Local group to appear on CMT dance show Friday

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- A group of amateur dancers from Marble Hill will take center stage Friday night on the CMT show "Your Chance to Dance."

The idea to perform on the show came from 48-year-old Connie Killian, a former first-grade teacher. Killian said while at a recent CMA festival in Nashville, Tenn., she found out about the show's audition process and decided she wanted to give it a try.

She put together a dance crew consisting of herself; her three children, 21-year-old Brandi, 18-year-old Brooke, 16-year-old Brett; and two neighbors, 22-year-old Kelsea Moyers and 17-year-old Haylee

Moyers.

Killian said no one in their group, named Krazy Crew for the show, had any formal dance experience, but they spent "many long hours" perfecting a 90-second freestyle routine to "High Maintenance Woman" by Toby Keith for their audition tape. Once selected to appear on the show, a professional choreographer was sent to work with the group on a new 90-second routine to the same song.

"They actually came to Jackson and worked with us for three hours," she said.

Once the group arrived in Los Angeles for taping, they trained with the choreographer for another three hours. Of course, Killian said, there were several long practice sessions in between.

Killian and the other group members are not allowed to discuss the outcome of their appearance, but she did say the experience was an "opportunity of a lifetime."

"It was very exciting. It was the first time flying on an airplane for four out of the six of us. We had some down time and got the chance to do some sight seeing," she said.

Killian said the television show provided the group with their costumes for the taping before a live studio audience, as well as professional makeup artists and hairstylists. The studio audience decided the outcome of the episode.

"Your Chance to Dance," featuring Marble Hill's Krazy Crew will air at 8 p.m. Friday on CMT.

cbartholomew@semissourian.com

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