What's new? 

We opened the show with our Salsa Formation team.  This team was comprised of veterans as well as new comers.  As a matter of fact, 5 of the 6 ladies and 2 of the leaders were first time performers.  Once again, many thanks to Sandy Nichols for her great work on the ladies dresses.

A note from behind the scenes of the Salsa team…
This routine almost did not make it to the dance floor, but thanks to the dedication of the dancers, they made it.  Here’s the scoop.  We start formation practices 12 weeks in advance of the show.  Normally, the choreography is completed by the 8^th week and the members have 4 weeks to get it down & work out the kinks.  This was not the case here.  By week 6 we still only had 4 leaders and 3 followers that were showing up on a consistent basis.  Of the 5-minute routine, only 1 minute had been choreographed, and we only had 6 more weeks to go.  By the end of week 8, we had 5 leaders, 4 followers and only 1-1/2 minutes of choreography.  We had yet to get a full team to show up at one time.  To make a long story short, in the last 2 weeks prior to the show, we added 3-1/2 minutes of choreography and danced together for the first time complete the night before the showcase.  In addition, one of our followers, due to her hectic schedule, had to drop out the week before the showcase.  Fortunately, Bud has access to many talented SJSU students and found Phi Phi who was ready & willing to crash-course the routine. In “Dancing With the Stars” fashion, she learned it in one week and performed it well .

Many thanks to Ricki and Wayne as they put in a lot of time to help the team catch up with the choreography.  They also choreographed their own solo routines to add to the dance.

Salsa team members were Valentina, Deborah, Samantha, Rachel, Marina and Phi Phi with Wayne, Ricki, Ed, Scott, Mohammed and Sergei.  The ladies wore a black tear drop spotted melon red dress, trimmed in black and black shoes highlighting their dresses.  Leaders wore the standard black shirt & pants.

Next up was Christine and her Student Joel Alcarmen.  Joel has been dancing with Christine for only 3 months. This was his first showcase after 13 years being away from dancing.   Christine has helped him get back on track and has been a great teacher.  Joel works 12-18 hours per day, 7 days a week and dancing is the only break he has, and must carefully schedule each lesson with Christine.   They performed a cha cha to a contemporary techno beat dressed up in combination pink Disco look. He looked like he never left the dance floor. 

Sally and Bud were up next to perform her first Rumba routine.  Sally is still quite new to the dance floor and definitely caught the dance bug .  This was Sally’s second routine 8 months. What makes Sally’s routines so special is that, Sally was in a coma 4 years ago induced by spinal meningitis. She has had to learn to walk again was told she won’t be able to spin and through determination and a new-found love of dancing she is doing both.  Sally wore an elegant knee-length dress, with sexy plunging neckline.  She looked gorgeous!

When Mohammed & Helena heard this music from the Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack, they were both inspired and wanted to dance it in performance. They’ve worked on this routine for 6 months, and recently competed with it at City Lights dance competition.  They emphasized the pirate theme through their costuming, but it the lady who dies at the end of this story. The audience let out a roar from the enjoyment of their presentation.

Joe has been dancing w/ Christine for a few years now.  He loves dancing and enjoys taking lessons from Christine.  He has found that performing is also a wonderful way to express his joy for dance.  Joe and Christine performed a new cha cha routine, Christine wore her beige fringe dress, one of our favorites!

Normally a solo routine in ballroom dancing means that a single couple is performing alone on the floor. Here is one exception.  Wayne has been dancing Salsa for many years now, and he absolutely adores it, dancing Salsa nearly 7 days a week.  Wherever there is a Salsa party going on, you can be sure to find Wayne there.  But Salsa is NOT where Wayne got his start in dance and performance.  Wayne is a seasoned and champion skater in both ice dancing and roller skating.  He participated in US Roller Nationals for 17 consecutive years, competed in 44 events in that contest and ended up with 22 placements. He was a professional in both ice & roller skating, performing with Dorothy Hamill and in many ice shows.  His professional career is extensive including placing 3^rd in US Open Professional Ice Championships.  He is certainly not new to performing in front of an audience!!!  The audience loved his solo.

Jose & Rachael are Bud’s students from San Jose State.  As part of their mid term, the students can choreograph their own 1 ½ minute routine based on the patterns they learned in class.  Their choreography and execution were so good, we suggested to them that they perform it at our showcase. Bud was like a proud papa watching his babies dance.  They are EXTREMELY new to performing yet their talent is evident.  I am sure you will see them again soon.

Sargon has been dancing for about six years, the last three of which he has been with Christine. Sargon competes with Christine in Pro-Am competitions at the Silver level.  Sargon feels so blessed to have Christine as his teacher and she takes his dancing to new levels on a monthly basis. The dance they performed was a slight variation of a routine that they use in competitions. Sargon has participated in several showcases for us, and we always enjoy having him here,

Katharine graduated from San Jose state university in 2006, majoring in 3 disciplines:  psychology, anthropology & behavioral science.  She began dancing in June 2006 where the Quick Step in “Shall We Dance” inspired her.  She loves both Standard & Latin and appreciates what it has done for her physical & spirit well-being.   She would like to go to graduate school within in the year while continuing to compete in her passion of ballroom.

