Marie Saavedra raising money for fight against breast cancer in Dancing with Chicago Celebrities
CHICAGO (CBS) -- We are in the final countdown. This time next week, Marie Saavedra will be burning the floor in a charity face off, all part of Arthur Murray Presents Dancing with Chicago Celebrities.
The goal of the evening is for dancers to nail their routines and raise a ton of money to help in the fight against breast cancer. There are just 7 days left to make both of those things happen.
"I'm most surprised by how much I'm loving it," Saavedra said. "The dancing is scratching a part of my brain and body that I haven't used together, I think maybe ever."
"When I found out I was doing this, I said to them 'I am 5 foot 9 ¾ in flat feet, no shoes, so you need to find me the tallest man you have to be my partner, and they did! He's 6'10"!" Saavedra said.
Her dancing partner, Ben," has been "very encouraging."
"He's very patient, and he tells me to get out of my head and stop being a perfectionist, which is helpful, and I probably should do more of that," Saavedra said.
The pressure is on to continue the legends of winners past from CBS 2. Dana Kozlov and Irika Sargent both have given Saavedra some good tips.
"I don't want to give all of my secrets away of the routine, but there may be a point I'm airborne. That's all I'm going to say," Saavedra said.
Dancers compete against each other not only on the dance floor but in their fundraising efforts.
"Even if it hasn't happened to you personally, you know somebody who's dealing with breast cancer, or it's just a fact of life that you just need to be aware of and check for," Saavedra said.
"I know it's a fun evening, and there's a lot of flash to it, but it really is for such an important cause. So if anyone feels called to donate, we'd love to have you be a part of the CBS 2 team, and add those dollars to make some real change, and it will go to people right here," she added. "And at the end of the day we can all feel really good about that no matter what happens on the dance floor."
A huge thanks to photojournalist Reed Nolan for putting together a look at Saavedra's preparations, and to Ben and the staff at Arthur Murray Lakeview for putting her together.
If you'd like to donate, visit https://amdwcc.org/buy%2Fdonate
