Sept. 20, 2017 COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” The Carolina Band, in collaboration with the USC Department of Theater and Dance and the Department of Athletics, is putting the finishing touches on a “Dancing with the Stars” halftime show this week, which it will debut at halftime of Saturday’s football game against Louisiana Tech. Four local stars are paired with USC Dance Company members and will each perform on a dance floor set up on the field at Williams-Brice Stadium with the crowd invited to vote for a winner.

South Carolina women’s basketball senior forward A’ja Wilson and Anya Martin, wife of Gamecock head men’s basketball coach Frank Martin, will be the female competitors, with USC Student Body President Ross Lordo and WIS TV meteorologist Tim Miller also stepping up to the challenge to represent the men of Columbia.

The band will play musical arrangements by Cormac Cannon, director of the Carolina Band, to include the “Dancing with the Stars” theme song, “Conga” by Miami Sound Machine, “Carolina Girls” by The Chairmen of the Board, “Sing, Sing, Sing,” made famous by Benny Goodman and “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” from the film “Dirty Dancing.” USC professors Susan Anderson and Richard Durlach choreographed the four dances, and Tonya Mitchell, assistant director of the Carolina Band wrote the band’s drill.

Like the television series, the competitors have been working with their dance partners for a few weeks with a final dress rehearsal set for Friday night before Saturday afternoon’s halftime show.

Saturday will mark the second time in as many seasons that The Carolina Band has welcomed informally trained dancers into its halftime show. Several members of the Gamecock women’s basketball team participated in a performance of “The Time Warp” from “Rocky Horror Picture Show” in 2016.