Local Dance Teacher Wins 3rd in TV Contest

BY DEBRA McCOWN
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
ABINGDON, Va. – The local dance teacher who performed on ABC’s reality series “Dance Machine” took third in Friday’s episode.

She says she won some money, but she can’t disclose how much.

“Of course I had to portray a character ... and I was in 2-inch cowboy boots,” said Kim Fore, who runs Xtreme Dance Company, a dance studio in Abingdon.
“If I had had different shoes on and different music, I think I would’ve been able to do a lot more of what I’m capable of doing ... but because of the circumstances I was in, I felt really good about what I did,” she said.

She said more fun than watching herself on TV was the party, which more than 100 people attended Friday in Saltville, Va., to watch the show.

“I think it’s just great for me to get to do it, being from a small town,” Fore said, adding that everyone in the community has been supportive. “I think it’s going to open some doors for me.”

Sherry Hamilton, a friend who went to California with Fore for the show taping, said it enabled Fore to show people on the West Coast what dancing is like in Southwest Virginia.

“I’m disappointed that she [came in third], but I’m also very proud of her. It takes a lot of guts and stuff to get out and do something like that,” Hamilton said. “Of course, everybody thought she should’ve won.”

“It gives the kids around here the opportunity to see they can go out there and do the same thing,” she added. “You’ve got to strive for your goals and make things happen.”

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