President’s Letter / October 2024

Hi!  Happy Fall!

Dances:

October 11-13, Carnegie Classic, Rangos Ballroom, CMU University Center. USA Dance Inc. sanctioned competition organized by the CMU Ballroom Dance Club. Friday, 8-11 pm, Starlit Soiree, open to the public; Saturday, 9 am – 6pm, Newcomer, Bronze, Silver & Gold level competitions; 7-10 pm, Pre-Champ & Championship level competitions; Sunday, 9-5 pm, workshops open to the public. Spectators are welcomed to watch the Saturday competitions.  https://carnegieclassic/org

October 19 –Pittsburgh Palisades. 7-8:00 pm, Chris Drum teaching Foxtrot. John Siefken, DJ.  Special Needs Adaptive Program (SNAP) performance, 8:00 pm. John Siefken, DJ 8:15-10:30 pm. Wine pull raffle to support our outreach programs. Come say goodbye to John Siefken, long-time USA Dance Pittsburgh board member and DJ, who is moving to Indianapolis.  

Many thanks to Matias Jonsson and Irina Varovoi for the ChaCha lesson and introducing us to the Kathak Performance Team, and to Bobby D. who provided the music on 9/21 at Wightman School.

USA Dance Pittsburgh Board Elections. Nine local board members are elected every two years by the USA Dance membership, and the terms of the six current board members are up on December 31, 2024.  Nominations are accepted in two ways: self-nomination or by petition. The basic requirements are: membership in USA Dance Inc. and a commitment to attend a monthly board meeting and assist with the monthly dances.  However, to continue to provide high quality monthly dances, execute outreach expansion activities with collegiate ballroom clubs and the special needs and after school programs, and undertake our responsibilities to recruit dancers, volunteers, spectators and sponsors at Nationals in March, we need individuals who have expertise in project planning; fundraising; marketing/promotion; and IT.  If you have these skills and are interested in being a board member, please fill out the attached form and return it to Phyllis Orochena at Pabo@comcast.net by November 23, 2024 at 5:00 pm. Please let me know before the deadline if you’re interested so we can talk further.   

USA Dance 2025 National Ballroom DanceSport Championships, Pittsburgh:

Qualifications: There is still time for non-collegiate amateur couples to qualify to compete at Nationals on March 28-30, 2025 by placing in the top 50% of competitors in each dance performed in a regional competition  in Newark or Atlanta.  https://www.americandancer.org/2024-comp-calendar

There are no qualifications for professional/amateur (Pro/Am) couples undertaking 19 syllabus (e.g. waltz, tango, rumba, cha cha in American or International Style) dances or for amateur and Pro/Am couples who participate in 7 Night Club dances (West Coast Swing, Hustle, Argentine Tango, Merengue, Country 2-Step, Salsa and Bachata) at Nationals. Everyone participating in any of these competitions must become a USA Dance DanceSport Athlete member prior to competing. Forms are available at our dances or online at https://www.usadance.org/membership

Volunteers:  The Pittsburgh Chapter is responsible for recruiting 50-60 volunteers to support the professionally judged competitions in March.  We’re counting on you to continue our support again this year.

Spectators: Watching real live dancers is much more exciting than watching Dancing with the Stars on TV! The evening champion sessions feature young people (ages 13-16), adults (ages 19 to 75+), collegiates, and professionals. The quality is very high for the winners who become eligible for international competitions.

USA Dance National Elections: From November 15 -24, USA Dance members will be asked to vote electronically for six National Officer and DanceSport Delegate positions. Only the president position is contested. Find resume and candidate statements for Chuck Garrett, Aleh Kulyba and Ken Richard at https://usadance.org/page/elections2024.

Hope to see you dancing, soon!

Jane Downing

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

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