Latin / Ballroom -

February 28, 2007

Hooray for Mika!!

Mika and Plamen

Oh my gosh, I’ve been so busy trying to get a brief out, uploading photos to my photo page from this past weekend, and having my dance lessons, I haven’t had time yet to blog about my insane, raucous, dance-filled weekend, which I spent literally running back and forth like a crazed nutter between the Roseland Ballroom in midtown, where a small ballroom competition known as the New York Dance Festival was taking place, and Lincoln Center, where the New York City Ballet was having its final performances of the winter season! So, sorry for being so late in getting my pictures of the festival up, but here they are, finally.

I’m very excited because my friend, Mika, won the overall pro/am Latin championships!!! Yay, Mika!

Her teacher is the amazing Plamen Danailov, who, with his pro partner, won first place in the pro Latin division! Half Japanese, half Austrian, and raised in Vienna, where ballroom dancing skills are acquired from a very young age, Mika has been dancing ballroom since she was very small, and it really shows. She is such a beautiful dancer, makes long graceful lines, exhibits such elegance in her demeanor and with her costumes, and has a very strong connection with her partner. Watching her really makes me wish dancing was taken more seriously here in the U.S., so that I would have learned from a young age as well.

Placing second in the pro/am Latin was Tessa, with her teacher, Jacob Jason, below. Tessa has only been dancing ballroom for about two years, but she has a ballet background, and in fact was formerly a dancer with the Joffrey Ballet!

Tessa and Jacob

Watching Tessa was a real treat too. Oh how I wish I would have taken more ballet as a child…

Elaine

Elaine!!! Here is one of my friends from my studio, the lovely and talented, Elaine, dancing with her teacher, Jacob, same as Tessa’s. Jacob had about fifty students dancing, I swear! Above she is doing her fun, ‘foxy foxtrot’ showcase, and below, a charming Waltz routine.

Elaine II

Students can compete either in the general group dances, or perform a solo showcase with their teacher. Elaine opted for the showcase, Mika for the general, and Tessa for both. I think if you do the general group dances, you get more time to dance on the floor, especially if you advance to semi-finals and then finals. With a showcase, you’re only on for about two minutes, but you get the whole floor to yourself, and you get to choose your music, and can do more theatrical things, like lifts. In the general group comp, one foot must always be touching the floor, and you share the ballroom with everyone else in your division.

I took several pictures, so you can click here if you want to look at the whole album. Here are some more of my highlights from Sunday though:

Darina and Bill

Above is another of my friends, Bob, competing in the pro/am with his teacher, Darina, who was wearing just about the sexiest, slinkiest, most gorgeous dress I have ever seen!

darina and bill

Another shot of that dress. And Darina is so beautiful, she can pull it off like no one’s business!

joaquin cortes guy Above is this teacher, whose name I don’t know, but he was very good. He really impressed me, and his student was quite good as well. He reminded me of a young Joaquin Cortes, the famed flamenco dancer.

Some very cute kids competing in the Latin youth.

Nikolai Ahh! My new Latin crush-object, Nikolai Shpakov! He looked amazing, danced so well and wicked fast with his new partner, who was just lovely. And look at those hot pink shimmies — I so want that costume!!!

Another of Nikolai and THE DRESS!

A competitor in the pro American Smooth Division. Love that arch!

This one’s rather blurry, but it’s the very sweet, always lovely to watch, J.T. Damalas and Tomas Melnicki, who won first place in the pro American Smooth division.

Finally, this pro Latin couple was a lot of fun. I’m not sure who they are, but I think I heard in the introductions that they are from New Jersey. They really knew how to play to a crowd!

So, that was my Sunday. I spent practically all day Saturday with Philip, at the New York City Ballet, watching, amongst other things, Miranda Weese’s last performance with the company before she heads off to Seattle to guest perform with the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Here is an (illegal!) picture I caught of her:

Weese takes a bow

It was so fun, again, to hang out with Philip. He invited me out to dinner with his partner, Wei, and his friend from high school, Deborah. Very nice!

Finally, tonight is the last round of the America’s Ballroom Challenge competition. Since this is not a “real” competition, but is made for TV, I have no idea what to expect. It seems a bit unfair to compare dancers in four completely different dance styles (that’s: American Rhythm, American Smooth, International Latin, and International Standard) with each other, but this show is really promoting ballroom to a larger TV audience, so I am not criticizing one bit! I just don’t know who to predict will win. My favorites are Andrei Gavriline and Elena Kruychkova (last year’s champs), but of course they are my faves since I am a Latin girl! Jonathan Wilkins and Katusha Demidova (Standard) are the highest-ranked couple in the world of all of the U.S. couples, so they may win. But then Latin seems to be more popular in the U.S., so maybe the Latin couple will win again. Or maybe it’ll be Tony Dovolani and Elena Grinenko, who’ve won audiences over as pro dancers on Dancing With the Stars. Or, maybe it’ll be the underdogs, Ben and Shaleen Ermis in American Smooth. Who knows. We’ll just have to tune in and find out! Check here for local listings, and enjoy!!

