Throughout her childhood and well into high school, Carrie Combs lit up the stage as a competitive dancer. Now, at 27, Combs is dusting off her dance shoes for the first time in a decade to perform in Saturday’s sold-out Transformations pageant.

Slated for 6 p.m. at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St., the fifth annual event will feature 10 women from the Lawrence community each competing for a charity of their choice. The prize: $10,000.

But Transformations, of course, isn’t your typical beauty pageant. Created and directed by Lawrence resident Brandon Eisman, the event pairs each contestant with a female impersonator (or drag performer, for the uninitiated) to serve as a consultant throughout the competition.

“The contestant is made over, or transformed, by their consultant to basically alter them into their diva self,” says Eisman, who performs onstage under his alter ego, Deja Brooks.

That transformation includes everything from styling to stage presence, and it begins several months before the big night.

Last year, at the encouragement of her boss and original Transformations contestant Dr. Amelia Rodrock, Combs bought herself a ticket to 2015’s pageant.

“It was so much fun. I was standing up and dancing with everyone — I couldn’t even sit in my seat,” says Combs, who is competing for the Lawrence Humane Society. “I was so inspired by all the women competing and their bravery, and I wanted to do it.”

After being selected for the pageant in September, Combs began prepping around Thanksgiving. Lately, the office manager has taken to twice-a-day rehearsals, even enlisting her husband to build props for her talent segment.

Her consultant, who goes by the stage name Mulan, has been there every step of the way, Combs says — critiquing her choreography (Combs, a longtime Britney Spears fan, is planning a song-and-dance medley of the pop queen’s hits), coaching her on public speaking, and even designing and handcrafting her entire stage wardrobe — “I feel very lucky to have (Mulan),” Combs says.

She hopes to stay in touch with Mulan long after the pageant ends, and has become friends with her fellow contestants.

Thanks to Transformations, Combs and her husband recently welcomed a new addition to their family, a two-legged cat named Steven. Combs adopted the “awesome” and “crazy” little critter after visiting the Humane Society to discuss her plan of representing the charity at the pageant.

“It just took me going in there and chatting about animals, and they just happened to mention this two-legged cat,” she says. “I met him after he had one of his legs removed, and I adopted him a week later.”

Combs was told Steven wouldn’t be able to jump onto the kitchen table. But, against all odds, he can — and he does, Combs says.

“He’s able to do everything that a 6-month-old kitten would be able to do,” she says.

Talk about a transformation.