One of the top dancing programs on TV will come to Story County in the form of a fundraiser — Dancing with the Stars.

The Heartland Senior Services of Story County will host a fundraising event at 6 p.m. Saturday at the ISU Memorial Union. Tickets are $25 for the general public and $15 for ISU students and can be purchased at the door.

Dancing with the Story County Stars will be a two-and-a-half-hour event in which multiple local celebrities will each dance for 90 seconds. The Heartland Senior Services of Story County paired each celebrity with a local dance instructor.

The Heartland Senior Services of Story County has hosted the Dancing with the Stars event for three years now and has raised thousands of dollars each year that goes to funding for senior services.

Claudia Lemper, lecturer in plant pathology and microbiology, is one of the celebrities who is dancing at the event. Lemper got involved with the event after attending last year in support of a friend who was dancing.

“I had a friend who did [Dancing with the Story County Stars] last year and so I went and just being part of the community and on community boards,” Lemper said.

Lemper said she was chosen to be a dancer for the event because she has a lot of involvement in the community.

While Lemper had danced in high school, she said she did not have much formal dance training before this event.

“I mean, I’m not a dancer, but my family always danced,” Lemper said. “I’m a confident person to dance in front of a big crowd.”

While Lemper danced in high school, she said she did not have much formal dance training before this event.

While seven groups will dance, the Heartland Senior Center of Story County has to find people who are willing to commit the time to the event as well as be comfortable dancing in front of a crowd.

“The hard thing is they have to find someone who is willing to do it,” Lemper said. “No. 1: commit the time and dance in front of people and be somewhat of a public figure,” Lemper said.

The celebrity dancer is responsible for finding people who will attend the event and also for getting votes. Each vote is represented by a dollar that was donated.

People who want to vote can vote on the Heartland Senior Center of Story County’s website.  

Online voting closes at midnight Wednesday. In addition to voting online, people can vote at the event. The winner is the person who can raise the most money.

“What I said in my video is a vote for me is a vote for the Cyclones, so if you want to support the Cyclones and see the Cyclones win, then come and support us,” Lemper said.

One of the most important parts of Dancing with the Story County Stars is the dance instructor. The instructor picks the type of the dance, choreograph the dance and put it to music.

“[My parents] got me going on this wonderful thing known as ballroom dancing, but it started with swing dancing is sort of where I began my swing career,” Biensen said.

Biensen and Lemper are dancing to “Swing the Mood” by Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers.

While this is Biensen’s first year as an instructor for Dancing with the Story County Stars, he does have an extensive background in dance. Aside from learning dance as a kid, he was an instructor for two different dancing academies, taught middle school kids and now teaches with his wife at the Ames Golf and Country Club.

Biensen hopes audiences will come out to support the event by enjoying some dances, making a difference, eating some food and hopefully learning some new dance moves to try out at the end of the night.

“There’s really no losers. It’s all for the good of the Heartland Senior Services,” Biensen said.

Lemper isn’t the only person dancing at the event with affiliations with Iowa State. Amie Dorie, the vice president of Cyclone Ballroom, a dance team that offers free lessons to ISU students, is going to be an instructor at Dancing with the Story County Stars alongside a few of the other members.

“[Heartland Senior Services of Story County] worked with [Cyclone Ballroom] for three years now, so they get a few of our dancers every year to act as dance instructors,” Dorie said.

Members of the Heartland Senior Services approached Cyclone Ballroom members to ask if anyone would be willing to act as instructors.

Open to the public, anyone is welcome to come and get dressed up for Dancing with the Story County Stars. There will be food provided as well as a chance to dance at the end of the night.

While the majority of the goal is for people to raise money for the Heartland Senior Services of Story County, an award will be presented for the best dance.

For more info, visit the Heartland Senior Services of Story County website. For videos of the dancers, visit the Heartland Senior Services’ Facebook page.