The Greater New York Chapter of USA Dance
 
Dancing in the Streets on May 17
March 13, 2008 ed.
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Greetings from the Greater NY Chapter of USA Dance!
Welcome to the very late edition of this week's newsletter. At this writing, I am on vacation on the other side of the planet, where it is already Thursday afternoon. I had expected the world to be a bit flatter, at least according to Thomas Friedman, as I took it for granted that I could easily find an open wireless network here in Taiwan, but after being here nearly a week, I finally found an ethernet connection to link me into the [img:dance_parade]World Wide Web. I was getting plenty of connectivity via my Treo but formatting and sending the newsletter via the Treo would have been next to impossible. In any case, I have found my way back onto the Information Superhighway, so on to this week's announcements and events.
Last May, a group of ballroom dancers from the Greater New York Chapter of USA Dance took part in the first ever Dance Parade. We lined up near Herald Square and danced down Broadway until we reached Washington Square Park. Many other dance styles, from hip hop to belly dancing to modern dance were represented, and we were there to showcase all the different dances that make up ballroom dance. Because the first Dance Parade was so successful, the organizers are at it again and have put out the call for all dancers to sign up for year two of the Dance Parade. It will take place on Saturday, May 17. We will try to get a group together again to represent ballroom at the parade, and if you are interested in taking part, let us know by sending an e-mail to rsvp@nyusabda.org, with the subject line "Dance Parade." Save the date, and make plans to dance down Broadway with us on May 17.
[img:idb_logo]The Independence Day Ball Dance Camp will take place around Independence Day Weekend, July 2 through 6, 2008, in Washington, D.C., and it will feature top professional ballroom luminaries to present workshops and give private coachings. In the past, the likes of Karina Smirnoff, Tony Dovolani, Elena Grinenko, Victor Fung and Anna Mikhed have taken part. You have seen them on national tv; you may get a chance to learn from the best if you attend the Independence Day Ball. If you sign up by Saturday, March 15, you can save $100 off the price of registration, so get to it, people. More details here.
Looking to social dance this week?
  • Take note that Hot Latin Tuesday at Club 56 in Farmingdale did not happen on March 11. The event will instead to be back on Tuesday, March 18, for its regular night of salsa and other hot latin rhythms to dance to.
  • Can dancing salsa cure cancer? Very possibly, if enough salsa dancers take part in the Salsa Dance for a Cure event in Prospect Park on Thursday evening, March 13 (tonight). It is being sponsored by the American Cancer Society, and if you want to help dance for a cure, read this post.
  • For the Argentine Tango fans out there, you might want to try the Blue Moon Milonga with Valeria at Dance Manhattan on Friday, March 14, starting at 9:30 pm.
  • For mixed ballroom dancing on Saturday night, March 15, try the Saturday Night Special at Club 412 near Penn Station in Manhattan, starting at 8 PM. More details on this post.
  • If you're looking to dance latin on a Sunday evening, try Jimmy Anton's Latin Dance at Dance Manhattan, starting at 5 pm on March 16.
For other social dance options, check with Wayne's Dance Commentary and NJoyDancing News & Notes.
Speaking of Wayne, we are glad to see that he's back in action and keeping us all abreast of local dance events. In this week's Dance Commentary from Wayne, he notes that Super Star in Chinatown has been added to the Manhattan dance studio casualty list, this time due to violence at a hosted event, rather than rising rents. Wayne also offers his thoughts on why, despite the explosion of media attention on ballroom dancing, the dance scene here has not boomed. Give it a read, and feel free to post your thoughts in response.
[img:dwts4a]Monday night, on St. Patty's Day, DWTS returns to tv screens across the nation, and we have again secured ACME Bar & Grill down in the Village for our weekly group viewing of the action as it unfolds live on the plasma screens at the bar in the back. Please join us for some brews, cajun grub and "celebrities" learning to dance ballroom in front of a huge national audience. It wouldn't be the same without you, so we hope to see you there on Monday night.
That's it for this late edition, friends. Back to my vacation. See you at ACME in New York City on Monday night!
Yang Chen
President
Greater NY
USA Dance
(NYUSABDA)
www.nyusabda.org
www.nyusabda.org/forums-df
yang.chen@nyusabda.org