TJ took his first lesson at Fred Astaire Dance Studio and soon become a dance instructor.  He just celebrated his 4th year in dance last month - TJ has a group social class on Saturdays at 1:45 – 2:30 p.m (entry fee is $10), so please join him for a fun afternoon of dancing.

They performed a unique International Cha Cha Fox Trot medley to “Don’t Cha” by the Pussycat Dolls.  I’ll say this much, Katherine also has a future in acting, playing her character all the way off the floor.  Very hot!

Kurt & Keiko have been Robin’s students for 2-1/2 years.  They have participated in several local competitions and have really enjoyed them.  They are putting their newest videos on YouTube so they can share their love of dancing with friends and family in Japan.  Their teacher Robin choreographed a Bolero and Salsa medley for them to perform, and they did a great job.

Tim Dilleio and Christine performed two numbers at our last showcase. Tim is one of the teachers at Starlite Ballroom in Sunnyvale. Their first dance was a very romantic international rumba, leaving Tim alone on the dance floor rejected by his loved one. Tim, I feel your pain. Don’t take it personally she leaves me too…

Our competition team had some new members and is looking forward to taking this routine to Stanford Cardinal Classic on Saturday April 26.  This is a number we have performed a few times for you, but it’s always fun and as we had some new performers, it was good for them to get out and perform the routine.  Ages on this team spanned between 20 and 60.  What a range!

Sargon returned presenting a variation of a bolero routine he & Christine use for competitions.  His extensions and body expressions in bolero looked very good.  Sargon used to jog for exercise, but when his joints started hurting he tried dancing. Dancing may be a more expensive exercise than jogging, but the culmination of art, socializing, and exercise makes it a much fuller experience. He wants to encourage all of you to find a local group class and start practicing to give it a try.

Deborah was forced for some years to take a break from dancing. She returned for her first solo in December, and it seems that her body is finally starting to cooperate, and is returning to dance again.  There is no question that the emotion was real in our Rumba.  This routine may be familiar to those who attended the Holiday Ball, where it was performed by the Rumba formation team.  Bud liked the routine so well, he took it for a solo routine.

John and Robin have been dancing together for more than 3 years.  They compete in Open Gold American Smooth.  John’s dancing goal is to make the final in a major US competition.  His lines were terrific, he made a wonderful frame for his partner Robin.  Their routine was absolutely lovely, and Robin wore a beautiful lavender dress. Robin enjoys dancing with John very much! 

Paso Doble requires incredible amounts of technique to make it look good.  There is great deal of stomping, posing and acting, the man puffing out his chest, the lady switching roles from bull to cape.  Tim did a fabulous job, looking very much indeed the part of the matador!  He certainly commanded his partner, looking very strong.  Their routine was fantastic.

Bud was very excited about this routine and it seemed to magically come together. The music was Rainbow Connection, and the ladies were dressed in beautiful pastel gowns made by Sandy Nichols, their ending partners in shirts & ties to match.  The ladies even wore rose corsages, accenting their gowns.  Bud enjoyed this routine so much that he plans to take it to competition.  Would you like to be part of it?

Waltz Formation Team performers were Elaine and Scott, Summer & Alex, Marina & Ed, Helena & Mohammed. 

Bud & Zackie taught together many years ago at Arthur Murray.  Zackie took a break when she got married and had a baby.  She is returning to teaching and has partnered with Bud.  Bud & Zackie danced to the Diva Song from “Fifth Element”, Bud entered the floor very much in the role of Mr. Zorg.  This routine got the loudest roar of the night. It was a hot feisty little number that is one of our favorites. 

John & Robin perform their competition Tango.  John is such a terrific dancer, it was a real pleasure to watch him dance this number, filled with terrific drama and head snaps. 

Christine and Bud closed the show with a revised Rumba they performed over a year ago.

These showcases take a lot of work, not just on the performances themselves, but also in the background.  There are the programs, the script, and the decorations.  Tonight, we were blessed with the help of Brian Lucas who recorded the show, Noel Marrero and Danny Chak who each took photos, and many for helping with the set up break down, including Gailynne Bourte, Allen & Joanne Deacon, SJSU students James Cadatel, Jr., Jessica Harrington, Charles Seacat and Anna Sun in addition to many others from our formation teams and from SJSU.  And a big thanks also to David Kaufman for yet again doing a great job as DJ and really getting the hand on flying blind with the music!  Hopefully, next time we’ll let him know ahead of time when there’s lead-in music & when there isn’t…Or not! 

Formation teams:
We have two kinds of formation teams.  Performance formation teams focus just on the one dance for Bud’s showcases held every 4 months, whereas the Competition team focuses on perfecting their dances & competing against other formation teams.

Bud’s Performance formation teams are made up of beginning & intermediate students.  Many started out in the group classes he offers through the Sunnyvale Community Center.  We will be starting our next teams soon, with a Tango-ChaCha medley and the other is TBD (possibly NC 2Step or WC Swing, but could be something else entirely) performance teams.  Practice will begin on Sunday June 1 in preparation for the next showcase being held on Sunday August 24, which will be a whole studio showcase, even bigger than the Spring Fling performance with most of Dance Spectrum's staff getting involved.

