Let’s Dance! Highlands DO!zeum Announces Lineup for 2027 Dancing with Our Stars

Let’s Dance! - Highlands DO!zeum Announces Lineup for 2027 Dancing with Our Stars 

Gwen Akers

The Ashland Beacon 

This week the Highlands DO!zeum has announced the lineup for their 2027 Dancing with Our Stars. A yearly fundraiser that has since become one of the area’s favorite events of the year, this year’s entertainment will surely make you want to put on your dancing shoes too. 

“Dancing with Our Stars is the DO!zeum’s most important fundraiser. We are grateful, year after year, for our community’s overwhelming support that allows us to continue pursuing our mission to ‘provide avenues of discovery for explorers of all ages,’” explained Kim Jenkins, director of the DO!zeum. 

This year marks lucky number 13 for Dancing with Our Stars and this year’s event will take place on February 6 at the Boyd County Convention & Arts Center. An evening of fun, entertainment and philanthropy, 8 talented couples from across the area will compete to win the Mirror Ball Trophy. 

Missy Rooper, now known as the “queen” of Dancing with Our Stars, has been working diligently alongside Highlands staff to plan and coordinate this year’s event. After being nominated to dance in 2020, Rooper has gone on to win the Mirror Ball trophy twice and has become a dedicated board member and volunteer at the Highlands. 

“I'm very passionate about the pediatric population. I wanted to commit myself to something that I felt very strongly about the cause, and [the museum is] looking at safeguarding a space for children's discovery and investing in our youth and the next generation. I just really love what they do because they find a way to bring everybody in,” commented Rooper about the DO!zeum. 

This year, Rooper works with the dancers and the community, helping the couples work together and serving as a go-between for the museum and the public. This will also be her third year as a judge. 

“Most of the time these are non-dancers getting out there and working their butts off to put on a show, but also being vulnerable and getting out there with stage fright, but turning it into a positive. I can say that of all these years I’ve been involved, I’ve never once heard anybody say that they regretted doing it,” explained Rooper about the 8 couples that will be putting on this year’s show. 

The dancers and their willingness to put themselves out there are the backbone of this event, as they represent and are dancing for our community. The event truly is a showcase of the support and creativity of the Ashland community. 

“The dancers are who make it happen! They give so much of themselves to raise money for the DO!zeum and bring us a truly joyful event. It’s just such a fun evening and we can’t thank them enough,” added Jenkins.  

Members of the public can watch the Highlands DO!zeum Facebook page or checkout their website at highlandsmuseum.com for more information about how to purchase tickets and how to vote for their favorite couple. Every dollar raised will go towards the Highlands DO!zeum and the various opportunities and resources they provide to the community each year.