SMOOTH TALK. San Diego Smooth Dancers, Inc. Bringing Ballroom to our Community. President s Message. San Diego N.S.D. So, You Think You Can Dance!

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1 September 2012, Vol. 13 No. 2 San Diego N.S.D. SMOOTH TALK San Diego Smooth Dancers, Inc Bringing Ballroom to our Community President s Message So, You Think You Can Dance! Anthony Wood There are many different ways that members of a social organization can support their club. Some members join and help out at meetings, socials, organizing events or planning committees, but there is only one way that you can support your club and immediately reap the benefits: come and join our Sunday night dance classes. There is no place in San Diego where you can get the level of instruction offered through our classes and only pay $5.00. Several Smoothies have already taken advantage of the reduced class prices offered to members of the San Diego Smooth Dancers. Even though you may have let the July/ August classes slip by without participating, I encourage you to not miss the next pair of dances we offer Smooth Waltz and East Coast Swing. Beginning in October, Carrie Kloss will, once again, prepare us for our annual Christmas Showcase Formation Dance. We had no fewer than six requests for the Smooth Dancers Formation Group to perform last Holiday Season. We were only able to fulfill four of those requests. The more dancers we have available to perform, the more shows we can commit to attending. These performances do an amazing job of promoting our club. People who dance, people who can t dance and people who want to dance have the opportunity to hear and experience what the Smooth Dancers are all about. You can be a part of helping out your club without lifting a finger..just a toe. I would love to see more than four or five couples performing at our Christmas Showcase, Balboa Park, Dance 4 Two, Infinity and the Palomar Smooth Dancers Christmas Dance. In order to accommodate everyone who wants to perform, we may be trying some innovative ideas so that anyone who desires can walk out on to the dance floor with the formation group. Also, if you have any ideas how to make it happen, (Continued on page 6) September 2012 Page 1 of 10

2 Queen s Message Shirley McCloskey Another very special highlight of the Luau was a gift from Susan St Martin a lei of fresh plumeria! I was so delighted and privileged to dance all night surrounded with the beauty and scent of live plumeria. Thank you, Susan. The Luau was fun, great music by Ann V, tasty and abundant food, plenty of cool water and punch, and best of all all the enthusiastic dancers who filled the dance floor for each song with many dancers staying to the very last dance! A Royal THANK YOU to all the dancers attending the Luau on August 4 th.. You helped me celebrate my Birthday! This was a first for me the Social actually coincided with the actual date and provided me the opportunity to have a really big party to celebrate. What a thrilling moment when all 130 of you sang Happy Birthday. It sounded really good and was a joyful moment for me. No Queen Coronations occur in the month of August. The Queen s Court will convene again in September at the Smooth Dancers Convention in Palm Desert to crown the State Queen-elect Barbara Greenlaw. The theme for the dance is a New Year s Eve celebration and will be a most elegant affair. I hope to see you there! Queen Shirley National Smooth Dancers Chapter Member Totals for Previous Two Years Convention Boards Convention Boards Sep-12 Mar-12 Sep-11 Mar-11 Bakersfield Fresno Golden Gate Los Angeles Palomar San Diego San Fernando Visalia Grand Total Here s a summary of NSD s membership numbers by chapter since March Although NSD membership has declined overall, it s great to see that San Diego is one of the two chapters maintaining triple digit numbers. We re keeping our chapter strong in NSD! September 2012 Page 2 of 10

3 SUNDAY NIGHT DANCE CLASS Chuck DiSessa WHILE THE MONTH OF AUGUST has been very warm, our Sunday night Dance Classes have been sizzling hot! Irina Chalkevitch returned to continue class instruction of the American Foxtrot at 5:00pm followed by the International Tango at 6:00pm, after our classblackout on August12th due to the annual Street Faire held on Fifth Avenue every second weekend in August. With attendance booming and new faces continuing to show up, Irina treated all of us to an absolute delicacy of choreography. There s no doubt about it: the choreography was strictly tailored for the intermediate talent level of instruction, which meant Gold and Silver level syllabus for both dances. As Irina succinctly stated recently, You guys are not beginners, so you should be able to do most of the basics in these dances. The class took on the challenge of learning to execute the choreography introduced through the months of July and August. The American foxtrot moves very well to music it has a nice flow to it which makes it comfortable to dance socially. The choreography is interesting and fun; it has a nice variety of open moves and positions. For example, while the side-passes get us moving around the ballroom, the step-taps in shadow position followed by the grapevine have us doing some attractive open movements together. About ten couples in each dance worked tirelessly to master the choreography as best they could. The ladies benefitted from a wealth of experienced male dancers, as Mark Chapman joined Mike Cowlishaw, Dave Saul, Jacky Yu, Chuck DiSessa, and Anthony Wood, to name a few all with extensive competition experience to provide excellent leads as the choreography progressed. Even Al Folkman showed up to say Hi before doing some dance practice after classes were completed. Irina continued to turn up the heat in the International Tango. After a complete and thorough review of previously taught material, she ventured to take us where no class has ever gone before. The class has been learning a competition-style choreography and, for the most part, people are handling it very well! I like going from a back-check to a same-foot-lunge, and then slowly moving the lunge line down the floor with crisp, staccato movements. The pivots to a check-freeze, followed by double locks to a quickly developed right and left movement, and a Tan-go close, present the true essence and dramatic flair of the tango what an experience!! Whether it s a simple challenge line to start the Tango a drum-beat, a kick-ball-change, or even the double spin and twist moves you name it it was in there. (Continued on page 6) September 2012 Page 3 of 10

