Here we go again. Another fabulous dance show with our stars. I love this program. I still get so frustrated when the dancers are blamed for the inadequacies of the music. For the judges to fault the dancers for not showing the excitement and liveliness of the jitterbug when the tempo for Mya and Dmitry was so slow is unbelievable. Then they get excited and praise Mark and Lacy for showing that aspect. Of course they did! Hello! Was anyone listening? The music was terrific. So were they. Mark is one of my favorites. He is super talented and I am a Food Network addict. My criticism is not with the dancers but with the producers that are making these ridiculous situations for the judges and dancers. When a couple (Melissa and Mark) are saddled with a dancing by the toenails, incredibly slow waltz how are they supposed produce a relaxed elegant look. It takes so much to stay in tempo and still keep your form, technique and spirit when the music sinks you into a quagmire.  The viewing audience are, I am sure, equipped with sight and ears. The are probably confused with the comments sometimes made by the judges when the obstacles inhibiting the dancers are so obvious. The dancers when stuck with bad arrangements, should be applauded for dealing so well with these things.

Dancing With The Stars is a show about endurance, bravura (not always a good idea,  notice all the injuries), and fun. The professionals do an amazing job with their stars. The choreography is always spot on with the music. This is not always well received by the judges, but is always appreciated by the audience. It is amazing how much they achieve in such a short period of time. Kudos to the dedication of the stars.

Question of the Day? Do you think that the music with the appropriate and more exciting/passionate/sensuous tempi are given to the chosen winners? With the less lustrous music going to the next star to leave? Is Melissa going next? Sabotage or coincidence? Mmmm… makes you wonder.

Dancing With The Stars is spicing up the airways. Congratulations to all the wonderful professionals and the daring and adventurous stars. It is amazing how much they accomplish each week with their dances.  Normally I get so upset each week when acknowledgements are not given to the choreographers. This week the Argentine Tango couple even had their names flashed across the screen. Terrific! Maybe this will be a new trend for this show. The quality of the music selections are still abominable. Oh my goodness!  Sometimes I cringe when I hear the music these wonderful dancers are subjected to. For goodness sake, can’t someone tell them that some of the music is impossible to dance to with any amount of conviction. Such a shame to have to subject the viewing audience to such music. When they choose the appropriate songs/rhythms it is truly a pleasure and is one of the reasons for the show’s success.

I look forward to a terrific season.

It occurred to me that I am so fortunate to be in the dance business. I am a trained professional dancer. With that comes the opportunity to teach, coach, perform, make costumes, do hair/makeup, judge, socialize, network and make friends. Just to name a few of the many benefits. I do consider myself lucky to have fallen into this magical world. As you can see, one can be involved in so many ways from artistic and administrative avenues to technology and event planning.

I started out like many people - as a student of dance. I was completely in love with ballroom dancing. There was no other form of activity that gave me that adrenaline rush. The thrill. The joy. To this day, I still remember all the joyous moments. I remember learning particular things from particular people. I competed as a student and then became an professional instructor. Immediately, I found a pro partner and started to compete professionally. During this time I did my own hair and makeup and made my own costumes. More on that later.

Over the next few blogs, I plan on expanding on the various channels of income making in the ballroom world. It is safe to say that whatever your expertise, we can use in this world. So stay with me  a while, let us explore together my past experiences and good times.

Oh yes, our favorite show is back. Great to have all that wonderful dancing on television. It shows that anyone can learn to dance. Whether you like the Waltz, Salsa, Cha Cha or Foxtrot. It is so much fun to watch all these celebrities and beautiful people learn and perform so well. The judges can be harsh. But, that is okay because they do back it up with helpful comments that the dancers can go back and work on.  It will be interesting to see who stays and who leaves. There are people on there with huge followings and all the talk shows are featuring their favorites. Tom Delay is getting a lot of coverage from all of the news shows. Great for ballroom dancing.

I wish the music was better and more inspiring. I find the tempi to be questionable and the sound is not rich and full enough to push the dancers. I have always had this problem with the show. I love the show and its concept and everyone that is involved. The music not so much.

The costumes are always amazing except for the exceptionally low riding hip lines that make the female dancers look shortlegged and extra long in the torso. Not a very appealing look. Maybe the men like it as a more naked look. But for the balance of proportions and taste values they could be cut a little higher on the hip.

A great show and I look forward to watching. I will be posting my comments as it progresses. Keep on dancing everyone. It is healthy and exciting and very rewarding.

It has been an hectic week. So many events, so many dancers, so many results. The most important result was that my daughter Natasha won the title of United States 9-dance pro/am American Champion in her division. I am hoping to give more results and updates, however, with all that is happening here I seem to be averaging 3-4 hours sleep per night. I like to watch my daughter dance when I am not judging and I also enjoy hanging with my friends from around the world that I only see once or twice a year. Now it is 1:30 am and I must wake at 6am to do my daughter’s hair and makeup. The event starts at 7:30am. The schedule so far has been from 8am till midnight. Some of the dancers are dancing all day. Mainly the male instructors with various students. Some of the students are doing quite a lot of entries. They end up being in the ballroom for most of the day with short breaks here and there. Lunch is sometimes on the fly. More to come…..