Our competition team is looking for more dancers, men in particular!  This team is composed of intermediate dancers, and will focus on technique and styling.  We will be taking this team to various local competitions, and we’ll be adding a smooth medley to our dance list.  The next auditions will be held on Sunday, June 1 at 3:30 pm. 

Some members of our team have danced the Rumba portion of this dance many times, and in spite of all that repetition, they still LOVE IT!  For those unfamiliar with the Broadway play “Damn Yankees”, a baseball player has decided to sell his soul to the devil.  Unfortunately, he is having 2^nd thoughts & the devil sends his partner in crime to ensure that the contract is kept.  We think you’ll know right away who he decided to use as his messengers!  This is Bud’s Competition Formation Team.  They recently competed at San Jose State Classic, and have many competitions already lined up starting in March of 2007.  If you’re interested in joining the group and learning this routine & a new Cha Cha routine, pick up a flyer from the front, auditions will begin in January. 

The team follows their Rumba up with a Salsa, full of fun & providing an opportunity for the ladies and the gents to “shine” on their own.

A2.  Bud & Gloria Greene - Waltz

A3.  Joe Vlaskovitch & Christine– American ChaCha & Rumba

A competition routine is a piece of choreography that has been designed to fit the style of music played at a competition.  Joe & Christine have just returned from a competition in Las Vegas and are preparing for their next one, the Holiday Ball in San Francisco in 2 weeks.  Joe & Christine performed and American Cha Cha & Rumba

Robert & Mai have been working very hard and are the first “couple” where both dancers are students, unlike the other student/teacher routines you are seeing this evening.

A5.  Bud & Rachel – Tango/Cha Cha

There is a new style of music that is becoming more & more popular, combining Argentine Tango with some oldies music put to a disco beat.  This unusual combination is called “Verve”.  Its unique sound allows the dancers to interpret the music as a Cha Cha, a Tango, a Hustle, and of course, a WC Swing!  Bud chose to combine Cha Cha and Tango.   This is Rachel’s second routine with Bud.  She just won top solo at the City Lights competition last March and is eager to repeat.

A6.  WC Swing Formation Team: We’re No Angels

There are many styles of Swing, but the most familiar are the East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing and Lindy.  The East Coast Swing is danced to high energy music, and is noted for its circular and relaxed style.  The West Coast Swing is danced in a slot instead of in a circle, and usually has a more sophisticated sultry style than its bouncy cousin the East Coast Swing.  It is also the state dance of California.

This WCS routine was choreographed by Angel Figueroa – a nationally acclaimed choreographer, dancer and instructor.  His work has been seen on film, TV in print and on stage.  He holds over 30 titles in many styles of dances and is the 1996 US Open Cabaret Champion.  This blues song was chosen for this routine for its diversity in musical instrumentation and vocals, and the goal for the team was to learn musical interpretation, incorporate footwork variations and learn showmanship technique. 

A7.  Venus Fusion Team:

Silke is the Latin Ballroom Dance Instructor for the Monday night classes here at Steppin Out and created Venus Fusion to give women a chance to express their femininity without having to have a partner and enhance their sense of styling and confidence.

There's no class scheduled yet for 2007 but you can send requests to Silke's e-mail address and with enough participants classes will start up again.

The ladies loved their previous group classes so much, that they decided to perform what they learned at the last Spring Fling showcase.  You can just imagine that this went over very well with the crowd, and we are very excited to have them perform .  The ladies of Venus Fusion were Dawn Neuhart, Danielle Bautista, Mai, Patty Gil Ashley Hiatt, Rachel Hersom, Jean Kim and Silke Heleine.

B1.  Bud & Henni – Rumba

We start off our 2^nd session with a really fun number.  Henni & her husband David have been joining us for nearly three years at our Friday night dance parties, and have attended many of Bud’s group classes.  They have both participated on Bud’s formation teams. 

This time she danced with Bud to a 60's favorite along with some 60's costumes.

B2.  Vitaly & Danielle - QuickStep

B4.  Bud & Irena – Waltz

B6.  Bud and Yelena - QuickStep
Yelena has been dancing with Bud for four years, and has been headlining our shows ever since.  Yelena has both brains and beauty, she is a wonderful dancer who is also a published scientist in the biomedical field.  Yelena recently won top solo routine award at San Francisco Open in May 2006 and has won top solo awards at City Lights several routines.  She & Bud hope to repeat as top solo this March at City Lights with this rendition of a QuickStep.  They dances this routine one year at at the April in Paris showcase in 2006.

B7.  Bud’s Viennese Waltz Performance Formation Team

When one of Bud’s students presented him with this piece of music, Bud decided to use it for a formation team dance.  It was written in 1992 but sounds like it could have been written a century ago or more!  When the team heard this song, it reminded them of a time gone by, giving us the inspirations for the costumes.

The final performance for the second session was Bud’s Viennese Waltz Performance Formation Team.  Our team is made up of both beginning & intermediate dancers, and includes some difficult patterns created on the floor. 

Bud’s Viennese Waltz Performance Formation Team with: Fran & Vivian, David & Debbie, Eric & Tomoko, Vitaly & Leslie, Mohammed & Danielle, Andrew & Summer, Scott & Gailynne, Ed & Helena.

