Tara McClary knows how to put on a show and what to wear, although it didn’t seem like an awful lot, to further her belief in the power of mentoring.  Tara was one of nine community celebrity dancers to step on the Rhodes on Pawtuxet dance floor Friday night for the 18th annual Dancing with the Stars of Mentoring before a crowd of more than 600.

She was wearing an eye-popping orange wrap-around that left her left leg fully exposed, her jewel studded belly button glittering and her hands free for her professional partner Thien Ngo to spin her through a blend of salsa, cha-cha and hip hop. Ngo is new to The Dancing Feeling, the Warwick studio that has sponsored the fundraising show year after year,   Tara and Ngo won the People’s Choice Award  for the most votes – at one dollar a vote - for the mentoring program. Collectively, the nine performing couples raised $81,000. Overall, as Jeanine Achin, Mentor RI president and CEO announced at the end of the evening, the event netted a record $151,000.

Judges critiqued each performance and then were interviewed by Channel 10 Sunrise Anchor Mario Hilario who co-hosted with Heather Gerstein of Heather and Matty Mornings on Lite 105. First time judges Angelica “Gel” Penta, who holds the record of People’s Choice Award winners raising more than $26,000 and former Congressman and now President and CEO of the RI Foundation, David Cicilline were joined by professional dance judge Roxanna Herzog.

The judges awarded the most entertaining award to Chelsea Force of Mastery Martial Arts who was paired with Anthony Scalzi. The Judges Choice was awarded to Xay Khamsyvoravog, former Newport mayor and presently a member of the Newport City Council and professional Jayne Pawasauska who danced a foxtrot and East Coast swing.