Students have a love for dancing

In the past two editions, the LVN introduced the Lahontan Valley to six male and six female dancers in this year’s Dancing with the Stars, which is Saturday at the Churchill County High School gym beginning at 7 p.m.

In addition to the celebrity dancers and their partners, the program will also feature the following: Fallon Swing Pee Weez, Fallon Swing Starz, Fallon Swing Kidz Team, Fallon Swing Juniorz Team, Churchill County High School Ballroom Club, the Fallon Swing Competition team and the Fallon City Ballet.

The following biographies were completed by the dancers and are listed in no preferential order.

Julia Grimes is a senior at CCHS. She started taking jazz classes in seventh grade and absolutely fell in love with dance. Julia says her passion for dance has opened her eyes to a whole new world. After high school, Julia plans to go into the medical field and become a pediatric nurse as well as continuing her passion for dance.

Jordan Moon has been dancing basically since birth. At age four, she began ballet and tap, and has been participating in some form of dance ever since.

Jordan admits she choreographed 90 percent of her dance in math class and wishes to take this moment to publicly apologize to her instructor. Due to her struggles in the height department, Jordan is often randomly thrown around and has seen her life flash before her eyes multiple times.

Iliana Hockenberry-Grimes said that somehow, despite her lack of coordination, she was chosen to be a dancing with the stars pro. She has been dancing on a Fallon Swing team since third grade along with taking classes such as tap and ballet at The Studio for the Performing Arts. She also strives for academic excellence and is on the A Honor Roll and student council at Oasis Academy.

Allysen Olsen was raised on a dairy farm. She began dancing with The Studio for the Performing Arts when she was three years old. It’s always been dance and dairy. Several months ago she decided to fully commit and give dance school a try. As of now, she still has a couple of auditions and hasn’t decided where she wants to go.

Jennifer Marshall, a junior at CCHS, was born and raised in Fallon. Dancing has become her passion since middle school, and she’s very grateful for her instructors and all they have taught her. She loves music and has recently learned she loves to swim. Jennifer says Dancing with the Stars is an amazing event that Fallon puts on for the community. It gives people their opportunity to be their own star, and it teaches them that dancing can be for anyone — and says no one should ever be scared to try something new.

Jordan Medrano is a junior at CCHS and started dancing when she was three years old. She dances at The Studio as well, taking classes in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, tumbling, ballroom, pas de deux, and pointe. After high school she plans to further her education in the medical field. She is grateful for the opportunity to dance in DWTS again.

Jason Brown, a senior at CCHS, started dancing mid-sophomore year. Contemporary and modern style dances have become his favorite over the years, though ballroom is where his current expertise lies. His hobbies include both teaching and dancing as he has a passion for both and aspires to include them in his future. Jason says dancing has always given him a sense of freedom and peace from life’s worries, helping him through problems he has faced.

Jefrey Horne, a junior at CCHS, has been a part of dance is entire life, being born to ballet studio owners/instructors. He has taken ballet from his father at The Studio for five years, along with lessons in tap, jazz, ballroom and now swing. He has been on various Fallon swing teams for the past four years. He is actively involved in choirs, musicals and plays within the community.

Josh Schie, a junior at CCHS, first auditioned for the Fallon Swing Juniorz team four years ago and has been doing ballroom ever since. His sophomore year he decided to start taking classes in ballet. He now takes classes in ballet, modern, tap, jazz, tumbling, pas de deux and ballroom at The Studio.

Tim Shurtliff is a junior at Oasis Academy. Several years ago, if others had told him he would be a dancer, they would have seen him pretty confused. Now that he’s been on the team for almost two years, he cannot imagine his life without it. Of course, the road to becoming a dancer has not been easy; but it has certainly been worth it.

Davis Beneke, a junior at CCHS, has been ballroom dancing since the age of eight under the instruction of his mother who coached the first Fallon Swing Kidz Team. Davis has remained on each of his mom’s dance teams all the way through this year. Davis said this has created a great family environment because all of his brothers stayed dancing with their mom as their coach.

Andrew McArthur, a senior at CCHS, has been involved in swing dance for seven years. He has competed the past few years at the GEM State Competition in Idaho. Andrew enjoys riding his quad whenever he can and has been a member of Lahontan Valley Clay Breakers for the past nine years. He enjoys hunting with his grandpa and uncles. Andrew also enjoys working on cars and will be attending UTI in Sacramento, Calif. in September for the collision and body program.