The Greater New York Chapter of USA Dance
 
NY USA Dance Hosts a Social for Dance Parade
April 26, 2008 ed.
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Greetings from the Greater NY Chapter of USA Dance!
After what seemed to be an interminable winter (looks like Punxsutawney Phil called it, and then some), we seem to have gone right into summer this past week. Hope you got to enjoy some of the sunshine and the warmth.
[img:logo_dp]As mentioned last week, our chapter managed to get through the first third of the year without hosting any socials, so we are long overdue. Our next social will take place on Saturday, May 10, at Studio 101 in Chinatown, starting at 8 pm, and the proceeds from that dance will go toward raising funds for our chapter's participation in Dance Parade the week after, on May 17. We hope you will save the date and come out dancing with us on May 10 and then join us as we hit the streets on May 17, dancing down Broadway and over to Tompkins Square Park in the East Village. If you have not yet told us that you plan to dance with us, please let us know by sending an e-mail to rsvp@nyusabda.org with the subject line "Dance Parade" (without the quotes).
[img:marlee_fabian]This week on DWTS: In week 6, Jason Taylor and Kristi Yamaguchi failed to impress, while Cristián de la Fuente and Marissa Jaret Winokur turned in rather good performances. Up to this point, I thought that Jason had been consistently respectable but his cha cha just seemed off. Kristi danced a very difficult jive routine and got through it just fine but for me, it did not feel much like jive. By contrast, Cristián, in his foxtrot, seemed to finally find a dance that suits him well and shows him off to good effect. Similarly, Marisa, who to this point had been working very hard but tended to land in the middle or the bottom of the pack, danced a flowing and elegant Viennese Waltz. The performance that I enjoyed most was Mario's rumba, which was packed with sensuality and displayed good latin motion. It deserved higher than 28, especially considering that Kristi scored higher last week with a rumba that was rather bland and also scored higher this week with a jive that was, frankly, overrated. Finally, Marlee Matlin was obviously struggling with the mambo this week, and despite the fact that her partner Fabian Sanchez was a World Champion Mambo dancer, his skills were not enough to compensate for her weaknesses. We're sorry to see Marlee go, but it seemed her time had come.

On the results show, I again enjoyed watching the junior couples compete and was excited to see our National Junior I Standard and Latin champions Austin Joson and Lisa Lakovitskaya dancing. You may have seen Austin and Lisa on tv before, dancing in one of the showcase numbers on "America's Ballroom Challenge" on PBS. I expected them to walk off with the top spot against Brandon and Brittany, the other couple that danced, but at the very end of their routine, Austin and Lisa fell. Austin, who during the interview segment preceding his live performance before a national audience, appeared to be a cheerful, self-assured young fellow, but he seemed stunned by the fall. And although I enjoyed watching their samba, I felt that there was quite a bit of nervous energy about the routine. Perhaps Austin and Lisa was hit with a case of nerves? When the judges made their decisions, it was two to three against Austin and Lisa, and they will not advance to the finals of the junior competition on DWTS. For national champions, I anticipate that this result must be frustrating and disappointing, but I know that Austin and Lisa will continue impressing us with their fabulous dancing in future events and competitions.
[img:stan_dani]Speaking of our junior dancers, last week I reported the sad news that Leo Juashkovsky split with Daniella Karagach. I am now happy to report that Daniella has found a new partner, Stan Faynerman, who with his prior partner was a former United States 10-dance champion in the youth and junior II divisions. We wish Daniella and Stan much luck and success as they work towards representing the United States in the youth 10-dance category.
Looking to social dance? For other ideas, check with Wayne's Dance Commentary or NJoyDancing News & Notes.
Joy from the NYU Ballroom Team is looking for a latin leader starting this summer. She is dancing at the silver/gold level, so if you are in the market, answer her partner search post.
That does it for this week. Save the date for our May 10 social!
Yang Chen
President
Greater NY
USA Dance
(NYUSABDA)
www.nyusabda.org
www.nyusabda.org/forums-df
yang.chen@nyusabda.org