Hunt learns dance from ex-student

ROLES REVERSED:
Former Country Christian School teacher Melissa Hunt gets dance instruction from her ex-student Parker Burr, 17, of Redding as they prepare for a night of "Dancing With the Stars: Shasta County Style."

In the name of charity, she has stood for hours in the dark on a shopping mall rooftop and rooted through countless trash bins for recyclable plastic and aluminum beverage containers.

Now, Anderson City Councilwoman Melissa Hunt, 44, is preparing for a night of intense competition in the local version of "Dancing With the Stars: Shasta County Style."

At 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, Hunt and her former fourth-grade student Parker Burr, now 17 and a senior at Foothill High School in Palo Cedro, will take to the Cascade Theatre stage in Redding to help raise funds for youth programs at Shasta Family YMCA and the Shasta Women's Refuge.

They will dance in the Salsa and Tango categories against similar performances by other Shasta County notables including Michelle Martin Streeby, marketing director for the Record Searchlight, Shasta County District Attorney Jerry Benito, State Farm Insurance agent Jeff Avery, KRCR-TV's head meteorologist Mike Krueger and Enjoy magazine's co-publisher Yvonne Mazzotta.

The local celebrities are paired with youthful dance tutors in a live event that is choreographed and directed by reknowned local dancer Kathy Babcock.

Hunt was recruited back in January by her friend Staci Bertagna, a social worker and formerly the Director of Communications & Development at Shasta Family YMCA.

"She emailed me and invited me to participate and I laughed for about a week before I finally responded yes because it is so out of character for me to do anything like this. I have no previous dance experience," Hunt said Friday.

"I would hope that a lot of Anderson residents will show up to support me," said Hunt, who has been practicing her dance routines with her partner each morning on the Gaia Hotel Amphitheatre stage in Anderson River Park. The pair then joins the show's other contestants each evening at the Cascade Theatre in Redding to rehearse a group number, Burr said.

"With four hours of practice each day, Melissa is catching on pretty well, even though she sometimes has trouble staying focused," said Burr, who has received dance instruction from Babcock for three years as a cast member in "Club Cougar," Foothill High's annual 1920s gangster-era big band jazz dinner theater show that is a fundraiser for the school's music and performing arts department.

"We're taking the competition pretty seriously. We get along great, but we are not making a joke out of the contest," said Burr, who admits to being somewhat competitive.

"Parker and I do a lot of laughing. We are having a lot of fun," said Hunt, who is a big fan of the ABC-TV network show from which the fundraiser is derived.

Hunt has also sought tips via email from KRCR-TV's morning meteorologist Chita Johnson, one of last year's contestants.

"Chita Johnson has been a big help to me, as has Paige Allen from the Humor Shop, who helped me with my costumes. I hate to shop, but we spent eight hours one day shopping for the right costume for my two dances," Hunt said of Allen's sartorial expertise.

Although the competition will be judged, a good part of each contestant's ultimate score will come from public support collected in several ways. Starting June 21, supporters could go online at enjoymagazine.net and vote for their favorite celebrity.

Each contestant can also encourage cash donations from individuals, businesses or corporate sponsors.

Finally, during the performance, audience members can purchase tickets and place them into buckets representing their favorite contestant.

The local celebrity with the highest amount of points and the largest cash donation total will take home the title of 2009 champion, an honor that Hunt said she will do her best to bring to Anderson.

Tickets to the 7 p.m. event on July 11 can be purchased at the Cascade Theatre box office. General admission is $25 while seniors and youths can get in for the reduced price of $20.

For information, call 246-9622.