Taking to the dance floor for a good cause
Story by Leigh Pritchett
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.
Pell City Fire Medic Andrew Minyard grinned and said being asked to dance before an audience is akin to blackmail.
Laura Shier is uncomfortable being the center of attention. So agreeing to dance in a public setting was a stretch for her.
“I’m stepping out of my comfort zone, big time,” the Cropwell woman said.
Shier and Minyard demonstrate that human quality which moves people to go beyond what they think they are capable of in order to support a cause in which he believes.
On Valentine’s Day, there were probably other such cases as 42 people competed in Dancing with Our Stars, an American Cancer Society fundraiser of Relay for Life of St. Clair County-Pell City.
Patterned after the television show, “Dancing with the Stars,” each of the 15 “celebrities” and two “celebrity groups” was paired with an “instructor.”
Thanks to a lineup of bankers, professionals, business owners, elected and school officials, firefighters and others who were competing, the event raised more than $7,600. The opportunity to watch these people strut their stuff drew an audience of 398 to Celebrations, said Doris Munkus, Dancing with Our Stars event coordinator. In fact, an overflow crowd lined three walls of the ballroom.
Some of the performers – such as Bar Kirby, Helen Woods and Retha Goode – are cancer survivors. Other dancers – Ernestine Bowie, Ken Miller and Tim Kurzejeski, just to name three – have been affected by the disease as they watched loved ones battle it.
Though Dancing with Our Stars was a St. Clair effort, participants from Etowah, Talladega and Jefferson counties lent their time and dancing abilities to make it a success.
Star-studded stories
To tell the story of Dancing with Our Stars from rehearsal to championship, Discover magazine followed Shier and Minyard’s group.
For Minyard, the story begins at Pell City Fire Station No. 1.
The Haz-Mat vehicle sat in the cold, dark night as its bay transformed into a discotheque, minus the mirrored ball.
Four members of Pell City Fire Department – Minyard and Firefighter Steve Cavender, both of Trussville; Capt. Tim Kurzejeski of Riverside and Fire Medic Justin McKenzie of Fultondale — practiced a line-dance routine to the 1977 BeeGees hit, “Stayin’ Alive.”
Ernestine Bowie of Pell City served as their “instructor.”
Originally, Bowie — a member of Pell City Line-Dancers and part of the praise-dancing ministry at First Baptist Church South – wanted to be a celebrity. But when she was asked to be an instructor and discovered who her students would be, she was thrilled.
“They are a great bunch of guys,” said Bowie.
McKenzie – another who was not comfortable dancing in public – found that he was actually enjoying this experience. “It’s fun.”
After running through the routine several times, the four John-Travoltas-in-training decided to don their protective gear, which was to be their dance attire for the performance.
That meant each man would bear an additional 35 pounds.
In between dances, the men would shed some gear in order to cool off a few minutes.
“It gets a little warm,” Minyard remarked. “It’s a lot tougher than I would have thought.”
Suddenly, an alarm summoned three of the four men to an emergency. That was when they demonstrated yet another 1970s dance – how to hustle.
Across town at Celebrations, Shier’s “instructor,” Ken Miller of Pell City, had to brag on his student.
“Laura has really taken to dancing,” said Miller, who has been dancing about 20 years. “Laura learned the steps quickly.”
To become proficient at the rhumba, which Miller called “the dance of love,” Shier had to learn to wiggle her hips in a sassy way, spin on the balls of her feet, lean into a dip and perform revolutions without growing dizzy.
As the couple rehearsed to the 1961 Dee Clark hit, “Raindrops,” Miller’s wife Sandy coached them through the routine she had choreographed.
Prior to becoming a celebrity, Shier’s dancing experience had been confined to what she has learned in the three or four years she has participated in the Pell City Line-Dancers. “That’s the only dancing (I do),” she said.
The thought of dancing in front of an audience made Shier nervous. Because some of Miller’s associates wanted to see him dance, the couple decided to do a trial run one Saturday at Miller’s place of work.
Dancing in front of people — and in front of lumber — at Home Depot helped Shier to practice focusing on her partner, as if no one else were in the room.
“That’s what I did Saturday — total focus,” Shier said.
Still, the night of the performance, Shier experienced pre-show jitters backstage.
