Justin Hills is a fulltime paramedic. He’s also part of the Camden Police Department and a volunteer fireman. And, he is 6 feet, 7 inches tall. Friday, May 9, he will be dancing with professional dancer Kea Tesseyman, who steps out onstage with her full height of 5 feet, 3 inches.

“It’s an interesting partnership,” said Tesseyman. “It’s big, tough policeman guy meets little, tough hip hop dancer. The song is set in the future. Justin is chasing a suspect when he happens on me and we dance together. It’s going to be interesting and a lot of fun.”

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Tesseyman knows dance. Kinetic Energy Alive and Power Performance have been a staple of the Midcoast for years. Every year, Tesseyman donates her time and dance expertise to help Wayfinder Schools with Dancing With the Local Stars to benefit the schools. This year marks the sixth year the gala has been produced.

“Every year, it’s something new, something more exciting and it’s a great way to see the community come together to support a great cause,” said Tesseyman. “Wayfinder Schools is great, the kids are amazing and dancing is one of the best ways to pull it all together.”

“I need a lot of room to shake my butt,” said Hills. “It’s a workout. Every time we practice it’s like doing a Zumba class. When I attended my first Dancing With the Local Stars, I watched my boss doing it and I thought that would be so cool to do. And it went onto my bucket list, so I’m relishing the opportunity to do this. Kea, well, yeah, she keeps me right in line, all 5-feet of her.”

Tesseyman will perform with members of Swing and Sway in the opening number of the show. She’s also working with three members of the Wayfinder School doing another number.

“They really have a lot of qualified people at the school that can bring these kids together for their finale,” said Tesseyman. “My three students are great and they work hard to be good. We don’t get to spend as much time as I would like to together, but they’re pretty busy people. They have a lot on their plate right now. It’s amazing to see these kids go from ‘I can’t dance and I look stupid and I don’t want anyone to see me,’ to ‘wow, I can do this and I look good and I’m confident.’”

“And that’s just what she did for me,” interjected Hills. “I’m a big guy and it was a big step just to dance in front of the mirrors. Last weekend, we did the dress rehearsal and I was in front of people. How am I going to do this? The positive energy from Kea helped me get over that stuff. Everybody supported each other and everybody had a good time.”

Kinetic Energy Alive just finished its big Power Production and Tesseyman said it was difficult to choose a single number from that for the show because they were all so good.

“We finally decided to use the finale from our show which is a combination of jazz, contemporary, hip hop, breaking and lots of great movement,” said Tesseyman. “We kind of did one of those Broadway splices together to get everyone out there. It’s a lot of energy and it’s a lot of fun. And it’s Michael Jackson.”

She will continue with her Power Performance tours this summer and locally, Kinetic Energy Alive will conduct dance classes this spring and summer.

Dancing With the Local Stars is this Friday, May 9, at the Camden Opera House. Show time is 7 p.m.  

This year Swing and Sway Dancing and Kinetic Energy Alive join with local stars Rafi Baeza, Mimi Bornstein, Allie Bowen, Staci Coomer, Kerry Hadley, Justin Hills, Robin Jordan, Colin Page, Jennifer Ross-Boshes and Amanda Strong. Gordon Page will join the fun in his third year as emcee of the night.