February 23, 2007

"Oberon" and Janie Taylor at NYCB!

Oberon and me and NYCB

So, I finally got to meet “Oberon” (Philip) at the New York City Ballet! (If I look a little bug-eyed in the above pic, it’s because it was unusually dark in the State Theater and my camera’s built-in flash was going nuts, so I was trying hard not to let it make me blink!) I had a great time hanging out with Philip, and, since he knew half of the Fourth Ring, I got to meet all of his friends as well! I met Philip on The Winger, a website / blog I am continually grateful to for, amongst other reasons, allowing me to hook up with so many fellow ballet-lovers in the city. It makes a big difference watching a ballet with other fans: you hear their interpretations, their thoughts, you find out insightful tidbits about dancers and conductors you didn’t know before — it just makes the ballet-going experience so much more educational and enjoyable.

Janie Taylor on flyer cover

Also, I finally got to see the spectacularly dazzling Janie Taylor! One of the ballets performed was “Afternoon of a Faun” — one of my favorites, which I have only ever seen the American Ballet Theater do. Taylor danced in that one, and she perfectly fit every adjective I have ever heard used to describe her: beautiful, captivating, bewitching, enthralling, stunning… She was absolutely ideal for the female Faun part. I enjoyed Craig Hall as well, although I noticed he did a few things differently than the ABT men have. Although, Philip said he thought that the conductor, who was filling in temporarily for the regular conductor (see, these are the kinds of things you learn by seeing the ballet with a knowledgeable balletomane!) was moving the orchestra a little too fast, so it could just be that Hall just didn’t have time to do things as full-out… HOW pathetic is it that I even know that — that I have the choreography of the male part in that one just about memorized?! Have seen it one too many times in which I have focused a bit too much on a certain Jose Manuel Carreno… 🙂 Anyway, it was such a treat to see Taylor perform for once. She has been out with a calf injury for well over a year now, and I’m told she is still not able to throw herself as energetically into her dancing as she was pre-injury, but hopefully that will change next season, and I will be able to see her much much more!

Also on the bill was “Evenfall,” a new Christopher Wheeldon ballet that just premiered last season. I really so LOVE that ballet — it and Jorma Elo’s “Slice to Sharp” were my favorites from last season’s new ballets. Evenfall is so beautiful — gorgeous purple costumes, breathtaking pas de deux and beautiful ensemble parts, very dramatic music (Bartok)… and I’m sorry but if I may sound shallow for a moment, SETH ORZA IS SO CUTE!!!! He is just perfect for the male lead in that ballet — perfect for the romantic male lead in ANYTHING! Orza is definitely THE hot guy in NYCB 🙂 Okay, I am done being a schoolgirl. But really, he is so gorgeous; and of course he is a very athletically strong dancer to boot, soaring through the air with his muscular legs in those amazing jumps. I’ll go see anything that man is in. This also marked ballerina Miranda Weese’s penultimate performance with the company before she leaves for the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. I’m still new to the NYCB, but I thought she was a lovely dancer and I’m sorry I won’t see more of her.

This is the last weekend of this NYCB season, and I’ll be there, with Oberon!, at the Saturday and Sunday matinees. I’m actually going to have a bit of a crazed dance weekend, because it is also the New York Dance Festival, a nice little local competition held at the Roseland Ballroom here in midtown, and in which several of my amateur friends will be competing. If you want to see a live ballroom competition, do come check it out!

February 21, 2007

Let the Heated Battle Begin!

Andrei Gavriline

Well, tonight is THE night on America’s Ballroom Challenge! It is my personal favorite competition anyway: the highly competitive, raucously fun, always immensely crowd-pleasing International Latin. Last year at the Ohio Star Ball, where America’s Ballroom Challenge is taped, the crowd was just going crazy showing their feelings — screaming the names of their favorites (forget calling out their dancer id numbers — as worn on the man’s back, which the emcee directs them to do, I assume in order to make the dancers feel less like it is personal admiration for one couple, distaste for another), and booing loudly — and angrily– when they don’t place as well as their fans wanted them to.

Tonight will be hotly contested. Above is a picture of Andrei Gavriline, who, with his wife and parter, Elena Kryuchkova, is the current U.S. National Latin Champion, three years in a row now.

