Dancing For Charity And, Now, For Pride

The sponsors said they came up with the idea to help Bonder and Amanda Johnson Community Development Corp. and its efforts to support affordable housing in Arlington's Nauck neighborhood.

Sure, all involved said they wanted to back the effort, but no one raced to lace up tap shoes. In time, contestants relented, most of them under pressure from spouses or the weight of the greater good.

With tickets going for $60, sponsors hope to bring in as much as $25,000 to support Nauck's social services center, which they say has been overloaded with requests to help residents develop life-skills plans, personal budgets and housing assistance, among other things.

Zimmerman, who jokes (we think) that his coordination is limited to climbing stairs, has been among the most reluctant of the nine contestants. He said he agreed to the competition only because he couldn't say no to a close friend leading the charge.

So tonight he dances.

"It's a thought that fills me with trepidation," Zimmerman said.

"We don't want the expectations to be too high," he added dryly.

Not to worry.

Even Pebley, who knows his way around a dance floor, winces at the thought of fumbling before 350 hors d'oeuvres-grubbing spectators.

"I know I'm going to drop you," Pebley warned dance partner Bonnie Friedman as they worked through a complex series of steps.

"If you drop me, you're coming down with me so it looks like it's planned," Freidman shot back.

"If I drop you," Pebley lamented, his tone filled with dread, "I'm crawling out of the room."