This was my favorite routine of the night.  They did such a good job that we plan on taking it to City Lights as well in 2007.

C1.  Summer & Scott - Bolero

The Bolero looks like a very slow Rumba, but in fact, it is one of the most difficult dances, having Mambo timing, Waltz rise & fall and Tango styling in addition to the Cuban movement of the hips.  It’s a lot to think about, but really enjoyable to watch & to dance.

Scott has been ballroom dancing for years.  Summer has been dancing since she was a little girl, but ballroom is a recent addition to her dancing repertoire.  This is their first solo routine together.  They are both terrific performers and this routine as you can see had lots of beautiful lines and movement.

This ended up being one of the audience favorite!!

C2.  Bud and Yelena Show Dance

When Bud first heard this song, he knew right away that this music must be in a performance.  Unfortunately, the music wasn’t what we would call classical ballroom and resulted in great difficulty choreographing to it.  So he asked his coach Tsha Marie, who has extensive background in jazz to help with this routine. 

C4.  Ken Greer & Sharon Hui – Fox Trot
Ken has been dancing for 18 years including Country Western, West Coast Swing, Hustle, Salsa, and Ballroom. Ken's last 8 years have been dedicated to International Style Ballroom where he has been competing at the Championship level. Ken is also the founder of DancePartner.com a web site for dancers to find dance partners. Ken has recently decided to offer his services in dance instruction.

Sharon has been dancing for 12 years including ballet and ballroom. She started dance instruction 2 years ago.  After her recent job layoff, she decided to leave behind the high tech world where she spent some 20 years, to further explore her passion for dance.  Sharon now teaches ballroom dance at Steppin' Out and other Bay Area studios.

Sharon and Ken competed together early in their career and several months ago renewed their partnership. Sharon and Ken share a similar passion for dance and look forward to teaching others and competing Open Championship in 2007.    

Ken & Sharon plan to offer group lessons at SOP starting in Jan 2007.  Keep an eye out for their new classes.

Bud & Christine are quite excited to present to you their Rumba.  It was choreographed for them by a world-ranked coach Tona Nyhaggen.  For those who don’t know, Tona is a highly sought after choreographer who travels the world to coach other world-class competitors.  It is an honor to have a routine specially choreographed by her.

WOW!!!  Let’s welcome everyone who performed this evening back to the floor

Our Summer Splash showcase had a Miami Vice theme, and with the generous help from Brian Lucas, the husband of one of the formation team students, he created some amazing backgrounds for us.  Check out the boat and flamingoes in some of the photos, and you will be amazed.

The show started with Bud’s Rumba formation team.  The ladies wore coral dresses with lace bodices, made for them by Sandy Nichols.  The gents wore matching dress shirts, grey tie, black pants.  They all looked FABULOUS!  There were several partner changes, the dresses flowed beautifully, and everyone stayed together with the music.  The audience really liked the “chaos” movement where the dancers criss-crossed each other, and suddenly there was form out of the chaos.  It was romantic and well done.  Our dancers were Jeff, Ed Tremper, Scott Sahlman, Helena Findikaki, Summer Brandt, Patty Gil & Wendy Williamson.

Joe Valskovitch has only been dancing a few years, but he loves to dance to escape from his regular life.  With Christine Belanger as his instructor he did a great job as they danced a Cha Cha. He returned later in the evening to perform a rumba and a swing. 

Argentine Tango is the original tango, danced in the streets of Argentina.  It is known for its close hold, footwork can be slow & sensual or quick & lively.  Evelyn Sinengeng-Smith loves this dance and her joy could be seen as she danced with her instructor Fred de Vera to a slow and sensual Argentine Tango, with the occasional quick footwork & lovely poses.  She wore a deep red dress, he was in a classic black with hat & red cumberbund adding to the latin flair. 

Rachel Hersom has been dancing for a few years, but this is only her 2^nd solo routine with Bud.  She just loves Shakira, which was evident right away.  She walked in under a cloak, Bud chased after her & as he tore off the cloak, her hips immediately snapped into motion, the dance was off to a rousing start.  If her goal was to out shake Shakira, she probably accomplished it!  This was a crowd favorite, as Rachel made it known that she meant business, her smile was infectious and their ending pose with Rachel upside down wrapped around Bud left people asking, “how did she get there?”

Sargon Ishaya has been dancing for only a year & a half with Christine, and is one of her competitive students.  Sargon is known to us to have some terrific lines in his dancing, their bolero was sexy with lots of stretch, poses & drama.

Element 101 is a dance formation team lead by Rebecca Edwards, Bud’s former professional partner.  They add elements of hip-hop and jazz to their dance routines.  Tonight, they presented a salsa.  The gents were in suits, white shirts & ties, the ladies in v-necked 1950s styled dresses, as would have been worn in the NY clubs when & where Salsa originated.  The dancers stayed on time with one another, and had some side-by-side action in addition to partnership dancing.

 When Joe & Christine returned for their Christine’s dress was the talk of the town.  That tan fringe dress was so amazing, it was hard to focus on the dancing!  They performed a swing medley that was a lot of fun, the 2^nd song being a true crowd favorite, “Pink Shoelaces”.  We didn’t ask Joe if he changed his laces for this routine!

