A Park City resident and Paralympian, Danelle Umsted, is making history on "Dancing With the Stars" this week, becoming its first visually-impaired contestant.
And locals are encouraged to support her with their votes.
We talked to Rob Umsted, Danelle's husband and her guide on the slopes. He said the show has considered her in past years, and finally invited her about a month ago.
He said it will be an interesting challenge both for Danelle and her dance partner, Artem Chigvintsev.
"It's something that she's wanted to do for a long time. She's been a fan of the show and she's watched it. When they called she was excited, but I think right after she said she'd do it she was like, 'what have I gotten into?' It's been a challenge because she doesn't have any kind of dancing background. Her partner Artem is a Russian guy, English is his second language, so he's had to really use his words to describe things rather than visual demonstration. So, it's been a challenge for him as well."
He said that Chigvintsev has been on four or five seasons of the show and appeared in a previous British version. Artem has made it as far as the quarter-finals on "Dancing With the Stars."
Meanwhile, he said that Danelle is working hard, rehearsing four hours a day, and is exhausted by the process, which is a mental as well as a physical challenge.
Rob said that she's been in Los Angeles for four weeks. Before that, she and Artem practiced for a time in Park City.
In terms of Danelle's vision, he said she has a condition called "Retinitis pigmentosa."
"It's a degenerative thing that kind of started striking her as a child and when she got into her twenties her vision really deteriorated and then she had to stop driving. She's had to drop certain activities. When I first met her we actually did some mountain biking together and now she can't do that on her own. We have a tandem bike that we ride a little bit around town and get her out that way. The vision gets worse as time passes some point they say it's going to be total darkness. We're hoping that with all the stem-cell research things that are going on now that it won't come to that point. Someday they'll have a cure for it."
Rob said she's been a fan of "Dancing With the Stars" though she's been able to listen to the show more than watch it.
"She can get kind of up close to the TV and she's got a few what she calls 'sweet spots' in her visual field where she can kind of pick up some stuff if it's really close. She has no central vision and no peripheral and very limited kind of in-between patchy and blurry vision. When we ski together if we're a ski length or two apart and I'll wear really bright clothing she can kind of pick up on the contrast of that. Not with a lot of detail but that's what she follows when we ski. In the dancing world it's a little different it's more he's leading her through the steps and she's trying to learn the moves."
Danelle and Artem made their debut on the show Monday with an opening dance. They're scheduled to display another on Tuesday night.
"They're scored by judges, that's half of their final score. The other half comes from viewers either calling in to a number that is associated with their pair or they can also go to ABC.com and vote on their website. Apparently you can vote up to 13 times from all your devices. So if anybody really wants to help her out they can vote away. Tuesday night they have a live window for people to vote for the show that's live on the East Coast so I'm not sure if anybody in the Park City area can even participate in that. They go by--their team name is team Blind Faith."
You can find the "Dancing With the Stars" vote page here.
