President’s Letters

USA DANCE PITTSBURGH PRESIDENT’S LETTER

Hi! Hope your holidays were good. I offer my apologies for the gap in communications as the end of the year was very full. Now, we’re in full preparation mode for the 2025 USA Dance National Ballroom DanceSport Championships coming to the Wyndham Grand Hotel March 28-30, 2025. https://www.usadancenationals.org. Highlights include:

New qualification rules for competing. I’ve communicated them to the 21 studios in the Pittsburgh area with the hopes of increasing the number of local Pro/Am (Professional instructor and Amateur student), amateur and Professional couples.    

Events which do not require prior qualification.  Pro/Am participation in the 9 American style dances and the 10 International style dances, and Pro/Am and amateur couples in the eight Fun dances: Argentine Tango, Salsa, Hustle, Country 2 Step, Merengue, West Coast Swing, Bachata and Night Club 2 Step.

Tentative Schedule

• Competitions for Pro/Am couples are scheduled for Friday morning (Feb.28) and the Fun Dances most likely Friday afternoon.
• Collegiate activities on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon most likely will include CMU, Pitt and Duquesne University students.
• Pro Shows, Friday and Saturday evenings. Championships, every night.

Social Dance. Friday evening between 5 and 7 pm. Tickets are $10.00

Spectator Tickets. USA Dance Pittsburgh will be selling $15.00 tickets for each of the 6 sessions at its next three dances:  January 18 at the Wightman School Community Center; February 15 at the Arthur Murray Robinson Dance Studio; and March 15 at the VFW in Coraopolis.

Volunteers. A total of 60-70 are needed over the three days for 14 different positions posted on the USA Dance Nationals website under Events. The sign-up sheet will go up shortly. If you work at least three hours you can watch the competitions for the rest of that session (either matinee or evening). If you work at least 8 hours, you will get meals and $35.00 (for parking). We hope you’ll help us make this a welcoming place for extraordinary dancer athletes from almost every state in the union.

On Saturday, January 18 at Wightman School, Christine Zona is going to hold a short workshop at 6:30 pm for those interested in or thinking about competing at Nationals and will be teaching Quick Step at 7:00 pm. The DJ is Brian Lee. At the break, we will be holding a brief business meeting for members to ratify the board members for 2025/26. The election was uncontested.

Hope to see you dancing
Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh

Hi!  Happy Fall!

Dances:

October 11-13, Carnegie Classic, Rangos Ballroom, CMU University Center. USA Dance Inc. sanctioned competition organized by the CMU Ballroom Dance Club. Friday, 8-11 pm, Starlit Soiree, open to the public; Saturday, 9 am – 6pm, Newcomer, Bronze, Silver & Gold level competitions; 7-10 pm, Pre-Champ & Championship level competitions; Sunday, 9-5 pm, workshops open to the public. Spectators are welcomed to watch the Saturday competitions.  https://carnegieclassic/org. 

October 19 –Pittsburgh Palisades. 7-8:00 pm, Chris Drum teaching Foxtrot. John Siefken, DJ.  Special Needs Adaptive Program (SNAP) performance, 8:00 pm. John Siefken, DJ 8:15-10:30 pm. Wine pull raffle to support our outreach programs. Come say goodbye to John Siefken, long-time USA Dance Pittsburgh board member and DJ, who is moving to Indianapolis.  

Many thanks to Matias Jonsson and Irina Varovoi for the ChaCha lesson and introducing us to the Kathak Performance Team, and to Bobby D. who provided the music on 9/21 at Wightman School.

USA Dance Pittsburgh Board Elections. Nine local board members are elected every two years by the USA Dance membership, and the terms of the six current board members are up on December 31, 2024.  Nominations are accepted in two ways: self-nomination or by petition. The basic requirements are: membership in USA Dance Inc. and a commitment to attend a monthly board meeting and assist with the monthly dances.  However, to continue to provide high quality monthly dances, execute outreach expansion activities with collegiate ballroom clubs and the special needs and after school programs, and undertake our responsibilities to recruit dancers, volunteers, spectators and sponsors at Nationals in March, we need individuals who have expertise in project planning; fundraising; marketing/promotion; and IT.  If you have these skills and are interested in being a board member, please fill out the attached form and return it to Phyllis Orochena at Pabo@comcast.net by November 23, 2024 at 5:00 pm. Please let me know before the deadline if you’re interested so we can talk further.   