Bud has been dancing with Yelena for a number of years, they have won several solo routine awards.  They danced a bolero to “Do Ya Wanna Dance” and it was everything a bolero should be.  It was sensual with lots of poses, lifts & drops.  A crowd favorite was when Yelena was sent through Bud’s legs, then turned around to grab his hand, executed perfectly.  This routine is a sure winner at their next competition.

Christine (still in her fringe dress) & Sargon returned to perform a hot little Swing to “Fever”.  This was a fun routine, and the audience loved it.

In an animated film “Anastasia”, a now grown former princess visits an empty palace and is reminded of her past and of wonderful memories in the now abandoned ballroom.  When Bud and Yelena first started dancing to this beautiful but haunting song, they both  had to fight back the tears. They knew that the audience would need to be drawn in to capture the emotion behind the song. To create this, Bud stands behind a picture frame to represent a painting that will eventually come to life.  Yelena begins by dancing on her own.  As the music and words of the song suggest, she is taken back to her childhood and once again is dancing with her father.  She wore an overcoat to hide an ethereal pink dress.  The coat “vanishes” after she is drawn back in time.  Bud wore a fancy military looking vest.  Their Viennese Waltz was romantic, evoking memories of yesteryear.  When her father gently kisses her on the forehead & vanishes back to his portrait, it was hard not to shed a tear for the young princess left all alone. An angel returns the vanished overcoat to our heartbroken princess.  Most definitely a must see routine!!  Bud thinks this will be another top solo routine for the upcoming competitions.

Bud’s Salsa Formation entered the dance floor full of attitude.  That attitude dominated the dance.  The ladies wore black dresses with red holographic designs made for them by Sandy Nichols, the guys in the standard black latin outfit.  The music was “Tanga” selected after watching “So You Think You Can Dance?”  There were eight couples, which is really difficult to keep everyone on the same time, but they managed it!  The routine was fun as well as sexy.  Danielle & Pablo did an exciting solo, one of their moves was a lift where Danielle ends up wrapped around Pablo’s neck.  Deborah’s favorite was Danielle wrapping herself around Pablo’s leg at the end. The team also did a rueda split into two groups, along with boy/girl solo routines.  Their ending was a different pose for everyone.  TOur dancers were Andrew Tao, David Philips, Ed Tremper, Jesse, Pablo de los Santos, Scott Sahlman, Vitaly Endrjukaite, Carly Honfi, Danielle Bautista, Gailynne Bouret, Helena Findikaki, Irina Endrjukaite, Linsey Jemmet and Lorine Fok.  here was a lot to this routine, we’d love to see them perform it again.

Bud counts himself as very lucky to have had a chance to do a professional routine with Christine, one of Bud's coaches, he’s always admired her dancing.  They followed the Miami Vice theme.  Bud started out as an FBI agent sitting in a chair reading the Wanted Posters, Christine’s picture on the front cover.  Along she comes, with dangerous written all over her.  Bud pulls out his badge, but she’s just too much for him and she has him under her control from the get-go.  She tosses her gun to our agent making him think that he no longer has anything to worry about.  Both sets of  sunglasses come off next and our agent throws away his badge.  Unfortunately, by the end of the dance, Christine decides to take no risks.  No one knows how she did it, but our FBI agent suddenly drops to the floor. Cause of death? “Unknown”.  We loved this routine!

It was a great show, and we were excited to have been able to perform for so many family and friends.  Some of our formation team members came right out of the audience, and we look forward to maybe you joining us on our next one! 
 

Spring Fling 2006 Showcase

What a GREAT SHOW!!! Once again we have managed to out-do ourselves. We had fourteen routines and a lot of fun.

 Our first Showcase of the year started with a new formation waltz routine. Because our theme this evening was April in Paris, we selected “Plaisir d’Amour” as our waltz formation song.  For our costumes, we immediately thought of Audrey Hepburn’s “Gigi” came to mind & Deborah worked with Sandy to modify a pattern with classic lines.  It was Helena & Leslie who found the perfect fabric.  You could see that the ladies absolutely adored their dresses.  After some research Deborah was able to find a picture of the stereotypical French “onion-man” who used to wear the black & white striped shirt, red bandana & classic beret.  The shirts were actually found through a Russian army supply store.   The difficulty with Smooth dancing is the technique required, where even just “walking” is not easily done by the beginner dancer.  Formation dances can have the couples simply dance the same choreography but always with the same partner and few patterns made on the floor.  This routine had had partner changes and many patterns created on the floor, which is actually more difficult to do in the slower dances than the fast moving dances.  We were so pleased with the outcome of this routine that we plan on taking it to competition.  You may well get to see it again!

Following the gentle waltz, Joe McCarthy & his instructor Melissa Lenon walked on the floor looking almost the complete opposite of the elegant ladies.  Joe wore a hot pink shirt, white pants and big hair, Melissa wore a hot pink dress, white go-go boots & big hair as well.  They did a Cha Cha to YMCA, getting the audience doing the dance with them.  It was Joe’s first routine and you could see he had a great time performing.

