Pres Garrett and Tekela Redd are confident in a Dancing for the Arts win.
The biennial dance competition to benefit Piedmont Arts pits eight duo teams against each other. The winner is decided by a combination of community votes in the months before the competition and scores on performance the day of the competition.
Garrett and Redd were assigned the quickstep and will dance to “pencil Full of Lead” by Paolo Nutini. Their second dance is hip hop and they will dance to “Like That” by Memphis Bleak.
They started practicing with their coach Catherine Rodenbough right after Thanksgiving and are almost done learning all the choreography for their quickstep dance. Once that is done, they will move on to their next dance.
Garrett is the owner of Starling Avenue Cards & Comics, vice president of Move to Martinsville and president of the Chatmoss Neighborhood Association. He is also a member of the Smith River Singers.
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He grew up locally and graduated from Carlisle School and after moving away for a short time moved back to the area in 2020.
Garrett’s dance experience lies in his theater background and his involvement in dance recitals at Carlisle School.
“I think it’s an honor, I think it’s cool,” Garrett said about how he feels being selected for the competition. Garrett’s brother has participated in the past and his sister was supposed to be in the last competition but since it was moved due to COVID, she ended up not being able to compete.
Redd also grew up locally and graduated from Tunstall High School. She is the service center director for Salvation Army, a United Healthcare business consultant, owner of TMR Property Management, co-owner of Link Realty and was formerly a senior IT quality analyst for Kern Health Systems. She is also on the board of Piedmont Arts and Safety Net and is about to publish her first novel called “The Real Estate Players’ Cheat Code.”
She doesn’t have any formal dance experience but she was a competitive cheerleader in high school.
Redd said she was a little confused when she was first asked to participate but is now fully committed to creating a challenge for their competitors.
“I like the song choice and I actually like the dance,” Redd said.
Garrett, Redd and Rodenbough all agree that the team has progressed immensely from the start of their practice sessions.
“I think we’re doing well, and I think we’ll be in a good position to not have to be stressing out right before competition,” Garrett said.
“We’re going to be the best team,” he added.
“And we’re going to make them laugh,” Redd added. “Because we’re gonna laugh at ourselves. We’re going to be the most entertaining dance duo up there.”
Other teams include: Jewell Drewery and Ouss Sahar; Bonnie Favero and Damian Wainwright; Anna Hatchett and Louis Campbell; Jennie Rabon and Bobby LaPrade; Spencer Koger and Claudia Graham; Jamie Turner and Justin Kline; and Anna Wheeler and Jacob Frith.
The other choreographers are Jane Leizer, Stacey Davis and Janeka Hairston.
Each vote ($1 = 1 vote) benefit voters’ favorite teams and raise money to support Piedmont Arts programming in Martinsville-Henry County. Each team’s final score is made up of a combination of votes and the judges’ scores. The team with the highest final score wins the grand prize.
To double votes ($1 = 2 votes), you can apply your total donation toward a Piedmont Arts membership. A $40 minimum is required for this option. Voting will be done on Piedmont Arts’ website, piedmontarts.org and taken during the event.
The competition will take place at 4 p.m. March 9 at the Martinsville High School Auditorium. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $30 for reserved seating and $5 for students K-12 general admission and can also be purchased at piedmontarts.org.
Monique Holland (276)-734-9603
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