With huge grins and hips swaying, Laura Ludwig and Charles Dalton moved across the stage with an undeniable connection.
“Laura and I have a natural chemistry together dancing,” Dalton said. “We have similar body movement, so it’s really freeing. It’s a really fun experience when we dance together.”
Ludwig and Dalton’s love of movement earned them the coveted grand prize of Orcas Has Talent (formerly Orcas Idol) on Saturday, Feb. 5. The event is a fundraiser for Orcas Island Prevention Partnership.
Neither dancer had any clue they would win the competition that included singers, saxophone and trombone players, and a teen band.
“My goal was to perform the pieces we had put so much effort into,” Charles said.
Ludwig, who has been dancing since she would walk, choreographed all their numbers. She describes her work as “Fusion Dance,” blending modern, jazz, hip hop, tango, and Latin. Ludwig teaches a class on Orcas.
“Laura is my dance mentor,” Charles said. “For our first dance (in the competition), Maria Bullock, who is an excellent salsa dancer, gave us a lot of tips and helped us choreograph.”
The friends have been dancing together for around four years, but this is the first time they have performed as a couple.
“I love Charles,” Laura said. “We’ve always danced together, so we’ve been familiar with each other for a long time, but we’ve always been in big groups. This is the first time it’s been just the two of us. Our styles are very compatible together. He works so hard and he has such a positive attitude.”
The show
Host Mark Padbury opened the evening with a display of his banjo skills to a sold out crowd at Orcas Center. Eight acts took the stage: Carl Burger, a singer and guitar player, jazz singer Susan Weiss, high school student and guitar player Zach Edwardson, Orcas Has Talent junior winner Mikaela Hanson (she won that competition on Jan. 22), who sang and played the guitar, folk singer Marlene Dickey, Al Bentley and Matthew Wallrath on sax and trombone, singer Marissa Veldman, dancers Ludwig and Dalton, and the group “Practice Makes Awesome” with members Julia and Christian Bailey, Jessica Gudgell, Kellen Comrie, and Emy and Lisa Carter.
Judges Joe and Susan Babcock, Paul Evans, and Anita Orne offered “non-judgmental” feedback on all the acts.
The audience voted, ballots were tallied during intermission, and the following contestants advanced to round two: Burger, Dickey, Bentley and Wallrath, Practice Makes Awesome, Veldman, and Luwdig and Dalton.
Burger brought out his banjo, Dickey sang an Allen Toussaint song on her guitar, Bentley and Wallrath donned butterfly wings for their jazzy medley, Practice Makes Awesome performed “I’ll Stop the World,” Veldman sang a sultry version of “Cowboy Casanova,” and Ludwig and Dalton danced a modern/hip hop number.
As the second round of voting was tallied, Matthew Laslo-White entertained the audience with his magic tricks and Orcas Has Talent organizer Donna Laslo played a video of local residents’ “special talents,” which included a rapping dentist, kazoo playing, and a Jack Nicholson monologue.
And then there were three.
Bentley and Wallrath gave it their all for their final performance of the night, Veldman shimmered in a long evening gown, singing “A Moment Like This,” and Ludwig and Dalton danced their hearts out.
When their names were announced, the two leaped in the air and danced around the stage.
Ludwig and Dalton will be using the $500 cash prize for a trip to Seattle, where they will dine out and take classes at a modern dance studio they both love.
