Rehearsals are underway for the sixth annual Dancing with the Burke Stars, which will take place Saturday at the CoMMA Performing Arts Center.
Professional dance instructors began arriving in Morganton early last week and were paired with their local dance partners at a meet and greet and photoshoot on Wednesday, Jan. 25.
Since then, Burke stars and professional instructors have been working together with their dance partners to prepare their dance routines for the show. Additionally, pros and ensemble dancers are busy preparing for the show’s professional numbers.
In addition to rehearsals, several of the professionals have joined DWTBS Director and Producer Travis Stancil hosting open dance classes at The Dance Factory and a master class for students at Patton High School.
This year, Stancil said the show will feature a ladies-only cast of local stars accompanied by a professional cast of male dance instructors. This year’s instructors include:
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Edward Nazarov
- is a two-time U.S. National Champion Latin ballroom dancer. Currently, Nazarov tours around the U.S. with multiple companies performing in a variety of shows and displaying his versatile array of dance influences including folk, break-dance, Latin ballroom, jazz and more.
A.J. Watkins
- is a professional dancer living in Los Angeles. Watkins is a versatile dancer who specializes in hip hop and street-style dancing. Watkins has performed in commercials and live shows, including an opening role in the RuPaul Las Vegas residency and traveling shows. He has also logged three television appearances on the RuPaul Show.
Wiko Ezra is a Los Angeles-based dancer and singer who has appeared on stage, television and in movies, including Teen Beach Movie 2
- . Ezra is also a Latin Grammy nominated Reggaeton singer. He began his performing career as an opera singer in Puerto Rico before moving to Florida and dancing in the casts Disney World and other central Florida theme parks.
Fernando Garcia Lezcano
- is a Cuban freelance fusion and salsa dancer and accomplished choreographer. He worked as a choreographer for Telemundo for six months displaying his love of the fusion of various dance styles. His has been described as “an amalgam of ballet, modern dance, breakdancing, folk and Latin ballroom.”
Pierre Clark
- is a versatile dancer accomplished in jazz, hip hop, ballet, tap, modern and more. So far, highlights of Clark’s career include videos, commercials, dancing with Janet Jackson, performing on the “Beauty and the Beast” stage at Walt Disney World and four cruise ship contracts. Born and raised on the west side of Chicago, Clark started dancing at 19, but has quickly made up for lost time. Currently, he dances with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater in Chicago and KasheDance in Toronto.
Graham Dobbs is from Atlanta and has been dancing since he was 10 years old. Dobbs attended a performing arts High School in Atlanta and, after college, started performing professionally on cruise ships. He now works with Step One Dance Company and RWS Talent. He is a performer in the musical productions of the television series “Hawkeye
- .”
Givanni Gotay
- is a technically trained professional commercial dancer who has performed in music videos, on television and in stage shows. He has appeared on National Geographic and worked at Universal Studios and Royal Caribbean Cruises.
Travis Stancil
- is a Morganton native and professional ballroom dancer, choreographer, director and founder of Stance Productions. Beginning at age 10, Stancil trained under world champion Latin-style dancers Ana Llorente and Michael Chapman. At age 18, he moved to Palm Beach, Florida, to become a ballroom dance instructor. He produced his first touring show, “Rhythm, the Beat Goes On” in 2018 and moved back to his hometown to found Stance Productions the next year. Currently, Stancil travels the country performing with his dance partners, Natella Devitskaya and Anna Lisova.
Carlos Torres,
- is a 37-year-old professional dancer, choreographer, director and dance teacher. Torres was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He started dancing at the age of 8. Torres moved to New York where he worked with Pierre Dulaine’s “Dancing Classrooms” program, teaching social dancing to fifth graders. Currently, Torres is an artistic director for Royal Caribbean Productions where he choreographs, directs and produces shows for Royal Caribbean Cruises.
John Mercado
- is an aspiring Broadway performer based in New York. After going to college for dance, Mercado worked with a few modern dance companies and then spent a year working on cruise ships. Mercado said he has loved dancing since before he can remember and began training at age 13 after convincing his mother to let him begin dance classes.
Additional professionals involved in the show are:
Natella Devitskaya is a five-time U.S. National Latin Ballroom champion. Devitskaya was born in Armenia and moved with her family to the U.S. at age 10. She began dancing when she was 2 ½ years old and became the owner of her dance studio, Queen of Dancesport, at age 14. In 2022, Devitskaya opened a second location of her studio and launched her line of athletic wear — Brand IT
- . She has performed on some of the world’s biggest stages including the Oscars afterparty and the Arnold Sports Festival in Ohio. She has also trained dancers who have competed in national and international Latin ballroom competitions.
Danni Heverin
- has been a member of The Radio City Rockettes for seven years. Heverin lives in Atlanta where she teaches dance to up-and-coming industry dancers. Heverin is working to transition into working as a choreographer and Dancing with the Burke Stars will be her first experience choreographing a stage show. Heverin first began dancing at age four because she wanted to be like her older sister.
The sixth annual Dancing with the Burke Stars will take place at CoMMA Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. The event is sold out, but tickets are still available for the Ladies Night Dance Party on Friday, Feb. 3, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for Ladies Night are $40 plus taxes and fees.