can expect to see hips swinging, shoulders rolling, hair flicking, some masculine eye candy backing them up, and four amazing women having the time of their tropical lives,” he said.
“After our initial choreography sessions, there were the predictable challenges and frustrations that come with learning to dance, but they all took it in their stride.
“As they do in business and in life, they’ve worked so hard to get to where they are now – which is nailing the routine and having a blast while they do it.”
Dr Alice Harriott said balancing the enjoyment of dancing and the seriousness of the cause behind it had sometimes felt like a mental juggling act.
“While we’re busy dancing and organising costumes and props – and having a whole lot of fun doing so – there are literally thousands of women across Queensland desperately needing help from WLSQ to survive – and that is not lost on us, and in fact, is absolutely our ‘why’,” she said.
Dancing CEOs is an annual fundraiser for Women’s Legal Service Queensland, raising money to help women and children impacted by domestic violence.
Teams can win on the dancefloor and as the biggest fundraisers on the night.
Team Whitsundays massive $192,000 on the fundraising front has the women currently at the top of the leaderboard.
Donations are still open and there will be rolling coverage across the weekend on Team Whitsundays Dancing CEO’s Facebook page.
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