2015 Dancing With the Stars of Florence Contestants Announced

Posted: Tuesday, January 6, 2015 8:27 pm

BY MELISSA ROLLINS Morning News This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

FLORENCE, S.C. — It is time once again for Florence County to strap on its dancing shoes. This spring, Dancing with the Stars of Florence returns for its fifth year. The dancing duos met for the first time Tuesday night at a pairing party, where they picked their song and the style of dance they would be tackling.

Debbie Hyler, executive director for The School Foundation, said she is excited to start another season of the crowd-pleasing fundraiser.

“I think it is so popular because it is just fun,” Hyler said. “Think about the people you work with; wouldn’t you like to see them dance? Honestly, for the companies that participate, it is almost a team - building exercise for the business. They all chip in and come up with marketing ideas to get votes. It is just a great time.”

Each dancing pair is made up of a local ‘celebrity’ and a ‘professional’ dancer.

As in years past, the lineup includes a who’s who of business professionals and dancers from Florence County. There are doctors, dance teachers, lawyers, public school educators and dance students. If Tuesday night was any indication, the new cast is up for the challenge and ready to raise money for The School Foundation.

Rick Ryan, a ‘celebrity’ with NBSC, said that he was eager to start practicing and see what he and his partner can do.

“I volunteered to do it,” Ryan said. “I’m ready to roll with this thing. I’m pretty excited to do it. Seeing how many people would be doing it, that made me a little bit nervous but I think I can do it. Before our wedding, my wife and I had maybe eight lessons, but it is kind of different when you are dancing in front of people you know.”

Jovan Kindred, a returning ‘professional’ and last year’s 1st Place People’s Choice winner, said he enjoyed his time with the event last year and was happy to be invited to participate again.

“It is always so fun to be involved with The School Foundation and Dancing with the Stars,” Kindred said. “They asked me last year and I thought ‘Why not’. They must have thought I was good enough to ask me to come back again.”

The Dancing with the Stars event will take place March 31 at SiMT but the dancers will have long months of choreography and practice ahead of them.

While much of the evening will be dedicated to the dancers in the 2015 competition, there will also be an opening act performance by the 2014 contestants and performances throughout the evening by the KFA Fierce team from Kelley’s Fine Arts.

The website featuring all of the new contestants’ pictures and biographies is expected to be up and running around the beginning of February.

2015 Dancing with the Stars of Florence Pairs

Celebrity	Company	Dance Partner
Dr. Deepak Chowdhary	Pee Dee Gastroenterology Associates	Brandi Williamson
Cedric Kennedy	South Florence High School	Shandi Cox
Will King	IGA Food Stores/KJ's Market	Amanda Smith
Mike Miller	Florence Chamber of Commerce	Cheyanne Beck
Ashley Nance	King, Love and Smith Attorneys at Law	Desiree Stokes
Dr. Susan Ninichuck	Roche Carolina	Jovan Kindred
Fields Norwood	Lawson Turf Farm	Tiffany Welsh
Michele Pridgen	Honda of the Carolinas	Jacob Coward
Rick Ryan	NBSC	Georgeanna Kelley
Stephen Wade	Morning News	Kayce Smith
Robert Watkins	Johnson Controls	Drew Arnold
Chris Warner	St. Jude Medical	Meggie Baker