President’s Letters

HI! Hope you’re surviving the heat and having a good summer!

USA Dance Pittsburgh is one of 115 chapters of a national nonprofit organization, USA Dance Inc.  Its mission is to promote ballroom dancing as a lifetime recreational activity and a sport.  Chapters promote and sponsor amateur ballroom dancing for social dancers, competitors, and the general public – helping beginners get started and talented dancers to become DanceSport Athlete competitors.  Although we pay instructors, DJs and rental fees through attendance fees at every dance, and National rebates $5.00 for new and renewing local memberships, we must raise funds to support outreach programs like our Special Needs Adaptive Program, the Woodland Hills Dickson Preparatory Steam Academy Dance Program, and the collegiate programs.  We’ve been chosen to host the USA Dance National Ballroom DanceSport Championships again this year from March 28-30, 2025.  Our role is to recruit amateur and professional/amateur (pro/am) couples to compete, volunteers to support the competition and spectators to watch incredible dancing.  I hope you’ll consider participating in our activities.

In the past, we have focused on providing high quality monthly social dances. We appreciate the talent of Chris Roth, the Rumba instructor at the Coraopolis VFW in April;  Jon and Stratton DeWitt, Waltz teachers at the Wightman Community Center in May; Chris Drum, Hustle instructor at the Palisades in June; and Aaron May and Anne Wildenhain , Bachata teachers at the VFW in July, and the great music of Mark Boucher at the VFW, Jon and Stratton at Wightman, and Chris Drum at the Palisades. Thank you!

We’ve begun discussing new approaches to our dances including a new format for our October dinner dance, a potential new outreach program in Sto-Rox and a youth summer camp in 2025. We need volunteers and new board members to help with these activities and with Nationals.  So hopefully, you’ll say yes, when we ask you to help!

 Our dances:

August 17 – Mikayla Schultz, Arthur Murry South Hills, will teach West Coast Swing and Bobby D. will be the DJ at the Palisades in McKeesport.

September 21 -Matias Jonsson and Irina Varovoi will teach Cha Cha at Wightman School, Squirrel Hill at 7:00 pm.  Christine Zona will teach a pre-competition workshop for first-time competitors and others at 6:15 pm.

October 19 – Oktoberfest Buffet Dance at the Palisades and a final tribute to John Siefken, long-time USA Dance Pittsburgh board member and DJ.

Carnegie Classic –October 11-13 at the Jared L. Cohon University Center, Carnegie Mellon University.

Friday Night – Social Dance;  Saturday – Competitions for amateur collegiate, adult, senior and junior couples;  Sunday -Dance Camp with national champions

There are new qualifying rules to participate in the National Championships, particularly in the Collegiate Challenge Competition.  The Carnegie Classic is a USA Dance sanctioned qualifying competition for the Collegiate Challenge Competition organized by the CMU Ballroom Dance Club.  Participation by seniors and youth in this, the Ohio State University DanceSport Challenge in Columbus on September 27/28, and the Rochester, NY DanceSport Festival on October 19-20 will earn points to dance at the National Championships in Pittsburgh in March 2025.  Visit https://carnegieclassic.org for local details; the USA Dance National Collegiate Dance Council website for the new collegiate rules, https://usadancencdc.org, the new rule book at https://usadancenationals.org or American Dancer articles on the new rules at https://americandancer.org.

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

Hi and Happy Spring!

The USA Dance National Ballroom DanceSport Championships held on March 22-24 at the Wyndham Grand Hotel were a great success!

A total of 765 DanceSport members from more than 30 states competed in 340 events over three 17-hour days. Our local participation increased substantially from the 2022 Nationals with 87 registered dancers, most of 62 volunteers and many spectators, particularly on Friday during the Pro/Am competitions and the Night Club dances. 

Many thanks to the participating studios- Arthur Murray Downtown and South Hills, Ballroom Connection, Demidov Dance, Nova Ballroom Company and their 9 instructors and 20 students; the collegiate teams from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh; and the adult amateur couples.  