BUT, this couple below, the beautiful, petite, Yulia Zagoryuchenko and her playful, entertaining partner, Max Kozhevnikov

Max and Yulia

may well overtake them. Oddly (some feel anyway), they (Max and Yulia) are currently second in the U.S., yet ranked higher in the World standings than Andrei and Elena. I think Max and Yulia are currently 8 in the world, if I am not mistaken, perhaps 9 after a few notable partner breakups and rearrangements last year altered the world standings a bit, and Andrei and Elena are farther down, past 12th I think. Anyway, it’s interesting that the World judges have consistently felt so differently about these two couples than the U.S. judges, and that has been a source of contention for the past few years amongst the serious fans of Latin, all of whom seem to have a favorite, about whom they are very passionate, to put it mildly! When the winner is announced tonight, there will likely be some kind of outburst, though the sound editor of the show may well cut it out for TV-viewing purposes… We’ll see…

I love both couples, but can’t help be a bit partial to Andrei and Elena. Andrei teaches at my studio, and the first time I ever saw him — when I had no idea who he was — he was teaching Cha Cha to a newish student. He showed her a very simple backward three Chas — three cha chas in a row going backward — a step that is taught in first-level, pre-Bronze classes — a very very simple basic that anyone who has been dancing for a month can do, in other words. But when he did it, he just flew across the floor — and I mean FLEW! It was the most amazing three chas I had ever seen in my life. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him after that. When I later found out he was the national champion, I had to laugh at myself for not knowing. Was kinda proud of myself though for having the sense to recognize flawless technique and star power 🙂 But, seriously, that experience watching him taught me that it’s not about knowing a bizillion steps that makes you a great dancer; it’s how well you can do the steps. Every teacher worth their salt will tell you that over and over again when you want to advance past the level you’re really ‘at,’ and it sounds like a total cliche, but just watch Andrei do a basic and, believe me, that so-called cliche will really hit home!

Plus, Andrei has such an interesting dancer’s body. He is tall and very thin, and this helps him to move so fast and far,and gives him that light, weightless, “flying across the floor” look. And, not that this has anything to do with being a great dancer, but he is just such a beautiful man: very delicate, Asiatic facial features, very fine-boned — kind of reminds me of Maxim Beloserkovsky, from the American Ballet Theater. And his wife, Elena, has a tiny gymnast body. They are such a contrast, and her smallness makes it look like she is just floating up effortlessly into his arms during their lifts.

On the other hand, Max and Yulia do a fast fast FAST mean-ass Samba that is a real sight to behold!

I have met this couple before at Blackpool and they are the sweetest people. So, I’m rooting for them too! I’m rooting for two couples!

Another favorite couple of mine are Delyan Terziev and Boriana Deltcheva.

Delyan and Boriana

I think she is such a beautiful dancer, with long limbs and a balletic body that enables her to make gorgeous lines, especially during romantic Rhumba. Sometimes she just looks like a spider! They are a very dramatic couple, putting a lot of character into their dancing, which makes them compelling to watch.

Those are my personal faves anyway. The other couples, whose pictures I’ve taken from ABC’s website, all copyright of Jeffrey Dunn, are:

Ilya Ifraimov and Nadia Goulina

Andre and Natalie Paramonov (whose picture is currently down on the site)

and

Vaidotis Skimelis and Jurga Pupelyte.

Upsettingly, absent, due to Pasha’s illness, are Pavel (Pasha) Kovalev and Anna Garnis, probably the most popular overall with the crowd, judging by all the immensely enthusiastic eardrum-shattering cheers they receive while on the floor. I am still so sad that they had to miss this one. I can’t resist putting up a couple of pictures, taken from the Nationals in Florida last year:

Sorry for the crappy, dark and blurry photos. Hopefully I will get a new camera in time for Blackpool this year!

February 14, 2007

Strictly Standard

Jonathan and Katusha

Tonight on America’s Ballroom Challenge (8 p.m. on Channel 13 in New York, check here for local PBS times) is the Standard competition. In the first part of the competition, the group dance, couples will compete in Waltz, Slowfox, Tango, Viennese Waltz, and (my personal favorite!) — Quickstep. Second half is a showcase in the dance of their choosing. Pictured above are the reigning American champions, Jonathan Wilkins and Katusha Demidova. They are also the number three Standard couple in the world, making them the highest-ranked American couple world-wide right now. They are the obvious favorites tonight.

But champion of the underdog am I! So, here is my personal favorite couple, the ever so charming Victor Fung and Anna Mikhed:

Victor and Anna

I don’t seem to be able to get very good pictures of Standard (the couples fly around the ballroom floor so swiftly!), but here is one from the Manhattan Dancesport Championships last summer. I just adore this couple — they’re so sweet together, so charming, so charismatic. Her dresses are always so classic, so classy — they’re the king and queen of class those two!

