The 12th Annual Dancing with the Stars of Charlotte Gala Recap!
What an incredible evening! On March 1, our Dancing with the Stars of Charlotte Gala raised over $1.47 million for Charlotte Ballet and six charities.
The 12th annual Dancing with the Stars of Charlotte Gala was an exciting competition between six corporate and community leaders who put their all into not only fundraising but perfecting a creative dance routine with their Charlotte Ballet dancing partner. This year’s benefiting charities include Dress for Success Charlotte, The Arts Empowerment Project, Arts +, Grandfather Community Foundation, Project Pink and Wing Haven. We are so excited to give back to these charities with the help of our Star Pairs. Approximately $496,000 will be distributed back to the community through the Stars’ chosen charities.
This year’s Gala was chaired by the 2024 People’s Choice winner, Charlotte Wickham, and the 2024 Judge’s Choice winner, Callie Dobbins.
We were also joined by two incredibly charismatic emcees, Frenchie Wilson Brown and Lowell Cooper Jr.! These two kept the energy going all night and we had the best time with them.
Our 2025 Judges’ panel included Alison Friedman, Carl Showalter and Nina Johnson. All of our judges were incredibly impressed by our Star Dancer Pairs, giving genuine and thoughtful feedback throughout the evening. As usual, it was tough to choose a winning pair as all of our Star Dancer Pairs did a fantastic job!
So how did the competition stack up? Two winners were crowned for the evening.
Community Leader Alex Funderberg and Charlotte Ballet Dancer Adriana Wagenveld were awarded the title of The People’s Choice for raising the most funds.
Diagnostic Radiologist Dr. Amy Sobel and Charlotte Ballet Dancer Maurice Mouzon Jr. won the title of The Judge’s Choice for receiving a perfect score on their exciting dance routine for the evening.
TAKE A LOOK AT ALL OF OUR STAR PAIRS FROM THE EVENING
ALEX & ADRIANA: PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNERS
Community Leader Alex Funderberg danced with Charlotte Ballet’s Adriana Wagenveld to benefit Arts +
AMY & MAURICE: JUDGE’S CHOICE WINNERS
Diagnostic Radiologist Dr. Amy Sobel danced with Charlotte Ballet’s Maurice Mouzon Jr. to benefit Project Pink.
BRENT & KARSEN
Head of Compliance Strategy, Planning & Governance, Wells Fargo Brent Fatticci danced with Charlotte Ballet’s Karsen Gresham to benefit Dress for Success Charlotte.
NATALIE & ISAAC
Founder and Executive Director, The Arts Empowerment Project Natalie Frazier Allen danced with Charlotte Ballet’s Isaac Aoki to benefit The Arts Empowerment Project.
BILL & SAMANTHA
Partner, Brown Brothers Harriman Bill Hyder danced with Charlotte Ballet’s Samantha Riester to benefit Grandfather Community Foundation.
RAD & REES
Partner, Berkley Capital Advisors Rad von Werssowetz danced with Charlotte Ballet’s Rees Launer to benefit Wing Haven.
Photos from the evening are here!
Photos by Jeff Cravotta.
