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Get Away

The ballroom has a new beat

With another reality show in the works and Olympic aspirations, once-stodgy ballroom dancing adds to its widening appeal.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published August 4, 2005

	[Publicity photo]
	Canadian champions Andre and Natalie Paramonov are scheduled to compete in the DanceSport Championships in Sarasota.

When Larry and Dianne Dean organized their first ballroom dance competition, local dance schools were populated mostly by little old ladies and handsome young instructors. Few people considered ballroom dancing a legitimate art form, and virtually no one considered it a sport.

That was back in the early '70s. Today, ballroom dancing is the stuff of popular movies and hit TV shows. And the International Olympic Committee is considering it for inclusion in the Summer Games.

"It started with that John Travolta movie (Saturday Night Fever)," Larry Dean said. "Every time someone does a movie there's a surge in interest in ballroom dancing. I truly believe that now, finally, its time has come. I have this heartfelt feeling that it has really taken hold and it won't let go."

Even the terminology has changed. Three or four years ago, the competitions that used to be called "ballroom dance" events started to use the term "dancesport."

One thing that has not changed is that the competition that the Deans organized is still going strong. The Triple Crown DanceSport Championships, now in their 34th year, are considered among the richest and most venerable events in ballroom dancing.

The final leg of the Triple Crown, the Florida State DanceSport Championships, started Tuesday and continues through Saturday at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota. (The first two events were in Biloxi, Miss., and New Orleans.)

"When we started there were 19 competitions all year, and we had three of them," Dean said. "Now there are four or five every weekend somewhere in the country."

Because of its prestige and the large purse (the three Triple Crown events award about a quarter-million dollars in cash and scholarships) it attracts top-quality dancers from around the world, Dean said. Among the competitors slated for this year are Canadian champions Andre and Natalie Paramonov, and former world champions, Brad Stein with partner Heather Hall.

The daytimes are devoted to amateur and pro-am competitions, in which students dance with their teachers. Professionals in several styles take the floor tonight and Friday. Saturday evening, the winners in different categories compete for an overall championship.

The evening competitions will include taping of an upcoming reality show that will air this fall on the Learning Channel.

Ballroom Bootcamp takes 60 nondancers of various ages and backgrounds and puts them through intense dance training for five weeks, then brings some of them to three of the most prestigious dance competitions in the country where they dance with their instructors.

"They basically take over these people's lives," Dean said. "They changes their wardrobe and their hairstyles, they change their diet, they send them to a psychologist."

The evening competitions at the Florida State DanceSport Championships will start with an hour of professional dancers, followed by an hour of Ballroom Bootcamp dancing, and end with another hour of professionals.

Dean strongly advises making reservations for any of the evening competitions. The daytime amateur and pro-am competitions run in two sessions - one in the morning and one in the afternoon - and tickets should be available at the door.

The Florida State DanceSport Championships' public exhibitions continue through Saturday at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota. Tickets are $15 and $20 for amateur and pro-am competitions, $40 for professional competitions tonight and Friday evening, and $45 for Saturday evening's professional competitions. Call 941 309-2320. For more information and a detailed schedule, go to www.flstatedance.com

[Last modified August 3, 2005, 10:07:07]