And they work so well together, which you have to in Standard. If you aren’t on the very same wavelength as your partner, you’re going to tumble right over each other. If one of you goes down, the partnership goes down. This is one thing I both love and despise about Standard — love to watch it, hate to try it! Your bodies must make a martini-glass shape — which is absolutely beautiful. But so difficult to do. You’re connected from the waist down, and you must maintain that connection at all times, no matter how fast you’re moving, no matter where you go on the floor, through twists and turns and everything; if you lose that hold, it’s all over. And that’s the awesome beauty of Standard to me: the couples really are dancing as one. Nothing tests the strengths of partnership, trust, and lead and follow like Standard. You can’t choreograph your routines for the group dance very well because too many things could happen with all of the couples dancing on the crowded floor — you never know when you’re going to need to change speed or direction because you’re about to slam into another couple (which happens quite often, understandably). So, the man must “drive” (that’s often to me what he looks like he’s doing anyway, judging by facial expressions!) — leading, going forward; the woman reading and following his lead, while going backward, TRUSTING him to watch her back! And it’s so hard to trust — you really want to look behind you, to look out for yourself, but you can’t — you’ll ruin the line, the shape, the look, and of course most importantly the connection.

I just love watching this competition live. The room just becomes a whirl of color with all of the big beautiful ballgowns swirling around the floor. I hope it’ll look comparable on TV.

I don’t know much about the other four couples competing, as I don’t follow Standard all that closely (mainly since I don’t take lessons in it), but, taken from the ABC website, they are:

Giampiero Giannico and Anastasia Murayeva;

Linas Koreiva and Ieva Pauksena;

Igor Litvinov and Julia Ivleva; and

Erminio Stefano and Liene Apale, whom I have seen dance before (and they are a gorgeous couple too) but whom I seem to have no pictures of. All of these photos are copywright of Jeffrey Dunn for WGBH and I’ve linked to them from the ABC website. Anyway, please tune in tonight for the most beautiful of all the ballroom competitions!

Here are some more pictures I’ve taken at various competitions of the two couples who will likely be duking it out for the trophy: Jonathan and Katusha, and Victor and Anna. The ones where the camera is panning down on the dance floor from above were taken at the Blackpool Dance Festival last June — the largest and most prestigious professional ballroom dance competition in the world, held in England yearly in late May / early June. Enjoy!

I love that one of Katusha!

How sweet was Anna’s bluish-green Blackpool dress with the Thirties-style black hat and shawl!

And one last one of Jonathan and Katusha, third overall in Blackpool, top U.S. couple:

February 13, 2007

Luis Nostalgia

I just found this website — belongs to the brilliant American Rhythm dancer Anya Fuchs! She happens to be the former partner of my former teacher, Luis Grijalva (before he left my studio). She has some great footage of her dancing with Luis, which makes me so nostalgic for him… Click here (on the video) to see some great Rhythm dancing! I miss him so…

February 7, 2007

Get Ready For Rhythm!

Emmanuel and Joanna Â Â So, tonight is the American Rhythm Championship portion of America’s Ballroom Challenge (for New Yorkers, that’s Channel 13 at 8 p.m.; check here for local PBS times outside of NY).

Although I’m a student of International Latin, this is one of my favorite competitions to watch — at least live. The crowd really goes wild (more so than for the other competitions, for some reason) — there’s so much shouting and cheering for your favorite, and because of that, the dancers really put on quite a show — in addition to exhibiting their brilliant technique to the judges of course!

Above is my own personal favorite, Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine with his partner Joanna Zacharewicz. In addition to their amazing speed and precise footwork, they are great fun to watch because they exude such character in their routines. Before he left my studio to teach elsewhere, I had the very serendipitous opportunity to take a couple of lessons with Emmanuel. I can say, in addition to being a fabulously fun dancer to watch, he is also one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. When I first started, I used to dance primarily on the balls of my feet, rarely putting my heels down. I longed to emulate that light, weightless feathery look of the dancers I so loved. Of course, as a result, I’d frequently lose my balance, especially on turns. Emmanuel taught me really to feel the floor, to connect to the floor more than anything else. I also used to make the stupid mistake of trying to sense the air more than the floor. I know this sounds ridiculous to an experienced dancer, but I think when you’re a beginner, and you go to the ballet (or other dance performances) all the time, it looks like the dancers are just flying through the air, so you tend to want to imitate that in your dancing. But of course they are not connecting to the air since the air can’t support you. “Real dancers ALWAYS knows exactly where the floor is … we need the floor, we are not birds!” he would always say. The bizarre thing is, as a warm up, or sometimes in the middle of the lesson when he could tell I was forgetting to sense the floor, he would stop what we were doing, go into a closely held “closed position” with me, and just make me do salsa basics until he could tell I was back in touch with the floor again. He’d close his eyes, would tell me to feel the floor … not by stomping or dragging my body weight down into it; just by feeling it with my toes. I don’t know how he did it, but whenever I forced myself to feel the floor, simply by focusing my brain down there, he would know it right off. And he’d also know right away if and when I took my mind elsewhere. Weird! Anyway, whenever I see him at competitions, he always goes out of his way to say hello and ask me how I’m doing, how I’m progressing with my dancing. He’s such a great guy! And such an amazing dancer — he totally deserves to win!

