FANCY FOOT WORK
Matthew Hughes and Brianna Maland of Owatonna light up the stage at Owatonna High School with their fancy foot work Saturday as part of Dancing with Our Steele County Stars for Healthy Seniors. Hughes and Maland captured the top dancing title with their routine to the theme of Dirty Dancing, “Time of My Life.” Photo by Trevor Gieseke
Prior to February, dancing never really had been an activity for Matthew Hughes and Brianna Maland. But the engaged couple quickly turned their dancing into some fancy foot work to capture this year’s Dancing with Our Steele County Stars title.
Hughes and Maland rocked the auditorium at Owatonna High School with their routine to the theme of Dirty Dancing, “Time of My Life.”
When asked why they were dancing, Hughes responded: “Honestly, beyond kitchen dancing, I’m not sure I was meant to do this in front of people. Brianna danced for years and looks great. Me? More like a blindfolded Gumby ‘Dancing in the Dark.’”
Maland said she performed some dancing as a child “but not like the ballroom style.”
Both Hughes and Maland admit performing in front of hundreds of people was “a little nerve wracking.” They relied on “pure adrenalin” to get them through the dance. “We poured everything we had into it,” Maland said. Added Hughes, “Just like Dancing with the Stars on TV.”
They leaned on “lots and lots of practice” for helping them get the top honor. In addition, they credit April Dahl, who serves as choreographer and instructor for all the couples in the event, for launching them to the top. “She is a phenomenal dance instructor,” they said.
“It’s not every day you get to wake up and pretend to be Patrick Swayze (star of Dirty Dancing),” said Hughes, who serves as general manager of KOWZ Radio in Owatonna. Maland works for Bulldog Coating in Faribault.
Hughes and Maland, who will be married on New Year’s Eve in River Falls, Wis., said they felt the competition for Healthy Seniors of Steele County was “a great investment of our time.”
Hughes said they couldn’t escape the irresistible Edna Ringhofer, director of Healthy Seniors. “You know her passion for Healthy Seniors is impossible to resist,” he said. “If she’s after you to do this, eventually you will fold.”
There were eight other couples who performed in the competition. Second place went to Shawn and Marcy Sundine of Blooming Prairie and third place was Jessica Bjore and Alex Anderson. The Sundines also earned the top fundraising award.
The Sundines said they are passionate about giving back and making a positive impact. Besides being involved heavily in the community around Blooming Prairie, they also own Inside Swing, an indoor golf and bar venue in Owatonna. He also works for Viracon while she works at Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers by Medford.
Anderson and Bjore are friends while he is her chiropractor at Bridges in Owatonna. She is self-employed with Family Heritage, a division of Globe Life. At one of the Owatonna Business After Hours, Anderson was “voluntold” by Ringhofer and others that he had to dance with Bjore. She had been on Ringhofer’s list for years but didn’t have a dance partner but didn’t have a dance partner because she’s been in a long-distance relationship that wouldn’t work for the time commitment required for practice.
Bjore said she has been waiting to put her talents toward a positive cause and been excited to entertain an audience that have their hearts in the right place.