[This is the latest installment of “Cobb Cuisine, Culture and Community” by Brian Benefield]

I was coming of age in the late 70s and 80s, and plan to rekindle a bit of that era in the upcoming Dancing With the Stars event on February 8th, 2025, at the Strand Theatre. 

When Saturday Night Fever came out in ’77, everyone had a severe case of Disco fever!  And although I was only a young lad, I could sneak and watch it on our high-tech Panasonic top-loading VCR.  John Travolta’s character, Tony Manero, was masterful on the dancefloor, and his hair was pretty awesome too.  We will do our best to make you proud, Tony.  

This event is a fundraiser for the Georgia Metro Dance Theatre, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary with this dazzling night of dancing performed by ‘community celebrities’ who want to give back by supporting the arts. 

Ticket sales and donations are vital to GMDT, so they can help fund their upcoming season and enable them to produce two high-quality productions that enrich Marietta’s dance cultural landscape. 

GMDT is a non-profit 501 © 3 organization that has over 130 dancers ranging from ages 7-18 and trains year-round at the Georgia Dance Conservatory studio, located on Historic Marietta Square.  By supporting this event, you will attend a phenomenal show and commit to our community’s artistic growth and passion for the arts.  If you attend or donate, your philanthropy will ensure that GMDT dancers can continue to be creative, enhance their talents, and ensure that the arts thrive in Marietta.  

Let me introduce our dance team, Disco Inferno; we are comprised of a diverse mix of people of various ages, backgrounds, and abilities.  Miki Thompson is what we call around here OM, meaning original Marietta, and her roots run deep in the Gem City.  She is a 7th-generation native who adores the arts and is passionate about hosting fundraisers for local schools and other deserving charities.  Neal Majors and Evan Bethards are the youth of our group, and they bring our routine energy to a whole new level.  They are an integral part of the Marietta Pilgrimage tour and are constantly brainstorming to make it better each year.  Neal has started the Marietta Shirt Company recently and has some neat designs explicitly made for this event.  Get em’ while they’re Disco Inferno hot! 

If you haven’t guessed by now, we’ll be dancing to a medley of classic disco songs, which will, for now, remain a secret, but the tunes we chose will have you shaking your groove thing and doing your best Tony Manero impressions from your seat at the Strand Theatre.  We want this event to sell out, so please visit the link listed below to get your tickets, and please donate if you can’t attend in person.  Four other teams from all walks of life will compete with us and have a chance to win one of two coveted disco ball trophies.  The team that raises the most money will win People’s Choice, and some previous winners will determine Judge’s Choice.  

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit anxious about dancing in front of 531 people in my hometown, but we have a fantastic choreographer named Jarrod Harrell, who mixed our music and is patient with us by going over and over and over the moves until it almost becomes natural.  We are fortunate to live in a community that loves the arts and continually supports local non-profits such as GMDT. 

Our team, Disco Inferno, invites you to c’mon out for a booty-shaking good time for a great cause. And from the hit song lyrics by the Bee Gees–”Whatcha doing on your bed on your back, you should DANCING, YEAH!” 

For more information visit https://georgiametrodance.org/dance-performance/2025-dancing-with-the-stars

Brian Benefield is an Atlanta native born in Dekalb County, who has lived in Cobb since 2003. He has worked in Hospitality, Marketing, Real Estate, and most recently Food Tourism. Married to Cecilie Benefield for 12 blissful years. They have a dog, Miss Pickles. Hobbies are mountain biking, running, gardening, and trying new recipes in the kitchen. Member of Les Marmitions cooking club since 2016, where we cook 5-course meals with local Atlanta chefs.