However, these two below, are the couple most favored by the powers that be:

Tony and Elena

They are Tony Dovolani and Elena Grinenko. Tony is probably the most famous ballroom dancer, as he’s been on “Dancing With the Stars” for three seasons now, leading Stacy Keibler to her near victory two seasons ago. He also had a role in the American version of “Shall We Dance,” playing the “mean Latin dancer” who pulls off Stanley Tucci’s wig during the competition. He and Elena are the current reigning American Rhythm champs and will likely win this one as well.

Felipe and Carolina

Above is another favorite couple of mine, Felipe Telona and Carolina Orlovsky-Telona. She has an extensive ballet background, and is such a beautiful dancer, making gorgeous lines. And he is a big, handsome guy who just whisks her around the floor. Charming couple!

This is the first year they’ve opened this competition up ‘to the world,’ which means that you don’t have to reside in the U.S. in order to compete. Because of that, and because some couples are no longer competing (sadly, my former teacher, Luis Grijalva and his partner Anya Fuchs), there are some couples who made the finals, whom I haven’t seen much of before. The above photos are ones I’ve taken myself at various competitions, but these below, I’ve taken from the ABC website:

Evgeny Dyachenko and Inna Ivanenko (whose showcase, judging by the above pic, looks fun!)

Decho Kraev and Bree Watson (who apparently are from my hometown — or nearby anyway — Tempe, AZ), and

Michael Neil and Danielle Wilson.

Should be a very fun night — Rhythm always is 🙂 Here are a few more of my favorite photos of the competitors. Enjoy!

Also, Terpishore Musings has posted a YouTube clip of Emmanuel and Joanna’s showcase exhibition performance from last year. Check it out!

February 5, 2007

A Beautiful New 'Samson'!

Joaquin!

I just received a copy of this week’s New York magazine (which seems to have a pretty interesting cover article about the ‘freedom’ of revealing too much info on the internet). I flipped to the back cover and saw that the newest Samonsite model (at least that I’ve seen) appears to be none other than the superb (not to mention gorgeous) flamenco dancer, Joaquin Cortes! Funny, I’ve never paid much attention to advertising, but put a dancer in your ad…

On another note, how sweet is it to know that, even in big ole huge New York, through talent and hard work you can be recognized by the powers that be!

February 1, 2007

America's Ballroom Challenge, and Craig Salstein!

Not that the two have anything to do with each other, well of course other than the fact that they’re both about Dance (and the two styles that I happen to Lurve 🙂 ) and they both happened today…

First, Oberon just informed me that Craig was promoted from ABT corps dancer to soloist!

(Above with Marian Butler in “Rodeo” — photo is from ABT website, by Gene Schiavone)

Hooray for him! He’s such a fun and charismatic dancer — always puts so much energy, attitude, and character into everything he does. It’s obvious how hard he works and how much he loves what he does, so I think he is extremely deserving. Embarrasingly, I have to admit having mixed up his name before — oops! — but I definitely know him by face! I greatly enjoyed his performances this past season in Rodeo and Fancy Free (one of my favorites, and one in which he really held his own next to the biggies 🙂 ). He has a very big dance personality, and of course, that’s what I often go for 🙂 … can’t wait to see more!

Okay, on to America’s Ballroom Challenge, whose second season premiered tonight on PBS.

Above are Ben Ermis and Shaleen Archer-Ermis, American Smooth competitors, who won the first round tonight.

Well, I liked the new breakdown in the way they’re broadcasting it this time around. Last year, they just had two one-hour episodes: the first hour was the regular ballroom competition (where all six finalist couples are dancing together on the floor, competing in technique) for all four dance styles (American Smooth, American Rhythm, International Standard, and International Latin); and the second day was the showcase competitions (one couple on the floor at a time doing a choreographed free-for-all routine with lifts, competing in showmanship and performance quality) again in all four categories. This time, instead of lumping all of the dance categories together each day, they’re breaking it down and devoting one full hour to each category, and are then spreading the entire show out over 5 hours / days.

