NEW ORLEANS – The 7th Annual Young Audiences Dancing for the Arts gala will be held at Harrah’s Casino Theatre on Saturday, November 5, 2016, from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. A red carpet reception and cocktail hour precedes the main event at 6:30 p.m.
Inspired by ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, the gala will feature local community leaders competing on the dance floor with professional dancers. Festivities include a silent auction, an open bar with a signature cocktail, hors d’oeuvres, live entertainment by New Orleans’s own Soul Heirs, and dinner presented by Harrah’s Casino. All proceeds from the gala will support Young Audiences’ afterschool and summer arts education programs.
This year’s event is co-chaired by philanthropist Heidi Dugan and WWL-TV’s Tamica Lee with Attorney and Community Activist Anita Demps as Silent Auction Chair. Star dancers include: Mark El-Amm, Attorney, Stringfield & Associates; Holley Haag, Senior Vice President and Commercial Lender, First NBC Bank; Russ Herman, Senior Partner in the firm of Herman Herman & Katz LLP ; Tonya Johnson, Attorney, Johnson Law; Dr. Tami Singleton, Philanthropist and Oncologist; Dr. David Silvers, Founder and Head Physician, Metairie Gastroenterology and Joan Zaslow, Attorney and Community Activist.
TV personality Camille Whitworth returns as Mistress of Ceremony, along with a panel of celebrity judges that includes: Charles Divins, WDSU-TV Morning Anchor; Ivy Kushner, Philanthropist and Community Activist; Dennis Lomonaco, CEO of Story Block Media, Executive Director of What You Give Will; and Kenny Lopez, WGNO-TV Reporter.
Event sponsors include Harrah’s Casino, Whitney Bank, Entergy, Louisiana Lottery, First NBC Bank, Uptown Messenger, Mid-City Messenger, and The New Orleans Advocate.
Individual tickets to the event are being offered at a starting price of $100. Event sponsorships begin at $1,250. All ticket levels include food, drinks and live entertainment. Those who cannot attend are encouraged to vote for their favorite dancer online.
Last year, more than 200 teaching artists, educators, athletic and recreation specialists and technology instructors were paid nearly $2 million to work directly with students from pre-school through high school, accounting for 70% of YALA’s total budget.
