NEWPORT — Teenagers stole the Dancing with the Stars competition last wee kend at the Newport Opera House.
Anna Pysz, 18, and her partner Mason Martell, 15, won Saturday night’s competition with a samba routine, while Gabe Edwards, 18, and partner Jazzy Durgin, 15, won Friday night with a ramba dance.
The teens beat out a total of eight couples, with the others being adults.
It was a new experience for Pysz, who plays varsity soccer, basketball and track at Newport Middle-High School. The last time she danced was when she was 7 and took a tap class.
“I knew it’d be hard but it was a lot harder than I thought it’d be,” she said this week.
Similar to the popular ABC television show, seasoned dancers were paired with local “stars,” who had little to no dance experience.
Pysz started learning the samba dance style from Martell in December. They practiced up to three times a week leading up to the competition.
“Mason and I put a lot of work into it,” said Pysz, who was surprised they won.
She had a good teacher in her partner, she said.
Martell started dancing at age 7 and has been in ballroom competitions throughout New England and as far as Las Vegas.
He squeezes ballroom practice into his hectic activity schedule at Newport Middle-High School, where the sophomore is Student Council secretary, a staff member of the newspaper and part of jazz band, among other activities. Martell is also on the indoor/outdoor track and field teams and maintains his grades on the honor roll. But dance has always been a priority and he finds time to practice ballroom five times a week.
“I love moving,” Martell said. “And dance is (movement) in an expressive way.”
Martell and Pysz won Saturday night and placed second in Friday night’s competition, behind Gabe Edwards and his partner — dance pro Jazzy Durgin.
“It was completely surprising,” said Edwards of the win.
Edwards acknowledged he was outside his comfort zone going into the competition. He viewed the opportunity to dance as his last hurrah.
The senior at Mount Royal Academy plans to move to San Antonio in August to begin basic training for the Army.
“It’s my last winter in New Hampshire,” Edwards said of the decision to compete. “It’s something that I hadn’t done before.”
It helped that he had a seasoned dance partner.
Durgin is home-schooled, which has allowed her to compete in ballroom competitions across the nation.
Her dream is to get into Brigham Young University to be on one of the best college ballroom dance teams in the country.
“To learn from her was awesome because she’s very, very good at what she does,” said Edwards. “She knows what it’s supposed to look like.”
Durgin started dancing when she was 3 and never looked back.
“I personally get an adrenaline rush off it — especially ballroom,” Durgin said. “It gets all the emotions out.”
The win didn’t come easy to the couple, who devoted themselves to four practices a week starting in December. Durgin and Edwards won Friday and placed second Saturday.
The couple also got the only standing ovation of the night — a special moment for Durgin’s mother, Dubie Durgin Dattola. Dattola said the dance styles and costumes involved in ballroom go along with her daughter’s personality.
“She takes my breath away every time I see her dance,” Dattola said.
The other couples in the competition included: Leigh Stocker of Summercrest Senior Living Community and pro dancer Karim Chichalky; Chuck Weinstein of the United States Postal Service and Renee Patten; Elliot Fey of South Congregational Church and Angie Stevens; Karen Little of Sturm Ruger & Company and Doug Barton; Beth Rexford of Newport Recreation and Steve Patten; and Robert Steele of the The Old Courthouse Restaurant and Aggie Proper
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