President’s Letters

Hi! Happy winter!

Past Events

Many thanks to Brian Lee and Jon and Stratton DeWitt, Nova Ballroom Co., for making our December 17 dance at the Lauri Ann West Community Center enjoyable, and to  Christine Zona, Night and Day Studio, and Mark Boucher for energizing the dancers at the VFW. Thanks also to the USA Dance Pittsburgh Chapter members who ratified the 2023-24 board of directors: Jane Downing, President; Andy Orochena, Vice President; Megan Stanis, Secretary; John Siefken, Treasurer, and Janine Hauck and Mary Ann Gaser, Members at Large.

Future Events

Our February 18 dance will be at the Wightman Community Center. Frank Blakemore, of Frank and Victoria, will teach West Coast Swing and will be the DJ. 

From February 17-19, the CMU Ballroom Dance Club is hosting the Carnegie Classic, a dance competition, social dance and dance camp open to all at Rangos Hall, 2^nd floor, Jared L. Cohon University Center, CMU campus. We are one of the sponsors.  The welcome social dance, Starlit Soiree, on Friday night, 7 – 10 pm, features NY Ballroom DJ David Ho. $15.00/person. Volunteers are still needed for the competition on Saturday. and spectators are welcome. Workshops and group classes with World Champions Glenn Weiss and Inna Ivanenko are on Sunday. Further information at https://carnegieclassic.com.   We encourage you to drop into our dance at Wightman after the competition. It’s close by.

We expect the second session of the Special Needs Outreach Program will start at the end of February. Barb Johnson is being certified as the lead teacher by Yes, You Can Dance! Founded in 2011 by Becky Stern and Chris Roth, YYCD operated in Pittsburgh for five years.  Barb worked as a dance mentor with students in the South Hills YYCD program. Barb will hold a training session for mentors prior to the start of the program so if you’re interested in being a mentor, let me know.  More information forthcoming.

Save the date for our March 18 dance at the Wightman Community Center and the dinner dance on April 15 at the Edgewood Country Club!

Hope to see you soon!

Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh Chapter #3007

Hi!

On November 19^th at the Keith Holmes VFW Post #402 in Coraopolis, we danced to Mark Boucher’s music, learned a lively Tango from Mikayla Schultz and enjoyed the Tango routine she and Cris Sharpley, both instructors at the Arthur Murray South Hills Studio, performed at half time.

Our December 17 dance at the Lauri Ann West Community Center in O’Hara Township will feature Jon and Stratton DeWitt teaching Viennese Waltz and Brian Lee’s music. 

There’s still time to indicate your interest in becoming a board member! We’ll take your self-nomination form at the December 17 dance.

Members of the current Board of Directors have agreed to stand for re-election:  Michelle Clark; Jane Downing; Janine Hauck; Andy Orochena; John Siefken; and Megan Stanis. We will present the slate for 2023/24 at the January 21 dance at the Coraopolis VFW. The more volunteers we have, the easier each activity becomes. We particularly need volunteers to help with social media/marketing and the special initiatives- collegiate and special needs outreach programs.

It’s been a busy 2022!  We supported the USA Dance Inc. National Competitions on April 1-3; tested different formats for incorporating competition preparation in three dances including two on Sundays; launched the Special Needs Dance Program; and hosted nine social dances including a dinner dance on the third Saturday of the month, a social dance at Nationals and a segment of Jeff Shirey’s Summer Dance Festival at Avonworth Park.

We’re beginning to plan our activities for 2023 and would appreciate any feedback you might have on new activities we might try, or things we tried this year and could have done better.

I am grateful for the contributions each of our board members brought to our activities; Eva Maschak and the volunteers who helped during the USA Dance National Competitions; Christine Zona for her help in programming for collegiate dancers; all our instructors and DJ’s; and everyone who has attended our dances. 

Best wishes for a meaningful holiday season and hope to see you dancing soon!

Jane Downing, President USA Dance Pittsburgh Chapter #3007

Hi!

October has been a busy month for our Chapter.

• On October 9, we launched the weekly Special Needs Dance Program being held at the Arthur Murray South Hills Studio. Many of the Yes, You Can Dance! performance team are attending classes led by April Fisher and Hannah Clark. USA Dance member mentors include Dennis McCann, Linda Kuosman, and Keith Swanson. Barb Johnson, Cecilia Mallama, John Siefken, and Jari Jariwala continue to manage the in-between session details. A Halloween party was a big success.
• At Wightman School, on October 2 and 30, we held pilot social dancing / competition preparation events. Christine Zona provided incredible detailed coordination for both, including recruiting Aaron May, formerly Arthur Murray Downtown, and Jimmy Page, Night and Day Dance Studio (who also MC’d) at judges for the Mock Competition. Anne Wildenhain served as Scrutineer (score recorder). We believe it was successful for those who participated! Like most first-time ventures, there were lessons learned…so more to come. On October 15, Cris Sharpley, Arthur Murray South Hills, taught Nightclub Two Step and Amanda Wolf DJ’d. We appreciate everyone who attended these events.

On November 19th from 7-10:30 pm, we hope to see you at the Keith Holmes VFW Post #402 in Coraopolis to dance to tango instruction by Mikayla Schultz, Arthur Murray South Hills, with music by Mark Boucher.

It’s time to elect USA Dance Pittsburgh Board of Directors for 2023 and 2024! Responsibilities include:

• attendance at monthly board meetings the week before the social dances
• attendance at monthly dances (3rd Saturday of the month)
• planning & implementing special initiatives such as dinner dances, Special Needs Dance Program, social dance / competition prep activities, and workshops
• organizational activities such as membership, communications, recruiting instructors and DJs

There are nine Board member positions. If you’re interested and contact me by November 30 (contact info, email, (412) 508-1952, or one of the dances), I’ll send you the self-nomination form. If we receive more than nine nominations, we’ll send out ballots. If fewer agree to serve, USA Dance members will ratify the nominations at the January 2023 dance.

We are thankful for your participation and support for all our activities. Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving!

Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh Chapter #3007