Community Corner

Upper St. Clair Man Shares Dancing with the Celebrities Experience

Louis Guarino III took part in this year's Dancing with the Celebrities fundraiser.

Louis "Geeg" Guarino III, an graduate and creative director of marketing at , set his nerves aside and danced in front a live audience of 750 Saturday night—all for a good cause.

in this year's Dancing with the Celebrities of Pittsburgh, which raised more than $300,000 for The Catholic Charities Free Health Care Fund and The Kiwanis Club of Pittsburgh Foundation according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

"It was pretty cool," Guarino said. "My heart was racing, but when the music hit I just forgot about it. Then all of the sudden the music ended and I was like, 'Can I do that again?'"

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Guarino heard the crowd roar when he and his dance partner and instructor, Denise Kumer, hit the "shuffle" while dancing to LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem."

The crowd also cheered when Kumer wrapped her legs around Guarino and he spun her around.

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"I felt like our performance was really high energy," Guarino said.

The energetic and risqué dance moves weren't enough for Guarino to bring a trophy back to .

"People told me I may have gotten slightly robbed, but that's not what it's about. The charities are the real winners," he said.

"Geeg" is the third Guarino to compete in Dancing with the Celebrities and he hopes he's not the last. His father Louis and mother Veronica have taken to the dance floor in the past, and his younger sister Vanessa told the event's organizer she might try it out next year.

"She verbally accepted to carry on the namesake and bring home the trophy," he said.

This year's judges' award went to Shannon Salicce, dental manager of Catholic Charities Free Health Care Center, and Bill Kumer, Denise's husband.

Christina Cochran, of #1 Cochran, and Dmitry Demidov danced off the with the people's choice first place trophy. People's choice second place went to Suzanne Hayden, an attorney and food editor, and Jim Page and third place went to KDKA's Bob Pompeani and Sandra Lee Romah.

Share your congratulations with the dancers! Tell them in the comments.


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