Spotlight: Dancing with the Stars nears

It’s dancing time again in the Lahontan Valley.

The annual Dancing with the Stars 2014 sponsored by the Fallon Swing Dance Boosters will present eight local celebrities and their partners on April 11 at the Churchill County High School gymnasium.

The dancing begins at 7 p.m., and tickets, which range from $8-10, may be purchased in advance from Churchill County High School, Robertson & Koenig Optometry or Jeff’s Copy Express. Tickets may be purchased at the door.

Instead of having 10 celebrities, organizers decided to reduce the number of dancers to eight because of the other CCHS Swing Competition and Performance teams showing their moves and to broaden the appreciation for ballroom and swing dance. The audience will be treated to dances from the high school’s Competition and Performance Swing Teams; Juniorz, Starz and Peeweez Swing Teams; and the Fallon City Ballet.

The eight performers and their high school partners this year include the following:

Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Daniel Anderson (Nevada Highway Patrol) and Skylar Jones; Rear Admiral Andy Lewis and Emma Joyner; Dr. Raymond Ryan and Chelsea Gatlin; Churchill County Fire Marshall Mitch Young and Erin Paranuk; Oasis Academy secretary Julie Evans and Haydn Klein; Dr. Lana Narag and Ethan Overlie; Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Natalie Parrish and Louie Mori; and Northside teacher Jenny Young and Thomas Robertson.

Today’s article will feature Anderson, Lewis, Evans and Narag.

Anderson, who is representing the Nevada Highway Patrol, was born and raised in Stockton, Calif. He said the biggest influence in life has been his father.

Although he doesn’t have any dancing skills, Anderson said he was asked to dance this year and accepted.

“I’m a big teddy bear,” Anderson said. “However, I’m here to compete and win.”

Lewis is the commander of Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon. He is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and also received a Master of Arts in Military History from the University of Alabama.

Lewis said as a youngster, he took a ballroom dancing course when he was 12 years old.

Lewis said he is competing in DWTS because it is a chance to spend time with the dancers and community.

Evans, who is representing Oasis Academy, grew up in Dillon, Mont., and attended college in the Big Sky State (although she had a secret longing to attend the Julliard School for Dance.)

According to Evans, she was raised on a cattle and sheep ranch, but she longed to be a dancer and escape the cowgirl life. She said the biggest influences have been her husband and children.

“They filled all the empty spots in my heart caused by the lack of dancing,” she said.

Her courage to dance in DWTS comes from her daughters.

“They said I had to do it to set a good example for them about doing very hard things,” Evans said. “Despite the fact that daughter No. 2 thinks I am too jiggly to dance in front of the whole town, she still supports me.”

Evans said the other contestants need to know that she is dancing to an awesome 1980ss song, which gives her an advantage because the 80’s “were like so cool.”

Narag was raised in Manila, Philippines and has a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and a Doctor of Medicine Pediatric Specialist.

Narag said she has had a love to dance to cheerlead, and her hobbies include singing, dancing and eating. Asked to describe her dancing skills, she said they are basic … like everyone else.

According to Narag, she is representing all the multi-tasking, hard-working women of Fallon and the Narag Family Clinic. Her biggest influences in life, said Narag, are her husband of 20 years and her parents.

“I am ready to take on the task of bringing in more money for this competition and fundraising event even if I end up making a fool of myself,” she said.