Arts & Entertainment
Desert Dentist Hits The Dance Floor
Dr. Rene Dell'Acqua joins seven other prominent Coachella Valley contestants as they vie for mastery on the dance floor at the "Dancing with the Desert Stars" event Saturday, September 24. Proceeds will benefit the Desert AIDS Project.
After Palm Desert dentist, Rene Dell’Acqua, signed on to participate in the upcoming “Dancing with the Desert Stars” benefit, it wasn’t the dance routines that challenged her. It was the pain.
On the first day of rehearsals, while working on an acrobatic, Jitterbug flip, she hit her head on the floor.
“The next day my whole head hurt. Josh’s knee hurt. His back hurt. We both came in limping,” Dell’Acqua said.
Find out what's happening in Palm Desertwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Her dance partner, Josh King, added with a grin: “That’s how you know we really worked hard on it, when you can’t walk the next day.”
Though Dell'Acqua studied ballet for years, ballroom dancing is new to her.
Find out what's happening in Palm Desertwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
King, has been dancing for seven years. A Coachella Valley native, he just returned from a stint in New York where he studied on a fellowship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Dell’Acqua and King were paired-up, as were the other contestants in the event, one dance professional and one local “star."
In homage to the popular ABC-TV program, “Dancing with Stars,” the event will feature celebrity judges and an evening of competition pitting the couples against each other for the top prize.
Celebrity judges include Grammy Award winner Thelma Houston, Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan and “Dancing with the Stars” regular, Anya Fuchs.
Asked whether she had the opportunity to size-up her competition, Della’Acqua admitted: “We don’t really know anything about them.”
All of the couples will perform a Waltz and one other routine of their choice.
The other local “stars” include Kevin Bass, President of Coachella Valley Homecare; Elizabeth Beaubien, co-anchor of the KMIR-6 News; Nathan Clardy, Palm Springs fire fighter; Ginger Jeffries, KESQ-3 Chief Meteorologist; Ron Duran, owner/instructor at Pilates Plus; Jill Langham, Boomer in Bloom fitness expert and Jason Dibler, General Manager of the ACE Hotel & Swim Club.
Dibler summed up his dance background: “I took a two-day Ballroom class about ten years ago.”
But for him and the others, the evening provides an entertaining opportunity to raise money for the ongoing work of the Desert AIDS Project.
“It’s about the commitment, having a good time and doing it for a good cause. I’m not looking at competing with anybody, but I’m going to give it my best,” Dibler said.
“Dancing with the Desert Stars” is this Saturday at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Doors open for cocktails at 6pm. The show begins at 7:30 p.m.
General admission tickets are available for $40. VIP tickets, which include a cocktail and appetizers, are available for $100. To order tickets, call 760-322-3554 or go to: www.ReactionShows.com.
