Want to see Gunston School headmaster John Lewis cha cha cha to a song by Kesha and Pitbull? Watch J.R.’s bartender Jeff Maguire make some classic James Bond moves on the dance floor? Or marvel at a merengue by radiologist Mel Repelyea?
You can see all that and seven more “Stars” perform with dance pros Saturday evening, January 24, at the 6th Horizons Dance with the Stars fundraiser. The event will take place at the Kent County Community Center in Worton, to raise money for Horizons of Kent and Queen Anne’s, which operates a six-week summer session of academics, cultural enrichment, and swim lessons for financially disadvantaged children. The décor theme for the event is “Bond. James Bond.”
Reservations are required. Table seating has sold out, but there are general admission reservations ($80) available through a link to the website,https://horizonskentqueenannes.org.
In a fun take-off on the popular Dancing with the Stars television show, local “Stars” are paired with trained dancers—from former ballroom champions to fitness instructors. The couple who raises the most money for Horizons takes home the coveted People’s Choice mirror-ball trophy. The public can “vote” in advance of the event by making donations through the website: https://horizonskentqueenannes.org/dancing-with-the-stars-2015.
For the 2015 event, Headmaster Lewis has partnered with ballroom instructor Amanda Showell of Dancing on the Shore, Maguire is dancing with Jennifer Tosten of Jennifer’s School of Dance, and Repelyea is making his moves with Lucia Calloway, a former professional ballroom dancer who has competed around the globe and entertained guests on the QEII with her husband, Darryl.
The other dance pairs now polishing their routines:
Washington College advancement officer Fannie Shenk, who is learning Irish Step Dancing from her partner James Hester, a one-time world finalist in Irish dancing and owner/instructor at Hester Academy of Irish Dance. They will dance to the beautiful instrumental music “Siamsa” by Ronan Hardiman.
Exercise instructor and cancer-awareness advocate Julie Gillespie is working up a Bond-worthy tango with experienced ballroom competitor Alex Walls, set to Michel Legrand’s “Tango to the Death.”
Kent County News editor Daniel Divilio is shaking his hips to One Republic’s “Love Runs Out,” as choreographed by his partner Aundra Weissert, a Washington College admissions officer who also blogs about fitness and leads exercise classes.
Arts activist and retired sales executive Beryl Kemp and martial arts teacher Mark Pagano, owner of Phoenix Personal Fitness & Martial Arts, plan to wow with a Latin medley set to Gloria Estefan’s “Conga.”
2012 Horizons National Teacher of the Year Jess Thompson, the Resource Teacher at Kent School, is channeling her inner Hip Hop artist with the debonair Shiv Rambarran, an admissions and marketing analyst at Washington College with a passion for dance and the moves to prove it. Their music is Kanye West’s “Power.”
Real estate executive Kate Goodall Gray, a V.P. at KRM Development, is taking her inspiration from the movie Dirty Dancing and her choreography from Patrick Swayze stand-in John Haines, a hospital RN with a long history of dancing with his sister and helping teach at her dance studio. The two will perform a freestyle routine to “Do You Love Me?” by The Contours.
And Kent School lacrosse coach Mimi Parish and her partner Darryl Calloway, a former championship ballroom competitor who now teaches at Sudlersville Middle School, will strut their western stuff to Kenny Chesney’s “American Kids.”
Serving as Judges for the dance competition will be Chestertown Mayor Chris Cerino, Queen Anne’s County High School dance teacher Amber Wright, and dentist Neil W. Brayton.
The Kent County Horizons program has been operating since 1995, based first at Kent School and now hosted by Radcliffe Creek School. A Queen Anne’s County site is opening this summer in Centreville at The Gunston School. The mission is not only to strengthen students’ academic abilities but also to build their self-confidence and citizenship skills. To learn more about the national Horizons program, visitwww.HorizonsNational.org. For more about the local program and the Dance with the Stars event, visit www.horizonskentqueenannes.org.
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