4 A Lollapalooza of a Luau! It s always great for our club when members step up and volunteer to chair one of our socials; it is particularly special, as it was this month, when some of our longest-tenured and dearest members do so. Anne and Dave Saul have done so much for the chapter that we recently voted to make them Life Members and here they were, still working for the rest of us by hosting this great Luau. Also close to our hearts, Ines Plikshe co-chaired this event with Dave and Anne, and she did a wonderful job creating this evening with them. At one point Ines stood by the refreshment table greeting people in the serving line and passing out plates and napkins. Such a personal touch she added! We re just sorry that George couldn t attend and enjoy the product of his lovely wife s efforts with the rest of us. Please take a moment to thank Ines, Dave and Anne for bringing in supplies, setting up table decorations, providing refreshments, and coordinating clean-up at the end of the evening. Images From A Lovely Evening Luau! This month our chapter owes a big Thank You to Ann Vutisaksatit, who assumed the responsibility for providing us with an evening of great music to dance to. Champion Ballroom just upgraded some of its music equipment the previous week, and this caused some technical difficulties at first with the speakers. However, Ann received This Month s Music Maestra the technical support she needed from other members to make the necessary adjustments so that she could get her music out to everyone in its full power. By the end of the evening we were all enjoying Ann s music program exactly as she had arranged it for us. Thanks for a great program, Ann V! September 2012 Page 4 of 10

5 Message to San Diego Smooth Dancers from Nancy Deming Fred and Margaret Deming passed away this June; Maggie first, then Fred followed her three days later. They were both comfortable, at peace and with family. We, their children Michael, Nancy and Jennifer, will forever have them in our hearts and will always be grateful for their sharing with us the things they so prized: music, dance, humor and love of language. For them, being a part of SDSU was like a second career in show business, offering them the camaraderie, the excitement and glamor that dancing and performing always brought them. The wonderful fun of the dances, the shows, the cruises and the many great friendships really made their lives shine. We thank you all for the love and the good times you shared with them. CELEBRATION OF FRED AND MAGGIE S LIFE San Diego Smooth Dancers will hold a Celebration of Life for Fred and Maggie Deming on October 6th, 2012, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Al Folkman and Wandalee Dimond will be hosting this Celebration in their home at: 4107 Arden Way San Diego, CA If you didn t know Fred and Maggie, please feel free to come and see why they were such a special part of San Diego Smooth Dancers for so many years. September 2012 Page 5 of 10

6 (President's Message, Continued from page 1) let any one of your Board members know. We are committed to promoting this club, its members and, of course, ballroom dancing. For our members, though, the timing couldn t be better. This may be your last chance to take advantage of these $5.00 classes. These half price classes are set to expire in January. You joined this club to dance. Why not add Sunday night to your schedule of fun things to do? (Sunday Night Dance Class, Continued from page 3 ) The best part of all is that we continued to rapidly rotate partners and repeat the choreography until most seemed to have it well enough for us to move on. The technique tips for the ladies, which Irina elaborates while demonstrating the technique with her own body movements, are always much appreciated. We ll enjoy a brief respite from dance classes through the month of September, as several San Diegans have made plans to enjoy our huge Labor Day Weekend dance bash, commonly known as the N.S.D. State Convention. Carrie Kloss will return to instruct our classes for October and November. Commencing on October 7 th, the day following our October social, Carrie will provide instruction in the American Waltz at 5:00pm and the East Coast Swing at 6J0pm. Carrie always comes to class well-prepared, and this year s choreography will be a fun challenge for all of us. We ll be celebrating the 20 th Anniversary of our Christmas Showcase, founded by Vickie Durham to provide a venue for our dance classes to demonstrate what they ve been learning. I encourage all solo performers to work hard on a dance routine to showcase at this December s gala event. Now here s a valuable tip I ve often used in the past: pick one of your worst dances, do a showcase in it with your partner or instructor, and it will no longer be one of your worse dances anymore. (As the saying goes REPETITION MAKES REPUTATION. ) In closing, it s been a great summer of class instruction, and Irina has agreed to return next year. We all look forward to doing our best with Carrie in our fall classes, and are grateful we have the health to continue to learn and grow as we develop and polish our dancing talent. Thanks to all of you who support our classes I ll see you on the dance floor!! P.S. Have you heard about the cross-eyed dance instructor who was no longer allowed to teach dancing anymore? (She couldn t control her pupils.) September 2012 Page 6 of 10