“I really would like to hurry,” she said. “I wish it would get going.”
To occupy her mind, she went over the routine in her head, moving her feet and hands accordingly.
Then, she grew quiet and pensive. Finally, she said, “I’m trying to get my posture.”
Not far from Shier, the Fire Department disco-ers were facing hurdles. McKenzie was at home with a sudden, incapacitating illness.
Cavender, although present, was ailing. Usually the cut-up, he was now worrying aloud that he might start coughing during the performance.
Though Kurzejeski and Minyard were healthy, the captain could visualize disaster.
“I foresee a catastrophic failure,” Kurzejeski said. He could picture himself turning left instead of right and colliding with Minyard during the routine.
“I’m just glad that the lights are dim out there,” said Minyard.
Bowie pointed out that emergency calls, snow and the men’s work schedules had held the group to only three hours of practice total.
Nonetheless, Bowie had confidence in her students. “We’re going to bring the house down.”
Though Shier had hoped to be one of the first acts on the program, she and Miller had to wait nearly to the halfway point in the competition.
But when it was time, she and Miller glided regally and gracefully onto the dance floor.
The tiered, black dress Shier wore flowed elegantly, its embellishments shimmering.
Effortlessly, the well-rehearsed Shier and Miller floated from one movement to another. A dip near the end of the routine brought approval from the audience.
With her time in the spotlight complete, Shier expected to feel relief. Yet, she was puzzled as to why she was actually more nervous after the performance.
Nonetheless, Shier felt she and Miller had danced well.
“I think it was a real good routine,” Miller said.
Immediately following them were Bowie and the fire department trio.
Even before their introduction was finished, many in the audience rose and cheered. Cell phones and cameras nearly encircled the dance floor to record what was to happen next.
The three men, dressed in protective gear, moved in unison, with Bowie reposed in a Stokes basket on their shoulders. Skillfully, they lowered and turned the rescue basket until Bowie was in a standing position. Clad in neon protective attire that offered a burst of reflective color, Bowie stepped out of the basket.
Smiling broadly, the men stepped, tapped, pointed, clapped, turned and disco-ed to the delight of the crowd.
Not even waiting for the performance’s close, the judges issued their score of straight 10s. When the song did end, the group’s exit brought as much enthusiasm as the entrance had.
Backstage, they were elated, buoyed by the response.
“We hadn’t even done anything yet, and they were hollering at us!” Kurzejeski said. “It was an absolute blast. But the song felt about two minutes longer than we practiced!”
Minyard, though, made a confession: “It was a lot more fun than I thought (it would be).”
And Cavender, feeling slightly better by now, gave a report from the sources he most trusted — his wife, Sonia, and his daughter, Allie. “They said we did great!”
Bowie was ecstatic. “I am so happy and proud! I feel like we are winners.”
Bowie and her crew did place in the competition. They took second.
When approached for a comment about earning second place, Bowie’s actions spoke for her. She held the trophy above her head, screamed in delight, then threw her arms around the person asking.
Third place went to a tie-dyed, T-shirt-wearing group of eight, consisting of Bar Kirby, Teresa Carden, Blair Goodgame, Joseph Smith and Retha Goode, all of Pell City; Peter Boyle of Cropwell and Donna McAlister of Talladega. They danced to “Car Wash,” led by instructor Helen Woods of Hoover.
Earning the first-place award were Dr. Danny Hancock of Rainbow City, a chiropractor in Pell City, and his instructor, Realtor Nicole Anderson Walters of Pell City. The couple executed hip-hop and ballroom movements to an upbeat mix of tunes.
The judges, of course, determined three of the Dancing with Our Stars winners. However, the audience chose who would receive a fourth award.
During the evening, a bucket for each couple and group was circulated about the room. People “voted” for their favorite performers by placing money in the corresponding bucket.
When the proceeds in each bucket were counted, “the people’s choice award” went to the foxtrotting principal of Duran Junior High School South – Dr. Cory O’Neal of Cropwell – and his instructor, registered pharmacist Liz Nelson Starnes of Cropwell. They garnered more than $573 in votes.
“There was a lot of competition, so many good acts,” remarked a gracious Shier after the awards ceremony. “I had a good time tonight and enjoyed it.”
Go here for more about Relay for Life.