USA Dance 2025 National Ballroom DanceSport Championships, Pittsburgh:

Qualifications: There is still time for non-collegiate amateur couples to qualify to compete at Nationals on March 28-30, 2025 by placing in the top 50% of competitors in each dance performed in a regional competition  in Newark or Atlanta.  https://www.americandancer.org/2024-comp-calendar

There are no qualifications for professional/amateur (Pro/Am) couples undertaking 19 syllabus (e.g. waltz, tango, rumba, cha cha in American or International Style) dances or for amateur and Pro/Am couples who participate in 7 Night Club dances (West Coast Swing, Hustle, Argentine Tango, Merengue, Country 2-Step, Salsa and Bachata) at Nationals. Everyone participating in any of these competitions must become a USA Dance DanceSport Athlete member prior to competing. Forms are available at our dances or online at https://www.usadance.org/membership

Volunteers:  The Pittsburgh Chapter is responsible for recruiting 50-60 volunteers to support the professionally judged competitions in March.  We’re counting on you to continue our support again this year.

Spectators: Watching real live dancers is much more exciting than watching Dancing with the Stars on TV! The evening champion sessions feature young people (ages 13-16), adults (ages 19 to 75+), collegiates, and professionals. The quality is very high for the winners who become eligible for international competitions.

USA Dance National Elections: From November 15 -24, USA Dance members will be asked to vote electronically for six National Officer and DanceSport Delegate positions. Only the president position is contested. Find resume and candidate statements for Chuck Garrett, Aleh Kulyba and Ken Richard at https://usadance.org/page/elections2024.

Hope to see you dancing, soon!

Jane Downing

Hope to see you soon!
Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh

Hi!  Happy Leap into Fall!

Nationals: There are time-sensitive new rules on how non-collegiate amateurs must qualify to compete in the USA Dance Ballroom DanceSport National Championships, March 28-30, 2025 at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh.

Each partner in a non-collegiate DanceSport amateur couple needs to earn 6 points to qualify for the 4 American Smooth and 5 American Rhythm dances and the 5 International Standard and 5 International Latin dances. Participation at a Challenge Competition (such as the Ohio State University Challenge, 9/25; Carnegie Classic, 10/11; the Rochester DanceSport Festival, 10/20) is each worth 2 points. Participation at a Regional Championship (The MAC at Newark Airport Marriott, 1/17-19 or one in Atlanta, 2/14-16) is worth 4 points. The only other way to gain 6 points is to place in the top 50% of each dance performed at a Regional Championship.  https://www.americandancer.org/2024-comp-calendar

Note: There are no qualifications for amateurs in Pro/Am (professional/amateur) couples undertaking these 19 dances at Nationals, or for amateur and Pro/Am couples who participate in 7 Night Club/Fun dances (West Coast Swing, Hustle, Argentine Tango, Merengue, Country 2-Step, Salsa and Bachata at Nationals. Everyone participating in any of these competitions must become a USA Dance DanceSport Athlete member prior to competing. Forms are available at our dances or online at https://www.usadance.org/membership

Dances:

September 21 -Wightman School Community Center.  At 6:15 pm, Christine Zona will teach a pre-competition workshop for those planning to dance at the Carnegie Classic, October 12. Before 9/20, please RSVP at christinezona@gmail.com.

 At 7:00, Matias Jonsson and Irina Varovoi will teach Cha Cha. Bobby D will DJ. Performance by Kathak Performance Team.   

October 11-13, Jared L. Cohon University Center, Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Classic, CMU Ballroom Dance Club. Oct 11, 8-11 pm, Starlit Soiree; Oct. 12, 9 am – 5pm, Newcomer, Bronze, Silver & Gold Level Competitions;

7-11 pm, Competition for Novice, Pre-Champ & Open Levels; Oct 13, 9-5 pm, Dance Camp. https://carnegieclassic.com

October 19 –Pittsburgh Palisades.  First Oktoberfest Buffet Dinner Dance and final tribute to John Siefken, long-time USA Dance Pittsburgh board member and DJ. Doors open at 5:30 pm; dinner starts at 6:00 pm; dancing from 7 -10:30 pm.

Many thanks to Mikayla Schultz, Arthur Murray South Hills, who taught West Coast Swing to a full house at the Palisades on August 17 and Bobby D. who provided the music.

Elections: In November, USA Dance members will be asked to vote electronically for six National Officer and DanceSport Delegate positions. Only the president position is contested. Find resume and candidate statements for Chuck Garrett, Aleh Kulyba and Ken Richard at https://usadance.org/page/elections2024.

Board Recruitment.  To continue to provide high quality monthly dances, execute expansion activities and undertake our responsibilities to recruit dancers, volunteers, spectators and sponsors at Nationals in March, we need to identify individuals who have expertise in project planning; fundraising; marketing/promotion; and IT.  If you have these skills and are interested, please contact me at the September dance so we can set up a time to talk further.

Hope to see you soon!
Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh