Dancing up a storm

After Saturday night’s sixth annual Dancing with the Stars, the audience discovered during the awards presentation who wears the shoes in the sheriff’s household.

Sandra Trotter captured the sixth annual DWTS, a fundraiser for the Fallon Swing Team, at a packed Churchill County High School gym with a crisp production of the Charleston/Salsa danced to the tune, “Show Me How You Burlesque,” with partner Jared Huston.

Zip Upham, public affairs officer for Naval Air Statin Fallon, came in second followed by Churchill County Sheriff Ben Trotter.

“I feel the stars and the dancers did a wonderful job with their dances, very diverse, but all seem to put their own spin and creativity into each dance,” said Vicky Purrell, one of the organizers of this year’s DWTS. “It was very entertaining. They all seem to enjoy themselves and I had many who verbally expressed their overall happiness with the event.”

Sandra Trotter, who represented the office staff at Churchill County High School, said her love for dancing led to a enjoyable evening.

“I was surprised,” she said,” because everyone did a great job.”

Sandra Trotter said she was pleased she did not make a mistake or step off on the wrong foot, but she attributes much of her evening’s success to Huston.

“He worked hard with me to get all the moves,” she explained. “He was so patient, so great.”

Sandra Trotter, who has been dancing since she was 2 years old, said never performed before so many people.

“Jared helped me with my confidence and helped with most of the choreography,” she added.

Ben Trotter said he was proud his wife won and that he would have never slipped past her for top honors.

“No chance in hell was I going to beat my wife,” he said. “She is much better than me … and a far superior dancer.”

Ben Trotter said he had no idea how the judges would view his presentation with partner Emma Joyner, as they danced the East Coast Swing to “Man Eater.”

“I never know how we would be judged,” Ben Trotter explained. “But I am tickled pink that we got something.”

Ben Trotter heaped praise on Joyner for her guidance and enthusiam in guiding the sheriff through his moves.

“I’m happy with my partner,” he said. “Emma was a little flower. These kids worked hard tonight. Emma had four other dances.”

Upham and his partner Debi Brainerd danced the Jive to the music of “Your Momma Don’t Dance….”

“This was just a ton of fun and hopefully we raised a lot of funds for the program,” he said. The efforts and energy into this fundraiser and the dance teams are outstanding.”

Upham, who was also surprised by this top three finish, said he had fun and considered the evening “a blast.”

From practicing to performing before the judges and audience was a humbling experience, said Upham.

“I was very pleased,” he said of the performance and comments. “It paid off, and the judges enjoyed what we were able to do.”

Upham said his second-place finish was the highest of any NAS Fallon representative, and he credits Brainerd for her dedication and teaching.

“The Navy is not known for its ability to dance,” he chuckled.

Other contestants entered in DWTS included the following:

Representing Banner Churchill Community Hospital, Terri Mulder teamed with her son, Derek Slentz to a Disco version of “It’s Raining Men” and transported the audience back to the late 1970s with music and apparel.

Emily Alexander, representing Churchill County Middle School, and partner Dustin Gross brought Broadway to the floor as they performed a lively number, “Can’t Do It Alone.”

This year’s senior class dancers were the first group of students she began teaching at CCMS.

Numa Principal Shawn Purrell saw double during his Freestyle interpretation of “I do Adore.” He had the opportunity to dance with his two daughters, high-school seniors Allie and Annie.

Another couple competed in this year’s DWTS.

Fallon photographer Peg Buckner and Josh Stier were a cute couple as the danced the Cha Cha/Mambo to “Remember the Time.”

Buckner’s husband, Michael Hewitt and Mikala Torres danced Freestyle to “Everything at Once.”

Both Buckner and Hewitt represented Picture This! Studio and Gallery.

Representing the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe, Yvonne Mori and Joseph Sorensen performed the Tango to “Disccomboulate.”

Taking a page out of the fairy tales and the world of marionettes, veterinarian Craig Schank from the Lahontan Valley Veterinary Clinic pulled the string with Jordan Crowley as they danced a Cha Cha to “Got no Strings.”

Judging the competition were former CCHS students who now have entered the world of professional dancing and instruction. They were Courtney Edwards, Katie Horne and Nicole Smith.

The Fallon Swing Team dancers also performed throughout the night.

“Most importantly the flow of the night was smooth and teams performances from the Pee Weez to the Competition demonstrated the quality of dancers we have here in Fallon,” Vicky Purrell pointed out. “The coaches for all the teams put in so much volunteer time to ensure that our young children have this type of experience.”

The various teams included the Competition Team, Pee Weez Team, Start Team, Kidz Team, Junior Team and Performance Team.

Dancers from the Fallon City Ballet also performed.

“Jef Horne took over the CCHS competition this year and he has really pushed his team technically and creatively,” Purrell added. “It was a challenge for him because the majority of the girls on the team were veteran dancers and the majority of the boys were either new or from the Performance team.

“He had his work cut out for him, but not surprisingly he brought them up to speed. Having a daughter, Allie, who has danced under Jef since the age of three, I had all the faith in him when he took this position. Jef is a dedicated dancer and performer, his background in dance has provided a wealth of knowledge to this team.”

Purrell said the Fallon Swing Team’s appreciates all the donations and community support.

“It is well worth the time and effort to put it on, and it brings our community together for a fun filled entertaining night. The money earned will be used for the Competition and Performance teams to travel to Disneyland in June, where they will perform within the park and participate in an Auditions and Career Workshop.”