7 Meeting at Brownwood! The announcement has been several months in the making, as their home has slowly conformed to the vision of their dreams. Now, our President and our Sunshine Lady Anthony and Barbara Wood are proud to proclaim that our September General Membership meeting will be held at Brownwood on Saturday, 09/08/12, at 2:30. Bring some food for the potluck, of course. But also be sure to bring your bathing suit and a towel, because Anthony s and Barbara s dream home happens to have a pool specifically designed to accommodate all club members attending any general membership meeting at their new place. (Such extraordinary planning and foresight on their part!) Be sure to take an afternoon off and join us for this long anticipated general membership meeting and house christening! Anthony and Barbara Wood 5672 Sprinter Lane Bonita, Ca Directions to Anthony & Barbara s new home: From North or South County: I-805 to Bonita Rd. (South County) East on Bonita Rd. to Central Ave. (about 2.8 Miles) Right on Central Ave. to Corral Canyon Rd (about.7 miles) Right on Corral Canyon to Sprinter Lane (2nd Left at the stop sign) From East County: I-94 or I-125/I-54 west to I-805 I-805 south to Bonita Rd. East on Bonita Rd. to Central Ave. (about 2.8 Miles) Right on Central Ave. to Corral Canyon Rd (about.7 miles) Right on Corral Canyon to Sprinter Lane (2nd Left at the stop sign) All of the street names are "horse" related, example; Pony Lane, Filly Place, Sprinter Lane, Corral Cayon...etc. Use this link with MapQuest to pull up a map of their address: CA/30526_rid/ , , , _rect/17_zm/1_fr/ September 2012 Page 7 of 10

8 First Weekend of September Champion Ballroom Will Not Be Dark! For any Smooth Dancers who will not be attending the 2012 San Fernando Convention in Palm Desert, please remember that there WILL be a dance party for you to attend at Champion Ballroom on Saturday, September 1, So, even though many of your friends will be playing in a cool oasis out in the desert that weekend, you can still enjoy a great party in town, dancing all evening to your favorite ballroom music at your favorite venue! How many times have you suddenly realized you were being photographed right out on the dance floor when you didn t even know there was a camera around? Did you stop to make sure your partner had a good angle for the camera before you both continued on around the floor? By now we all know that that was probably either Judy or Vern Miranda out there catching your picture for our website; together, they provide an important service for our chapter, making sure that we have pictures and videos to document our events. (Where do you suppose I get most of the photos for Smooth Talk?) To view any of Judy s and Vern s photos from past events, use the link that she recently sent out by sdsdwebsite.com Thank you both for your service, Judy & Vern! Mark C. Chapman, publisher (619) Smooth Talk is a members service and resource: all NSD members are encouraged to submit ballroom-related items for inclusion in the newsletter. Please send proposed articles, photos, and suggestions for newsletter changes to: mcchapman88@yahoo.com. Monthly Deadlines: Submissions 15 th Distribution 22 nd Contact Information for Glen Dear NSD Friends, After 25 years my land line number has changed. My new number is (Do not call my old number of , as I will not answer.) My address is still wellnessdancer@yahoo.com and my cell number is still I usually do not have my cell phone on or with me. I use it more for emergencies, travelling or locating lost people in shopping centers. Glenn Thomson Contact Information for Mark Mark Chapman has a new cell phone number: replaces , both for personal contacts and newsletter issues. September Birthdays! Gu, Linda 9/3 Kao, Been 9/5 Thoman, Harold 9/8 Kendall, Jacqueline 9/12 Kaufman, Meg 9/13 Holmes, Jeannie 9/18 Duffy, Nina 9/20 McKenzie, Paul 9/20 Yamaguchi, Carl 9/22 Gettig, Brenda 9/28 September 2012 Page 8 of 10

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