David Currie with his instructor Susan Fong was up next.  They have been dancing for about one year.  For this routine, he starts out sitting at a café pondering the woman of his dreams.  Susan definitely portrayed the enticing lady, flirting with an audience member just before her sensuous dance with David, leaving Dave at the end of their routine for yet another audience member.  Their rumba was beautiful, and we look forward to seeing more of David’s dancing in the future.

Bud & Yelena performed their popular Viennese Waltz, Yelena wearing her ephemeral blue dress.  Yelena has won several top solo routines in local dance competitions and will be taking this one to competition soon.  As graceful as this dance appears to us today, it is difficult to imagine that when it first came out in the 1890s, it was scandalous for the man’s hand was at the ladies waist, and the couples were facing each other, instead of only touching fingers, faces rarely meeting.  Oh, we’ve come a long way, baby!

Silke teaches a “ladies only” sensuality class on Tuesday nights called Venus Fusion.  Using gentle encouragement, she helps the ladies find the Venus within.  The ladies performing were of all ages, all shapes, and they really loved what they had learned. 

Katie Renati has been dancing socially for a long while, but only recently started performing when asked to do so for a charity event.  She hooked up with Gavin Calkins, a resident instructor at Steppin Out Productions.  He choreographed the salsa with lots of tricks & drops, which the audience appreciated.  Lots of applause for this routine.

Roy & Maxine Massey have been dancing together since the 1970s, and their dancing truly has that gracious maturity to it, a joy to watch.  Their first dance competition was the first California Winter Festival in 1980.  This event is now called the San Francisco Open held around Easter time.  Roy says that as a person ages, the competitive spirit and energy decline rapidly, but the occasional solo routine is still attractive.  They decided to combine International Standard style with American Smooth ballroom styles to Glenn Yarbough’s “She’s too Far Above Me.”  Maxine’s elegant black, sparkly dress was transformed from a sexy latin to an elegant smooth by Sandy Nichols, who also made Bud’s formation ladies dresses. 

Irena Beskova started dancing about one year ago when Bud noticed her in his beginning Salsa class, and how much she loved it.  After a few more of Bud’s classes, she was convinced to participate on a formation team, and before you knew it, she was eager to start performing solo routines.  For her Rumba routine with Bud, she worked with Sandy Nichols, and created a sexy purple dress, trimmed in fringe.  Irena just recently started competing, this was her third solo performance.  She’s already gearing up for her next routine, a bolero.

Nelson Soria presented a Samba with his instructor Silke Heleine.  Nelson has been dancing and competing for several years, their samba was very exciting with lots of movement.  Silke wore a fringe dress & got everything moving just the way the guys liked it. 

Susan Fong returned, this time with her Salsa Rueda formation team.  Their team had a challenge last week when one couple dropped out.  For those who are unfamiliar with formation, it is extremely challenging to have a couple drop out with such a short time for the team to recover for partner changes, etc.  Unfortunately, they had yet a bigger challenge when one of the team members had a family emergency on the way to the show, and the team was down yet one more couple with next to no time to recover.  Their performance went very well for several minutes, but at nearly the end of their rueda, the loss of the latest couple became too problematic and the team had to stop & regroup. 

Gavin returned, this time dancing a rumba with Ashley Hiatt, another resident instructor here at Steppin Out Productions.  They were inspired by watching Michael & Beata’s world champion routine to Enya’s “Only Time.”  Ashley wore an elegant, yet very sexy white dress which helped to accentuate her movements.  Their plans are to compete in professional Latin in the near future.

Bud & Yelena returned this time doing a QuickStep.  For this one, the performance started from their first steps on the floor, with Yelena playing the part of a very nervous young performer, wearing a 1920s blue flapper dress & big cream colored feathered boa.  Bud was the piano player.  They had so much performing this routine and based on the audience response, will probably be competing with it.

Nelson returned with Silke presenting a beautiful Rumba.  Silke wore an elegant white crotchet dress.  This routine had won Nelson the top solo award at International Grand Ball in 2005. 

Our final act was Bud’s Cha Cha formation team.  Bud had a lot of fun with the choreography as Deborah did with the dresses.  The music was “Boom Shaka Laka”, a popular song played on the radio.  Even though we found the lyrics to the song, they still made no sense!  Bud was inspired to do something different and make use of the words “Up” and “Down” which were repeated often.  The men ended up on the floor, while the ladies playfully rolled them around.  The audience’s favorite part of the routine was when the roles were reversed & the men tried to perform the ladies opening sequence.  For the bow, it was an extra touch when the men did a Chippendale-style hip roll instead of a traditional bow.  The audience loved it!

Showcases are performances where the students are the stars. The objective is to give students to opportunity to strut their stuff  (OK show off). Many if not most of the students you see started out in a group class and just developed a more serious interest and bang here they are performing for you.

One of the fun things about our showcases is that there are no judges or levels or time limits. So the teachers are able to be as creative as they would like to be so that you have a much more interesting if not memorable performance.

It was the first showcase where other professionals got to highlight their students. We were honored to have both Silke Heleine and Christine Belanger in our show.

The evening started out with one of Bud's three formation teams.

