PRESIDENT’S LETTER, PITTSBURGH CHAPTER USA DANCE. NOVEMBER 8, 2025
USA Dance Inc. is racing to get ready for the new National Dance Festival on March 27-29, 2026 with four tracks: Ballroom DanceSport Championships; Collegiate Ballroom DanceSport Championships; Social Dance Celebration; and Professional Summit. Here’s the latest exciting partial update!
OVERALL CHANGES (Affecting All Activities)
Lay Out Improvements:
- New 60’x80’ Main Ballroom Dance Floor to allow split floor competitions with theater and table seating on 3 sides. On Deck will be where the stage used to be, and the Practice Room will be the former On Deck area.
- Old Practice Room (Kings 4/5) will have a regulation size floor for dance workshops & two evening Social Dances
- Dance workshops also will be held in Kings 2/3 with an expanded floor
- Panel workshops probably will be in Kings 1 (former overflow awards room)
Scheduling:
- Most rehearsals will move to Thursday night.
- All Pro/Am on Friday; All Am-Am Kids, on Sunday
- “Style Block” scheduling (e.g., Seniors 1-5 in one style simultaneously). Syllabus Seniors in 2 blocks Friday and 2 Saturday; Collegiates/Adults will run on split floors
- Awards will be in the Main Ballroom all three days
- A new Rising Star category with combined age ranges for Championships dancers is being developed
Themed Evening Sessions (before competitions and social dancing)
- Friday –Celebrating Chapters: Social VP Address; Chapter & Nationals Volunteer of the Year; Formations, Show Dances, Professional Events
- Saturday – The Chair’s Address; Nationals Volunteer of the Year; Collegiate Team Match Parade & Team Match
- Sunday – Crowning Champions – Competitor’s Parade; DanceSport VP’s Address; the After Party
Social Celebration & Competitors
- Expanded workshop schedule with two workshops running hourly. Workshops are open to all competitors at no extra costs.
SOCIAL CELEBRATION
A multi-day dance camp with workshops accessible to social dancers and competitors
- Workshops held simultaneously in 2 rooms each hour for 1.5 days plus Panel Discussions & Chapter Leadership workshop.
- Multi-hour social dances on Friday/Saturday evenings
- Spectator access to the National Championships
- Options to pay Go on line to https://usadancenationals.org/social-celebration to see overall, day, and event packages, workshop fees, evening programs.
USA DANCE PITTSBURGH ACTIVITIES
November 15 Monthly Dance at Arthur Murray Dance Robinson Studio, 5407 Steubenville Pike, McKees Rocks. 7-8, Samba Lesson by Jon & Stratton DeWitt. 8-10:30 pm. General dancing with Bobby D, Disc Jockey
American Dancer Magazine Publicity for Pittsburgh. The November issue (https://americandancer.org) features the Carnegie Classic Through a Camera Lens including photos of local dancers by Jay Kuntz, a local photographer. A picture of John & Deana Foley, Senior III dancers, is in an article about Seniors in DanceSport Competition 2026. The competition schedules for those planning on qualifying for Nationals is updated regularly in AM. Recent articles explain the new proficiency system to encourage dancers to dance at their normal level or higher and expectations for 2026 Nationals.
Reminder: No USA Dance in December.
See you January 17th @ Wightman Community Center
Best wishes for a great holiday season!
Hope to see you dancing,
Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh (3007)
dancer008-@outlook.com