Under the ivy-covered basement ceiling, Gregg Lynn and Judy Clark stand in position, waiting for their music to come on.

They dance a cha-cha to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” Gregg moving somewhat stiffly. He ran a marathon the weekend before, and his feet and legs are still a little swollen.

He works through it, though, because there are only a few more practices before show time. And he wants to perform well. Not only that, he wants to win.

Mr. Lynn and Mrs. Clark, along with five other couples, will be showing off their moves at “Dancing with the Stars — St. Joseph” this weekend. The show, a fundraiser for the Performing Arts Association, will be at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Missouri Theater. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12.

The contestants will compete for “mostly bragging rights,” and the unofficial title of St. Joe’s best celebrity dancers, says Mary Ingersoll, managing director of the PAA.

“This is a way we can do a fun show with local celebrities tied to a theme that’s known nationally,” she says.

Along with Mr. Lynn and Mrs. Clark, the contestants include St. Joe Now weather specialist Lindie Patton and Paul Stickler; AEC Fitness owner Joy Umphress and Larry Clark; KQTV anchor Bridget Blevins and Vince Valencia; judge Dan Kellogg and Chris Stickler; and KQTV weatherman Mike Bracciano and Margaret Baker.

The pairs will be judged in two categories: judges’ choice and people’s choice. Formal judges will rate the dances based on technique, while the audience will vote for their favorite dancers during intermission. After intermission, the pairs will perform another dance number, on which they will not be judged.

The dancers have been practicing for about 12 weeks, some pairs meeting a couple times a week for an hour and others meeting once a week for several hours. The celebrity contestants had little to no dance experience when they agreed to participate in “Dancing with the Stars,” which made practices challenging in the beginning.

“Some of the movements are really unnatural for the human body,” Mr. Lynn says. “My body just doesn’t work in these directions.”

And the rigorous practice schedule has left some contestants sore.

“The least favorite thing is probably the fact that my feet hurt all the time,” says Ms. Blevins.

The fact that her coach, Mr. Valencia, described her as “stomping around like a redneck,” in the beginning was another least favorite thing.

“That’s probably the worst,” she says, “knowing that I’m very mechanical and stiff.”

But she’s confident the weeks of practice will pay off, and she wants to win.

“I’m just a competitive person by nature,” she says. “No matter what it is I’m doing, I always want to win.”

She has some stiff competition in Mr. Lynn, though.

“We’re out for blood,” Mr. Lynn says, laughing.

“But we’re having lots of fun with it,” Mrs. Clark says.

Lifestyles reporter Lacey Storer can be e-mailed at lstorer@npgco.com