Dancing Under the Stars finished up the summer season with record numbers

People who looked forward to Friday evenings on the makeshift dance floor in Cottonwood Square will be looking for something else to do until next June. "The final Dancing Under the Stars (DUTS) event for 2022 saw record numbers," Catherine McHale said, referring to the Sept. 23 closing night.

McHale is the organizer of DUTS and the director and owner of Power & Purpose Marketing. She is also Niwot's Economic Development Director and is focused on improving economic development and marketing with social events like this one.

McHale said, "The weather was a bit cool and it was perfect. It was a real party atmosphere." Dancers kicked up their heels with salsa dancing which was fitting for McHale, who is soon departing for a well-earned vacation in Cuba. This is her third time to Cuba and the second for a dance-themed vacation taking in Cuba's salsa culture and history. McHale explained, "We're going with our teacher, and it's organized around dance. Salsa is my favorite kind of dance because of the culture and music."

In keeping with her love of Cuban salsa, McHale said, "We made one change this year, we changed the salsa nights to Cuban style, and it's been very successful. It's all salsa but it has a slightly different feel and flavor from the NY or LA styles. The addition of the Cuban dance style gave people the opportunity to learn a different style and the music is different and is certainly very popular right now,"

The event originated in Boulder, but moved to Niwot when issues arose. "We had a couple of different teachers come in and some great music," McHale said. "It seems the word was out and people knew that other people would be there dancing that style and it was very successful."

McHale summed up this year's DUTS season, saying, "It's been a good season and I get the feeling that it has become an established event in Niwot, one that people enjoy and expect. We had a good turnout every single week. We usually had 150 to 200 people. We had one night where it rained but we still had 80 people dancing."

Many others joined in the fun. Mary Jo Wysocki from Winot Coffee set up an outdoor stand offering hot and cold beverages. "We have committed dancers, families, kids, (and) dance teachers showing up week after week," McHale said. "And each Friday we still have several people in attendance who've never been to the event or who've never danced before."

The event is a community effort. McHale explained, "We had our team of several teenagers set up and break down every week which has worked so well." She said, "We went through roughly 70 rolls of duct tape during these 14 weeks of DUTS. The dance floor takes a bit of a beating. It has needed repairs and we've replaced a couple pieces over the years."

The Dancing Under the Stars crew is meeting soon to discuss how things went this year. "We're talking about other possibilities for the dance floor," she said. We are also talking about the schedule."

McHale wonders, "Is 14 weeks enough? Should we go later into September and start earlier?"

McHale described other items on the list for review. "We added a ballroom (dance night) this year and that went very well. We have large communities for salsa and swing but it's good to add other types of dance to keep it entertaining and for a broader base of dancers to enjoy it. We want to have the best community event we can have and not have it be commercial or massive, keep the local vibe."

McHale believes the community benefits from events such as this. She said, "The dining establishments and others on 2nd Avenue and in Cottonwood Square benefit from the additional business before, during and after the event. DUTS benefits greatly from the sponsors and from all the dancers and people who just come to watch."

DUTS Sponsors

Left Hand Animal Hospital

Porchfront Homes

Raza Fresa

Julia March Integrated Skincare

Niwot Market

Deborah Read Fowler Real Estate

Niwot Tavern

Cottonwood Square

Niwot Business Association

Niwot Local Improvement District