1.  Salsa Formation Team

Our first performance was Salsa danced by one of three of Bud’s formation teams.  A formation team is where the dancers work on a choreographed routine, sometimes where everyone is paired off, simply doing the same dance moves at the same time, but when the choreography includes shapes on the floor such as circles, diamonds and zippered effects, it brings yet another level to the enjoyment of the dance, and is something that Bud particularly likes to have in his formation dances.  This team is made up of beginning & intermediate dancers, and includes some of the most difficult moves that Bud has yet choreographed for a team formation, with lots of tricks.

The 5 men and ladies got the evening off to a hot start. The men were dressed in typical, all black and the ladies in cherry red dresses. This was by far the most difficult salsa routine Bud has choreographed complete with the men doing some tumbling. Though it was her first routine Robin Kwok was hard to miss. She definitely is some one to watch. She eventually ended up doing two solos. The routine went off with out a hitch.

Great job by Bud, Pablo, Mohammed, Ed and Scott, Helena, Lisa, Debbie, Robin & Patty.

2.  Christine & David – Samba

Second up we have David Currie affectionately known as the "Dancing Chiropractor". What I want to know is who does a chiropractor go to when their backs go out?  His teacher/partner was Christine Belanger, one of the new teachers at Steppin Out. Christine is a former United States Dancesport Championship Finalist and is a United States Dancesport International Latin Rising Star Champion. She has 14 years of dancing experience: coaching, judging, competitions and choreography. Christine is best known for her precise and detailed style of teaching. Her knowledge has taken many others on to great success.   They performed a Samba. The opening sequence had so many ticks and ripples, that we all thought David was going to throw his back out.

3.  Silke & Jason – Cha Cha

The next routine was a Cha Cha performed by Silke Heleine and her student Jason Hung

Silke is a veteran pro who just recently moved to the South Bay.  She is a highly sought after instructor who specializes in International Latin which dances consist of Cha, Cha Rumba, Samba, Paso Doble and Jive. She has competed in Europe and won many titles here in the US.  We were honored to have her perform for us.

Her student Jason has been dancing for a year & a half, and is a college student by day, terrific dancer by night!
 

4.  Bud & Irena – Fox Trot

Irena Beskova started dancing only 1 year ago and is probably one of Bud's most ambitious students. She started out with group classes and after taking Bud’s Salsa class she soon found herself being coerced to try performing by being part of Bud’s Formation team. Shortly after that, she not only performed as part of a formation team for three routines but eventually got the courage to go solo. This was her third solo performance with Bud and each time she keeps pushing the envelope, or maybe it’s Bud who’s pushing the envelope!

This routine was more than just your average fox trot. It required a lot of acting and a custom dress that would allow Irena to show off a "hidden" teddy as mentioned in the song. Bud is looking to perform this again at the City Lights competition in San Francisco in March 2006

5.  Christine & Joe – Swing

Joe has been dancing for a year & half with Christine.  He enjoys her technical expertise. This routine was a test of cardiovascular fitness for it was a combination East Coast swing and Jive. Joe must really love dancing with Christina, and we hope to have him back for a certain Cha Cha we heard about!

6.  Scott & Rachel – Samba

Samba is known as the native music of Rio de Janeiro of Brazil.  It’s known for its contagious drum beat & whistle.  Most people know Samba from the Xavier Cougat song “Brazil”.  The samba is known for it’s ticking action in the tummy & lots of hip movement.

Scott & Rachel have been dancing together for the past two years & have performed several memorable routines, such as Cha Cha, Hustle, and a crowd pleasing swing last year to “Where the Boys Are”.  The samba routine was one of their favorites to perform.

7.  Bud and Yelena Tango

The Tango is a dance of passion originating in Argentina.  This dance is known for its sharp movements, head snaps & definitely attitude!  The tango is one of the few dances where part of the dance is the dancer’s passionate & serious expression.  Rarely do you EVER see the dancers actually smiling as demonstrated by our next performers, Bud & Yelena.  Yelena has been dancing with Bud for 3 years, and has been headlining our shows ever since.  Yelena has both brains and beauty, she is a beautiful dancer who is also a published scientist in the biomedical field. 

8.  Christine and Sargon Cha Cha
We welcomed Christine back with us this time dancing with Sargon Ishaya.  Sargon started taking lessons with Christine about six months ago and she has brought his dancing to a new level. He says it is so much fun to learn from and dance with Christine, but its also a little humbling - kind of like driving a Formula One Ferrari would be!

They danced an American Cha Cha to Marc Anthony's "I Need to Know."  Christine choreographed the dance specifically for this music. The energy and speed in the dance steps follow the energy in the music.

9.  Bud and Yelena Waltz

Choosing music is as important in the performance process as well as dancing to it. In most cases Bud asks the student what song they envision dancing to then choreographs accordingly.  For his routines, music can come from all sources.  He was once inspired to do a Bolero to a song he heard while walking through the supermarket!  He heard this song back in 1996 and fell in love with it immediately.  Unfortunately, he did not have anyone at that time he felt was talented enough to be able to capture the emotion of the song.  This song was actually used in a professional ballroom performance that played on PBS & toured around the world called “Burn The Floor”. Bud & Yelena’s rendition of “Papillon” from “A Secret Garden” is one of Bud's favorite routines.