It is that time of year when dancers from all over the world converge on Orlando, Florida. The level of dance is excellent and the energy is high. The United States Dancesport Championships is a week-long event that involves dancers, judges, vendors, spectators and others from all over the world.

The glamour and glitz is not to be rivalled. In one room you find dancer’s practicing in costume, in sweats; with or without their partners; with or without their coaches. The room is abuzz with adrenaline. The DJ plays a variety of music according to the published style of dance being practiced. There is a rehearsal/music schedule that follows the sequence of events during the competition so that dancers can get prepared ahead of time. In another room there is wall to wall rhinestones. Dance dresses, dance shoes, hair gizmos, rhinestone accessories, men’s dance wear, evening wear, makeup, sports drinks, all types of stuff to enhance the dance experience. The main ballroom is huge. Bright lights, colored lights, backdrops and the dance floor. You enter the room even when it is empty and you can feel the excitement of the dancers. The large dance floor is the focal element. At the head of the floor is the dais where the Master of Ceremonies will take his place and conduct the event. Around the floor are tables, chairs, risers and the cordoned off VIP section. There is a judges’s seating area, where we watch and wait for our turn to take the floor and make decisions.

September. A solid week of drama, fun, excitement and entertainment. I will be blogging as often as I can to keep you informed. Who knows maybe you might be on that floor next year. Yes, you can. It is a great place to be.

There are so many wonderful places to go dancing in Sarasota. Saturday night I decided to try going to Tropicana again. I love the building and tried to go before, however, as I said in a previous blog, the music was so incredibly loud that I had to leave. With a refund of course. This time I went armed with earplugs. There was a band from Tampa playing wonderful latin music. Salsa, merengue, bachata. Not as loud as the previous band, but I still used my earplugs to protect my ears. The place was quite crowded and festive. Everyone was having a great time. Including yours truly.  Then, the band leader decided to address the crowd, In Spanish. He was received with silence. I have never heard silence in a club before. This silent pause was followed by “what did he say?” “did you understand that?” etc. Just as a courtesy one should try to speak the language of the host country, city, town, club, dinner or use an interpreter. I found it to be very insulting and rude. Half the room spoke english only, others were bilingual, and very few spoke only spanish. I do believe that the bilinguals were embarassed and so did not answer to whatever the questions were. Hence the silence in the room.

The other exciting aspect to the evening was that there was a Sarasota Salsa Meet-up event as well. Many people had arrived earlier for a salsa lesson with Tatyana and then stayed for the full evening of dance. I missed that part of the evening as I had just returned from judging a ballroom dance showcase in Ft. Myers.

I am told that Tropicana serves cuban food for lunch and  dinner during the non-nightclub times. I am looking forward to eating there soon.

I have been watching a lot of dancing lately. Judgine and cdoing critiques of peoples dancing is quite a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoy watching their growth and enjoyment of their dancing. I find it hard to believe that a room full of such diverse people can share such amazing camaderie. It is truly a joy to be part of such a world as ballroom dancing. Of course, I would rather be dancing myself. I do get to do that when I go out to a club, a tango party or a west coast swing party. I always look forward to the dinner/dance at competitions and definitely the after party. The physical benefits go without say, but, there is also the emotional uplift. Partner dancing. Salsa, swing, waltz, foxtrot, hustle, tango, rumba, cha cha. Whatever the dance - there is always extreme fun and enjoyment while exercising. Truly a great way to be.

Ballroom dancing is notably one of the easiest ways to entice a woman into the arms of a man. Ask a woman to dance and a smile appears as she willingly allows herself to be whisked off to the dance floor. There tends to be a slight problem. Most men do not know how to dance. By dance I do mean the popular rhythms played at most clubs in town such as swing, cha cha, salsa, merengue, hustle, rumba.
In the clubs there are many women dancing with each other as the men stand around drinking and watching. There tend to be a couple of guys who know how to dance and so are more popular with the women regardless of their other shortcomings. The ability to dance outshines all their other flaws. The gentlemen watching on the sidelines are often goodlooking, physically fit, well-dressed, smell good and gainfully employed. Problem is they have no idea how to dance. This is a major flaw that makes them less attractive to the women.
The sad thing is that correcting this problem is very simple. All that is required are a few (okay a lot) of dance lessons. Men it would be wonderful if men would recognize the need for this necessary skill. There is nothing to be afraid of; it is not too difficult and it is a lot of fun with tremendous physical and emotional benefits.
While learning to dance one also learns social etiquette, improved personal hygiene (bad breath and body odor does not go well with dancing), to name a couple of benefits. Ballroom dancing is one of the most romantic things that a couple can do. Come on fellas “learn to dance” it is a lot of fun and can be quite the macho thing to do.