President’s Letters

April 2022

Great news! Everyone on the national planning committee for the 2022 USA Dance National Ballroom DanceSport Championships in Pittsburgh at the Wyndham Grand from April 1-3 thought we did a terrific job. It attracted nearly 900 dancers, about half collegiate! The committee said this was the best Nationals in a very long time, in part because the Chapter worked with them throughout. Thanks to Eva Maschak’s care and organizing ability, they loved the professionalism and attitude of the 56 volunteers, especially those who worked more than 8 hours, many who worked multiple days, and the anti-doping chaperones who worked after midnight. (The committee wants to import all the volunteers to Cleveland next year…) They also thought we did a great job in attracting competitors and spectators and hosting a great Social Dance. Hats off to all of you who participated!

Special thanks to Christine Zona for sharing her knowledge of USA Dance competitions throughout the six months of planning and creative ideas for involving the three collegiate clubs in our adult activities; Eric Kiefer, John Siefken, Eva Maschak who put in three 17- hour days as coordinators for awards, ballroom floor monitoring and music for the Social Dance, and volunteers, respectively, and Janet McQuaid for organizing the first consignment shop at Nationals; Dmitry Demidov, Chris Drum, Kent Berkey for participating in the Pro/Am competitions with 11 students; Carlos and Liz Blandino-Lopez for competing as Professionals; Michael Haynie/Mara Linaberger, Jon and Stratton DeWitt, Jerry Freiberg/Julie Mavrodis, Chuck Watson/Lynn Preisser, Kent Berkey/Virginia Gill, John and Deana Foley, Daniel and Joy Grise, and Keith Munshower/Lisa Pope for being Adult competitors; at least 40 students competing on the 5 collegiate teams from CMU and  Pitt; Jim Page for organizing the fun dances at the Social Dance, and being an anti-doping chaperone; and Gabriela Citrone for developing and posting our social media outreach.     

March 19 Dance at the Keith Holmes VFW Post in Coraopolis.  Many thanks to Carlos and Liz Blandino-Lopez, Arthur Murray South Hills Studio, for the Bachata lesson and performance and to Mark Boucher for the great music. 

Our next dance on May 21 will be at the Lauri Ann West Community Center in Harmar Township. Rozana Sweeney from Art and Style Dance Studio will teach ChaCha and will be the DJ. 

Our June 18 dance will be at Wightman School, and we’ll be participating in Jeff Shirey’s Outdoor Summer Dance Party on Sunday, June 26 from 5-7:30 pm at the Avonworth Community Park Pavilion.

Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh Chapter #3007

Hi!

The March 19th  Dance will be held at the VFW in Coraopolis with Carlos and Liz Blandino Lopez teaching Bachata, and Mark Boucher DJ’ing. 

USA Dance National Ballroom DanceSport Championships at the Wyndham Grand Hotel (the former Hilton Hotel) in Downtown Pittsburgh, April 1-3. 
Competitor registration closes on March 17. As of 3/13, there were 546 competitors registered. None of the 14 collegiate teams have finished registering. 

Local Amateur and Pro/Am couples will be dancing on Friday during the day.   
Spectator tickets for the Nationals will be on sale at our March 19^th dance. 

USA Dance Pittsburgh is hosting a Social Dance on Friday, March 1 from 5 – 7pm at $10.00 per person. John Siefken will be the DJ.  The cost of the Social Dance is included in the Evening Session, $35.00 for non-members, $30.00 for USA Dance members. Tickets at the door will be $40.00.

Local Volunteers Still Needed for 2, 4 and 8 hour shifts for the Nationals, especially in the evenings and on Sunday.
To volunteer, go to our volunteer form, complete the form, save it as a PDF and e-mail it to Eva Maschakour, Volunteer Coordinator, at emaschak4@gmail.com.  

On March 20, the USA Dance Inc. website will show the final schedule of the various heats for all three days and information on the workshops. Go to https://www.usadancenationals.org.

On Saturday, April 16^th  USA Dance Pittsburgh will be hosting our Spring Dinner Dance at the Edgewood Club in Churchill. John Siefken will be the DJ.  For more information and to make reservations visit our website.

Hope to see you on Saturday and sometime during the Championships from April 1-3!

Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh Chapter #3007

Hi! 

February 19th Dance at Wightman School: We had a terrific dance with well over 100 dancers, our best attendance ever!  Many thanks to Amanda Wolf for the rumba session and the great music; Christine Zona who organized the mini competition and spoke about how national competitions are organized and Jim Page who MC’d; and the 13 collegiate and five adult couples who plan to compete in the USA Dance National Ballroom DanceSport Championships at the Wyndham Grand Hotel; April 1-3;  and who preformed 30-second round of multiple dance and styles. Great energy and good dancing! 

Local Volunteers Still Needed for 2, 4 and 8 hour shifts especially in the evenings and on Sunday! Our website, USA Dance Pittsburgh Chapter 3007 now has a fillable registration form, thanks to John Siefken, which you should fill out, save as a PDF and e-mail to Eva Maschak, emaschak4@gmail.com, who is scheduling everyone. There’s also a description of the tasks and the incentives for daily 3-or 8-hour shifts. A Zoom call is being scheduled for March 5 at 10:00 am for registered volunteers to answer questions.  If it goes well, we’ll schedule another. 
Social Dance on Friday from 5-7 pm. USA Dance Pittsburgh is hosting a Social Dance for $10.00. John Siefken will be the DJ. Admission fee is included in the Evening Session ticket if you plan to stay.

Tickets to Watch Dancing Throughout the Competition. Two sessions each day are tentatively scheduled for 8 am – 5 pm and 7 – 11 pm.  Daytime sessions on Friday include Adults, Seniors and Professional/Amateur couples; on Saturday, Collegiate, Youth under age 18 and Adult, and on Sunday, Collegiate, Youth and Adult plus Collegiate Team Match. Highlights of the Evening session on Friday include highest level mix of Youth, Collegiate, Adult, Seniors, Pro/Am and Professional dancers; on Saturday, Collegiate Team Match and Professionals; and on Sunday, Junior, Youth, Adult Showdance, 9 and 10 Dance and Seniors.  Spectator tickets are available online for each Session; a Weekend Pass; the Collegiate activities; Workshops; and the Social Dance. Tickets sold after March 30 will be more expensive. Please go to www.usadancenationals.org for tentative schedules and ticket prices. 

Our Next Dance is MARCH 19 at the KEITH HOLMES VFW IN CORAOPOLIS. Carlos and Liz Blandino-Lopez will teach Bachata and Mark Boucher will DJ. Spectator tickets will be on sale.  USA Dance members get a $5.00 discount.  Hope to see you there!

Our next DINNER DANCE will be at the EDGEWOOD COUNTRY CLUB on APRIL 16.

Jane Downing, President USA Dance Pittsburgh Chapter #3007