Lauren Walier and Mayo Alanen competed in the Nashville Stars Dance Spectacular, January 19-21, 2017. Lauren placed 1st in the solo show dance competition, placed 3rd in single dances (waltz, tango, foxtrot), and 3rd in the scholarship, winning $100. She immediately announced that she would be donating her winnings to the Make Lemon Aide Foundation for CP. Lauren dedicated her dances at this competition to the 17 million people affected by CP, people with disabilities, Mia Alanen, and Melissa Cole.
Read below for Lauren’s recap of the competition.
My completion debut with Mayo was even more SPECTACULAR than I could of imagined and hoped for! On Friday, Mayo & I placed 3rd in all our singles dances (waltz, tango, foxtrot) and 3rd in our scholarship round (waltz, tango, foxtrot), earning $100 in prize money, which makes me feel so happy to donate it to my foundation, Make Lemon Aide for CP. I thought Friday was phenomenal, BUT Saturday blew my mind! On Saturday afternoon, Mayo and I competed in the showdance category with our piece “The Swan”. I was anxiously awaiting the results realizing I had some tough competition. When they announced that Mayo Alanen & I were the WINNERS of the showdance competition!! 1st PLACE!!! SHOWDANCE CHAMPIONS!!!! I was in complete shock, turned around and jumped into Mayo’s arms crying tears of pure joy and happiness! Because Mayo & I won 1st place we were invited to perform our showdance piece for the professionals later that night!!
Fast forward to the evening —
The ballroom was overflowing with people and as Mayo was scooping me up, getting ready to go out on to the dance floor to preform, Mark Brock gave us such a beautiful introduction. I felt overjoyed, surprised, and honored when he said our showdance we performed is “one of the best showdances of all time!” When we finished dancing the routine the crowd was ecstatic and gave us an ongoing standing ovation! We took 4 bows, all sides of the floor! As Mayo & I were about to exit the dance floor, Mark invited us back on the floor, and surprised me again by sharing my story. When he was done the audience went into another round of thundering applause and what felt like another never ending standing ovation, to the point where Mayo & I took two more bows and I bowed on my own! It was beyond magical to see the reaction of everyone surrounding the floor and the professional dancers standing behind us! That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience! I was so honored and proud to share this joyous moment with my best friend! Thank you Mayo for being the most extraordinary partner and coach, for believing in me, for trusting in me, and for being the best friend anyone could ask for! Thank you David Hamilton for hosting such a beautiful competition! It was the perfect place to debut! Mark you have a beautiful heart. Thank you for making that day and my first competition extra special! Thank you to my grandparents John Krans, and Dottie Sieh, my precious sister Margaret, my parents, Joy Hallinan, Michelle E Officer, the judges, fellow dancers, everyone who cheered me on. It was the best weekend ever! I’ll never forget that day! It’s etched in my heart and mind forever!