Our volunteers supported the national organizers by monitoring the ballroom floor, doors and on-deck areas and helped out in registration, ticket sales, awards, the consignment shop, anti-doping efforts, and YouTube live streaming. Susan Ryan, Youngstown USA Dance Chapter, helped secure a not-widely publicized inclusion of Night Club dances (Hustle, Merengue, West Coast Swing, Salsa, Bachata, Night Club 2-Step, Argentine Tango) for 18 amateur and Pro/Am couples, which attracted primarily social dancers.  

Finally, a special thanks to Norrie Bastedo Vladuchick, developer of the electronic volunteer sign-up sheet for the national and Pittsburgh websites; John Siefken, Andy Orochena, Gloria Schohn and Mila McQuaide who stayed the entire weekend, and Megan Stanis for continuous publicity over the past six months.  

USA Dance will be back in Pittsburgh on March 28 – 30, 2025 for the National Championships, again at the Wyndham Grand.  

Belated thank you to Cris Sharpley, Arthur Murray South Hills and Penn Hills for teaching Salsa and John Siefken for his music at the January 20 dance at Wightman School Community Center; Jimmy Page, Night and Day Studio, teaching Viennese Waltz on February 24 at the Palisades and Brian Lee for his music; and Chris Drum DJ and instructor for Night Club 2-Step and the Tango Formation Team at the March 16 St. Patrick’s Day dance.  We appreciate their artistry, enthusiasm and dedication to making our dances truly social. 

The Winter Session of the Special Needs Adaptive Program ended on February 25 with a dozen intermediate dancers and their mentors, taught by Barb Johnson, and a small beginners’ class taught by April Fisher. The Spring Session started on April 7.   

The final performance of the Woodland Hills’ Dickson Preparatory Steam Academy Dance Program will be held on May 17 at 7:00 pm in the Academy gymnasium, 7301 Schoyer Avenue in Swissvale. Organized by 6^th grade teachers Ms. Nicole King and Ms. Stacy Estatico, with dance instruction and curriculum provided by Ms. Amanda Wolf, Studio 101. Approximately 30 six graders have been learning Waltz, Bachata and Merengue, dance etiquette, manners and music theory since mid-January. They will go “on tour” to perform for fifth graders in the District. Please plan to come!   

The USA Dance Pittsburgh April 20 dance will be held at the Keith Holmes VFW Post in Coraopolis with Chris Roth, former Steel City Ballroom owner, teaching rumba and Mark Boucher providing the music.  

On May 18, Jon and Stratton DeWitt, Nova Ballroom Company, will teach waltz and DJ at the Wightman School Community Center. 

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

Hi ~ Happy almost spring!

USA Dance National Ballroom DanceSport Championships, downtown Wyndham Grand Hotel, March 22-24. www.usadancenationals.org.

Professional/Amateur and Amateur couples can register until March 8 to participate in Fun (Night Club) Dances: West Coast Swing; Hustle; Argentine Tango; Merengue; Country 2 Step; Salsa and Bachata. Contact Susan Ryan, susanaryan2@aol.com, president of the Youngstown USAD chapter if you are interested in doing Night Club 2 Step. All ages. All proficiencies. Must be USA Dance Social Dance member. Look for Competitors/Fun Dance Rules.

Volunteers are still needed for ticket sales, door monitors, deck area; live stream taping; medal and anti-doping escorts, particularly on Sunday. Sign up at Events/Volunteers.

Attend the event. Tickets are available by the session (day or evening), day, and weekend. Competitions are held for dancers under age 9 to over 75 at all levels of proficiency. All, including local, Pro/Am and amateur couples are tentatively scheduled for Friday afternoon. Final schedule available March 18. Look for Events/Tickets and Schedule.

Thank all of you who came to our January dance at Wightman School, with special thanks to Cris Sharply who taught Salsa and John Siefken who DJ’d, and to our February dance at the Palisades with special thanks to Brian Lee as DJ and Jimmy Page who taught Viennese Waltz. 

The Special Needs Adaptive Program finished its winter session with advanced and beginner’s classes. The next six-week session most likely will start after Easter. Many thanks to the volunteer mentors and teachers, Barb Johnson and April Fisher. 

We’ll be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day on March 16 at the Palisades. Wear green and join in the celebration!

Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh