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says most professional dancers have incredible bodies, and that while performing, dancers have the same average heartbeat as middle distance runners. The International Olympic Committee first recognized DanceSport as a legitimate sport in 1997 and the U.S. Amateur Ballroom Dancers Association is working to make it a medal sport by 2008.
While competitive dancing is a recent phenomenon, dancing at its root has been around countless years, says Shelley Ramirez, who teaches at Walter's Dance Center in Kansas City, Kan. Ballroom dancing emerged in Austria in the 17th century.
The popularity of dancing waxes and wanes, says Bogdan Pathak, a graduate student who teaches ballroom dance courses at The University of Kansas and helps out with the club. In the past decade, swing dance and picked up and dropped off, then came a resurgence in salsa, which is currently at a plateau. He says social dance is at a happy medium now.
Pathak has been a ballroom dancer for six years. "A friend decided I needed a life," he says of how he discovered dance. Pathak says ballroom relates physically to martial arts, which he had been participating in for years before he started dancing, so it fits his personality. Plus, it's fun, social and challenging. Pathak now enjoys ballroom dance more than martial arts. Pathak has competed in DanceSport for four years. He has participated in the USABDA Championships and the St. Louis Star Ball, a member of the Dancer's Cup Circuit and the DanceSport Superbowl Series. Club members also have the opportunity to compete this month in the newcomer level of the National Collegiate DanceSport Championship in Columbus, Ohio.
Thirteen students at the University have expressed interested in competing so far; Gustavo Sudre was not one of them. The Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, sophomore joined the club at the beginning of the semester, but says he's not in it for the competition. He says he dances for the fun and the exercise.
If you watch ballroom dancing, especially passionate dances such as the rumba and the tango, male dancers come across as intense and masculine. "You are the rock," says Hanna Franko, the club's president, explaining to the men at the beginning of a Sunday lesson that they have to be strong and embrace their partners tightly.
In contrast, Sudre and Turk acknowledge that feminine stereotypes about male dancers still exist, which is one of two main reasons men shy away from ballroom dancing. The two also say that their friends don't think they can ever be good dancers or they have no rhythm.
Morris says these naysayers are wrong; everyone can dance. "Some people are natural dancers, but some great ones really had to work at it," she says. "I've never had a person I couldn't teach to dance."
—Eric Braem, Jayplay writer, can be reached at ebraem@kansan.com
WEB RESOURCES
www.ballroomdancers.com
Features online lessons and visual aids, a glossary, a store, a directory of teachers and clubs, studios and other resources.
www.usabda.org
Homepage of the U.S. Amateur Ballroom Dancers Association, with chapter information, testimonials and how to get started.
www.kcdance.com
Features photos, articles, links and searchable calendars of venues, lessons, clubs, studios and teachers in Lawrence and the Kansas City area.
www.salsakc.com
Features articles, links and listings of clubs instruction and bands specializing in Latin dance in the Kansas City area.
www.ku.edu/~kubdc
www.kk.edu/~kuboo
Homepage of the KU Ballroom Dance Club with a calendar and lesson handouts.
OUR FAVORITE SOCIAL DANCING HAVENS
Abe & Jake's Landing, Eight E. Sixth St. Swing and salsa bands
Lawrence
Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread St. Swing, lindy hop, Tuesdays
Flamingo Dance Academy, 1117 Massachusetts St.
Swing Sundays, dance school
La Tasca, 943 Massachusetts St. Salsa and merengue, Fridays and Saturdays
Kansas City area
Beaumont Club Salsa lessons Fridays
Cat's Corner, Westport Presbyterian Church, 210 Westport Road, Kansas City, Mo. Lindy hop lessons Fridays
El Caribe Café and Lounge, 12112 W.87th St. Lenexa
Latin Fridays, Saturdays
Madrid Theatre. 3810 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. Ballroom dancing Sundays
Oasis, 2805 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.
Latin Fridays, Saturdays
Walter's Dance Center, 5023 Minnesota St. Kansas City, Kan.
Ballroom dances Mondays and Saturday
Eric Braem/Kansan
Mallee Morris leads the male leads during a Sunday lesson in the Kansas Union Ballroom. Morris, who is a professional dancer and teacher, says anyone can learn the "demanding sport."
JAYPLAY LIVE
We know you've seen the ads. We've selected the bands and secured the venue—now all we need is you. The first ever Jayplay Live concert is a week from today, Nov. 20.
The seven-band show will be at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St., starting at 9 p.m. The show will feature seven local bands, with sounds ranging from toe-tapping rock to amp-busting hip-hop. Captain Overreact, Sweet Sassy Molassy, Tri Point Paradox, Riva, Kozmo, Mark Lyda Combo and Mr. Bilistic will play for 20 minutes each.
Jayplay staffers Eric Braem and Brandi Garvin will emcee the show, and KJHK DJs will interview the bands in between sets. Each band will battle for a cash prize. The winner will be decided battle-of-the-bands style, based on audience applause.
A committee, made up of Jayplay writers, KJHK staff and University Daily Kansan advertising staff members picked seven bands from more than 30. In addition to more than four hours of savory sonic sounds Republic Records, home to artists such as Bloodhound Gang Rammstein and The Soundtrack of Our Lives, will be handing out goodies all night long.
Our advertising staff has worked hard to provide you with a lot of prize giveaways, T-shirts for sale, and a cheap ticket price: $3 for 21 and over, $5 for 18 and over. So mark your calendars. We'll be there and so should you.
George Freitag plays bass and sings vocals for Captain Overreact.
thursday, november 13, 2003
jayplay 17