So, tonight’s competition was all American Smooth (couples competed in foxtrot, tango, Viennese waltz, and waltz). The first half hour was the regular ballroom comp; the second the six finalist showcase routines. Next week will be devoted entirely to American Rhythm (mambo, cha cha, rhumba, swing, and bolero), the following week to International Standard (slowfox, waltz, Viennese waltz, tango and quickstep), the fourth week to International Latin (! 🙂 — Int. cha cha, samba, Int. rhumba, paso doble, and jive), and the fifth week is going to be the competition for “best of the best” among all four categories (which of course doesn’t exist in real ballroom competitions, but is their little showy, made-for-TV category).

I’m not entirely sure what the producers were aiming for. I do think breaking it down this way enables audiences to get to know ever so slightly more about the dances, and to see more of the couples competing within each category. Tony Meredith‘s off-screen commentating helps to educate the audience on what each couple’s strengths are technique-wise. But, in order for the show to attract a much wider appeal, I think audiences really need to ‘get to know’ much better the individual couples and personalities that dominate these dances. And this new breakdown still doesn’t achieve that. Instead of just showing the couple’s dancing with Tony’s background commentary, they should do a little segment on each couple’s background, allowing the dancers to talk a bit about themselves, where they’re from, what brought them to ballroom dance, what brought them to dance in general, if they’ve had any obstacles to overcome, etc. etc. Kinda like how the Olympic shows are done maybe?… I think audiences connect to personalities, and there isn’t enough time each week to devote to each couple’s dancing for people to connect to them through that alone. Those are my two cents anyway… assuming the show’s intention is to bring recognition to the actual dancers and to increase its popularity rather than to educate audiences on ballroom technique and pique their curiosity.

On a side note: Tony is the owner of my studio, and I just love watching him on the show! He’s such a cutie, and is really such a great guy with a fun personality who really cares about his students… but oooh, he is so not an actor when he’s talking to Marilu and reading from that monitor! Ha ha ha — of course I wouldn’t be either — I’d be far worse, totally flubbing my lines, and making it completely obvious I was reading from a script and was vomitously nervous! He sounded much better though when he relaxed and started talking about the dancing — what he knows after all!

Anyway, the show is on for the next four weeks. Check here for local times!

January 28, 2007

Ball-Crashing, Viennese Style

Viennese Opera Ball

On Thursday night, I received an invitation from my friend, the illustrious amateur Latin dancer, Mika, to attend the final dress rehearsal of the Viennese Opera Ball, held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel. Though I had an invitation via her, we weren’t exactly sure I’d be allowed in without being on an actual list, and so were devising ways for me to sneak in through side doors, etc. But, happily, I didn’t have to do any ‘Ball-crashing’ — the place wasn’t that packed and no one seemed to mind one little extra spectator.

gentlemen rushing in after ladies

It was really sweet. The performance (which was only about 20 minutes long; presumably the rest of the evening consists of the actual social dancing), was cute. First, the “debutantes” were presented (below — sorry pics are a little out of order…)

debutantes

They did a courtly little dance, then were escorted off the floor by the gentlemen in blue to the spectator stands, to watch the waltzing couples (above two pics). In the second part of the piece — the waltzing couples portion, that is — the ladies scurry down the floor, the gentlemen waltz after them, they perform this charming little flirty number whereby the gentlemen surreptitiously steal the ladies’ bows, the ladies through cunning then pleading, get them back, then the two make nice and waltz away together.

I saw a few familiar faces in the show — one guy, Charlie, who used to take lessons at my studio, and another guy, who I think is another dance blogger. Anyway, Mika had invited me to audition to be in the show, but I had to decline since I know very little Viennese waltz. But the dancing was so lovely, and I really would love to learn it — so perhaps a goal for next year… Or one better, attend the real thing?!

Afterward, I went to my studio’s monthly party, where Pasha made an appearance!!! He looked REALLY good, and said he is slowly but surely getting his strength back, and hopes to be back to competing and teaching very shortly!! Hooray! (Also had a little talk with my other teacher, and things went well — looks like our little foxtrotting Sinatra Suite is back on :))

Lastly, I’ve received info that the first of five segments of America’s Ballroom Challenge, which was televised at the famed Ohio Star Ball this past November, is to be broadcast on PBS on January 31st. Check local listings for exact times. I, unfortunately, wasn’t there this year, so can’t give any insight into what all went down, but it is one of the largest national events, and, as an authentic ballroom competition boasting as competitors some of the best dancers in this country, it should be of great interest to anyone who likes the more poppy TV shows. Please tune in and support ballroom dance! (Below is a photo from their website, of my favorite Standard couple — Victor Fung and Anna Mikhed — believe me, the show is worth watching just for them 🙂 )