Yelena's dress added a lot to this routine due to the circular movements characteristic of the Waltz. One of the highlight moves of the routine is where Yelena stands on one foot while Bud runs around her, as Yelena takes ballet's "Attitude" position, it allows her dress to flow in the breeze.  A move that is far more difficult than it looks. 

10.  Viennese Waltz Formation
For those who know Deborah very well, you know that she just adores costuming, and is particularly fascinated by the Victorian period. While browsing through photos on the web last Christmas, Deborah came across one photo which captivated her.  She knew right then that she wanted to do a formation team in these outfits.  It was an incredibly ambitious project & she started to recruit interested ladies right away.  Just before work was started on the gowns, the ladies quickly grew from four to six!  The ladies have been working on their costumes for this routine since August.  Believe it or not, they were only just completed the early morning hours of the performance!  The men’s pants were made by Erik Gutfelt, a parent of one of the kids you’ll be seeing shortly, and an avid costumer himself.  The music is by Karen Carpenter, “A Christmas Waltz”, a piece of music that we used in our very first showcase, but the dance is all new.  The music brings to mind falling snow, and a bit of nostalgia for Christmas past.  

The team started out by "skating" to the intro music. It just felt right. What made this routine complicated besides being a Viennese waltz was the transformation from two triangles to a straight diagonal line. The colorful dress of the ladies made this a routine to watch if not admire

Our Viennese Waltz formation team performers were Dawn, Helena, Natalie, Leslie, Debbie, Alysan, Ed, Scott, Mohammed, Bill, Karl & Bud.

We just couldn't resist the ending. The ladies lined up with their bustles' to the audience and shook their booty as they exited to the song "Baby Got Back"

11.  Swing Kids

The closing number was a formation of eight young performers who started 2 years ago as part of an after-school program that their parents put together.

They have blossomed into excellent students & performers.  This routine debuted at our April in Paris showcase eight months ago.  They have performed it several times since then, made improvements in it, and have continuously received thunderous applause. 

Lindsey, Dove, Bethany, Britta, Daniel, Andrew, Marty & John continued their mastery of this routine and once again ended to thunderous applause. They added new lifts and had been working on their style and symmetry.

I would like to thank all of those who participated in the show and making it a fun event for all.

Our next show will be in April, we hope you will join us!

Showcase was on Friday, August 12

Showcase was on Friday, August 12, and it was a GREAT show!

Johnny was our emcee, and he thoroughly enjoyed entertaining the folks in between routines.

The show started out with Bud's Tango Formation Team presenting "Please Mr. Brown" by Alma Colgan, a routine we've done in the past to rave reviews.  The ladies wore beautiful royal blue dresses and lovely jewelry, the gents in blue shirts, black pants. This song is of a woman trying to get her gentleman dancer to be more of a gentleman, but he simply refuses.  "You are all just wolves in ivy-league clothes" was truly apt, and at the end of the routine, the gentlemen show what true cads they are, with the ladies have no further recourse but to slap their men!  The routine is quite complicated with many different "patterns" created and four partner changes (that's quite a lot for a formation routine).  Rather like marching band, only dancing!  Leaders included: Scott Sahlman, Ed Tremper, Bill Miner, Mohammed, Deborah Borlase & Dawn.  Followers included: Tanya Pekker, Zena Vaysman, Irena Beskova, Lori Howe, Helena Findikaki, and Natalie Miner.

The next routine was Rebecca's formation team "Element 101".  For this formation team, the choreography is actually more of a theater arts, or cabaret style rather than partner dancing with partner changes.  They did a Broadway medley, music was Rumba, Cha Cha & Fox Trot with the final number being from the movie "Chicago". We almost expected Richard Gere to pop in from behind!  They were very entertaining, and both teams look forward to competing against each other at International Grand Ball on Friday, August 27.

Bud & Irena were next with a Rumba to "Amore Secreto" by Paula Rubio.  It's Irena's second solo routine and she did a terrific job with several really interesting poses, one exciting pose where she is stretched horizontally, with Bud holding her in the air between his legs.  It's something that must be seen! 

Perhaps Gavin's favorite dance is Salsa, so this is what he & and Ashley chose to present.  Gavin & Ashley  are new teachers to Steppin' Out Productions, though they are not new to teaching.  They have both got quite a few years of experience behind them, and are excited to have an opportunity to teach at SOP.  You can really see that Gavin is a performer.  Be sure to check out their group classes at SOP on Mondays & Tuesdays. 

Bud & Yelena presented their ever-so-cute Fox Trot done to "Until Now". Deborah LOVES this routine, Yelena is so expressive, and Yelena has really developed in this routine.  This time, Yelena wore Deborah's powder blue "Marilyn Monroe" dress, and it really enhanced the moves.  Bud wore a black & white tuxedo shirt, looking so spiffy (if his wife can put in her 2-cents worth!)

Tiki & Ronnie have danced together for many years, focusing on the Salsa.  They love dancing together any chance they get, and since Ronnie was leaving for Texas A&M for college, this performance would be the last they would dance together for a while.  They did a terrific salsa, with lots of dips & tricks, one where Tiki slid her foot underneath her partner.  We hope someone got a photo of that move, that was cool!