After three rounds of intense performances, Irene Grysiak and Josh Luciew won this year’s “Dancing with the Stars” competition at Saint Francis.

DWTS returned for a second time to campus after enormous success last year, drawing over 200 viewers each week.

The event was hosted by the Dance Club and the Student Activities Organization (SAO).  SAO has been working on expanding its collaboration efforts, reaching out to co-sponsor events and plan activities that every student can enjoy.

SAO Vice President of Operations Skylar Spitz came up with the idea during her freshman year.

“I wasn’t sure how to plan the event, but after observing how ‘SFU’s Got Talent’ was run, I was able to get a better idea of how I would pull off Dancing with the Stars,” said Spitz.  “Bobby Anderson, SAO’s advisor, gave me the suggestion to allow the dance club to host the event.”

Contestants had to choreograph a dance to one song for the first two weeks and two songs for the finale.  They then performed the songs for the audience, who texted in their votes at the end of the show.  The dancing pair that received the lowest number of votes was eliminated each week.

Six pairs of dancers performed the first week.  The top three performed in the finale.  All participants said that they thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

“I found it to be rewarding to learn the moves that my partner taught me,” said Luciew.  “I also enjoyed choreographing and performing our dances for everyone.”

“Dancing with the Stars was overall an excellent addition to my semester,” said Grysiak.  “Dancing has always been something I’m passionate about, so getting to perform original choreography for an audience was both terrifying and thrilling.”

Capturing top honors did not come without its challenges.

“It wasn’t always easy to find extra time to choreograph or to practice that choreography with my partner, but the dances always seemed to come together,” said Grysiak.

Last year winner, Katie Mihelcic, joined by her brother, Marcus, in hosting this year’s event.  Katie Mihelcic even delivered a surprise performance during the finale.

DWTS has served as a promotional event for the Dance Club.  They hope to continue the event in future years.

“The show has been a great success with a large campus participation,” said Rachel Herr, who serves as president of the Dance Club.  “I loved seeing the partners grow in their friendships and improve their technique each week.”

“I feel truly blessed to have participated in such a fun event with such a capable partner,” said Grysiak, “and I am grateful to the audience for keeping us up there until the very end.”