January 26, 2007

Can You Say, Evil Latin Stilettos!!

latin shoes

One of the hardest things for me about Latin ballroom dance is honestly the shoes. Above is my shoe collection — priced at well over $1,000. And I don’t keep buying more because I have some kind of stiletto fetish, believe me. I just absolutely cannot, no matter how hard I try, find a pair of high-heeled open toed sandals that I can dance in. My problem is that I have extremely small ankles, but the width at the ball of my foot is normal. So narrow shoes pinch very badly at the toe and start to give me bunions if I wear them too often, but regular-sized shoes are way too large at the heel and don’t keep my heel secure, so that at times, my foot has almost lifted completely out of the shoe, resulting in a near-twisted ankle. Also, I have an extremely high arch, so if the material at the front of the shoe does not extend well enough up the middle of my foot, the front of my foot will pop out of the shoe when I point. Finally, I have long toes, so in open-toed shoes, my toes tend to extend out the front of the shoe, hitting the hard-wood, sometimes resulting in splinters short-term, bone spurs on my big toes in the long term. Yet, if I were to get the shoes in a bigger size, the heels would be way too big, resulting in the twisted ankle problem.

The only pair of shoes that have ever worked at all for me are the Capezios, in the picture on the bottom right with the tango toe in twisted copper and navy blue. But Capezio is no longer making that style in a soft-soled Latin ballroom shoe — it now comes only in hard soled cabaret-style shoes. Still, they weren’t perfect — the tango toe was a bit hard to point in and the material at the toe was so hard that they ripped the cuticles on my big toe, forcing me regularly to pad my big toes with moleskin, even after a year of wearing them, when they were well worn-in. Not the most attractive look, but at least the heel held my heel and I never nearly twisted my ankle. Interestingly, the Capezio’s — the shoe that worked the best while it was still being made — are, at $90, are the second least expensive pair (Blochs were $85; most expensive were LaDucas at $290).

To the immediate left of the Capezios are a strappy pair of International brand which are way WAY too tight at the ball of my foot, completely cutting off my circulation and forcing me to hobble around after half an hour of wearing them. After a couple of weeks of trying to break them in, I couldn’t feel the front of my foot. I went to a podiatrist, who laughed at the shoes when I pulled them out of my ABT dance bag. Shaking his head, he told me it was no wonder I was losing sensation in the foot. I told him all Latin shoes were this way. He told me no serious worries, loss of sensation in the foot did not amount to loss of motor function. So, basically, just because I couldn’t feel my feet didn’t mean I wouldn’t be able to walk.

Next, atop the Internationals, are a brand called Gamba or something like that (I honestly can’t remember all the brands I’ve tried). Basic problem with those is that they don’t hold my foot in them — kind of defeating the purpose of having a shoe in the first place: the straps are too far apart at the toe, so my toes come straight out of the edges of the shoe; if I have the ankle strap buckled tightly enough so that my foot doesn’t come out the front, it cuts off my circulation and sometimes literally creates a bloody mess. Exact same problem with the Freeds, to the right of the Gamba’s.

Proceeding to the top circle, from left to right. On top left are black tango shoes. These, and the LaDuca’s next to them have the best heels — only 2 inches tall and wide, allowing me to keep my balance. However, the tango shoes, though fitting at the heel, are too narrow at the toe (I have 1/2 hour tops of wearing them before I’m in such pain I can’t walk, let alone dance). The LaDucas work okay, but if I’m ever going to compete, closed toed shoes in Latin are an absolute no no. In any event, LaDucas all come in medium width, making them too wide at the heel for me. I had to take them back to the store three times to have more holes created in the strap so I could buckle them tighter and tighter, but now, because of that slightly off center t-strap, they’re pulling too much at the toe, creating serious toe pain. However, LaDuca guy told me I need the t-strap shoe, because, in the shoe sans t-strap, my foot will pop out the front when I point.

Next to LaDucas are the Blochs. Bloch just started making ballroom shoes, and I was told by the clerk these were the ones the ABT ballerinas wore in “Fancy Free.” However, upon seeing the ballet recently during ABT’s City Center season, and sitting practically onstage, I can assure her that only Angela Snow, who danced the very small part at the end of the ballet, was wearing these — and she looked very wobbly in them. Indeed, the heel is so narrow, it’s nearly impossible to stand on let alone dance on. Also, long toes come out the front of the strappy straps. Also, these, when buckled as tightly as I need to buckle them to keep my ankle secure, rip into the vein running underneath my ankle.

