Hi!
Happy End of Summer !
Thanks to all of you who continue to attend our dances! We were delighted that so many came to the beach party at the Palisades in McKeesport on July 15. It’s been almost three years since we’ve held a dance there. Many thanks to John Siefken for his music; Christine Zona for teaching ChaCha and organizing the Jack and Jill contest, the couples who demonstrated proficiency in three different dances and Aaron May and Anne Wildenhain for helping to select the six winning couples; Megan, Janine, Mary Ann and Andy for making the dance hall festive.
On August 19, Bobby D. was both host at the Wightman Community Center and DJ, and we welcomed Christian Brown, Arthur Murray Downtown Studio, who taught an advanced Foxtrot pattern.
Plans for the Special Needs Adaptive Program (SNAP) include three six-week sessions at the Higher Voice Studio, 144 East Main Street in Carnegie starting in mid-September, late January and mid-March. We hope to start a beginner’s class in September and begin to prepare the more advanced students for performances in early summer. If the recruitment for the two classes is successful, we’ll need more mentors, particularly with teaching experience of special needs students. Each class is an hour on Sunday afternoons. Barb Johnson, the coordinator, will train mentors before the session starts. Please contact Barb at (412) 720-0610 or obxjohnson@gmail.com if you are interested in becoming a mentor.
Hold September 16th for our next dance at the Wightman Community Center – Matías Jonsson and Irene Yarovoi will teach Quickstep and Brian Lee will DJ.
Please put March 22-24, 2024 on your calendar for the 2024 USA Dance National DanceSport Ballroom Dance Championships at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Pittsburgh. It’s not too soon to think about competing, particularly if you are eligible to compete as a collegiate dancer, a Professional/Amateur couple or a Professional couple because there are no requirements to compete in a National Qualifying Event (NQE) before the Championships. Current USA Dance rules participation by amateur couples, or mixed collegiate/non-collegiate couple to complete in a NQE and qualify in the top 75% of the selected events prior to the March Championships. The nearest NQEs are Kansas City, September 16-17; Chicago, October 12-14, and Newark, January 13-14 2024. Check the USA Dance Rules Books for further information. More to come to how you can help as a volunteer.
Jane Downing, President USA Dance Pittsburgh Chapter #3007