To the right of the Blochs are the second pair of Freeds. These are fine except the front of my foot, from ball to toe pops out of the front of the shoe when I point because of my high arch. So, after pointing, I somehow have to nonchalantly stomp on the front of the shoe to get my foot securely back in — which I don’t think will look too keen during competition or performance. Also, Freed does not design their buckles well. In neither Freed shoe style can I buckle the strap when it’s tightened tight enough to keep my heel in place. So, I can only get the metal thingy in the middle of the buckle into the hole, without being able to get the strap then back through the buckle. Looks stupid, and, needless to say, is not very secure.

To their right are the fancy pair of Internationals. These are so high (3 1/2 inches) that I really can’t balance. Plus, I’m taller than all of my male partners in them. Plus, the toe is not flexible enough and doesn’t allow me to point properly. Plus, the toe is sooooo open, my foot comes forward and out the front leaving my heel insecure risking the twisted ankle.

Finally, all the way at the top right are these Mootsies Tootsies brand (can’t remember the exact name but it’s something like that). Everyone makes fun of me when I wear them because they’re not a serious competitor brand (as the name implies), but a social dance brand. I didn’t care when I bought them; I was just desperate for a shoe that fit, and they seemed to in the store. But, as I learned, when dancing my rhumba routine with Pasha, the soles are so soft that they buckle under my foot. At one point, while trying to do a sexy rhumba walk around him, the toes of my right foot pointed (in arabesque position — so foot was behind me), and, as I brushed my foot forward through the floor, toes went completely through the straps, leaving the shoe under my foot, the ankle strap ripping through my skin while my foot went forward without the shoe. I literally tripped and fell.

“Tonya, you must get used to one pair of shoes,” Pasha always used to tell me. Having some kind of a shoe malfunction was nothing new with me, so he almost laughed with the Mootsies Tootsies mishap. Okay fine, but which pair? If I force myself to ‘get used’ to the wrong pair I could end up with a twisted ankle, severe bunions, or complete loss of foot sensation.

Oh, why can’t I just wear these! I know, not exactly attractive paired with a sexy Latin costume… I often wear the soft jazz shoes (on right), or teacher ballet shoes, which have a slight heel and suede bottoms allowing them to glide over hardwood floors (on left), but then when I go to practice the routine in the proper shoes (ie: evil Latin stilettos), I’m two to three inches taller and the partnership is all off. When I practiced my snake with Luis (where he dips me sideways, then I slither down and go through his legs, ending up behind him), we did it a bizillion times perfectly in my soft jazz shoes. When I started wearing the high Latin heels, I was suddenly banging my head into his crotch on the way through…

Well, one fun thing about these street Samba classes I’ve been taking recently at Ailey, is that, I just wear these:

No super skinny heel that I can’t balance on, no toe straps to fall through, no ankle straps to slice my skin, and, most of all, really inexpensive!

January 22, 2007

NYC Dance Blogger Get-Together!

Dance Bloggers Meet in NY

Doug Fox, who runs the excellent, extremely informative and technologically innovative blog, Great Dance, was in town this weekend for a dance conference he was covering. So, several of us NYC dance bloggers arranged a little get-together with him. From right to left is: Kristin Sloan (ballerina with the New York City Ballet, in case you’re new to my blog and didn’t know that from the umpteenth times I’ve talked about / linked to her!) who created the best-known and I think first (?) diary-esque dance blog a couple of years ago — the awesome Winger — and is hence really the mother of all dance bloggers!; Tony Schultz, a modern dancer and PhD candidate in dance and technology at Sarah Lawrence who contributes to the Winger (and has a very fun personality by the way 🙂 ); Parker, a ballet dancer, turned Belly / Latin ballroom dancer AND law student by day who writes the sweet Salome Justitia; Doug; and on the end, little ole me (with extremely flat New York winter hair!) I love how Kristin is holding that light away — in true pro dancer fashion with the flair of her hand!

We met at a little bistro across from Lincoln Center — where else! — and chatted for a couple of hours. Everyone is working on such fascinating projects and is so interesting and ambitious and inspiring. I was so happy finally to be able to meet everyone. I’ve been faithfully reading Kristin’s blog for almost a year now — it was actually the first blog I ever really read (at least daily … okay, hourly…) and is what made me want to start my ballroom one, so it was really kind of surreal meeting her! 🙂 And I can’t wait to read all about this event that Doug attended. It seems that he saw tons of great performances and met many interesting people, so check Great Dance, where he’ll be posting about it for about the next week or two.

Fun fun time 🙂 If you’re a dance blogger and you’re in the area and want to be included in the next get-together, it looks like Doug is setting up a list, so contact him!