I-House ball is another chance to put on a tux!

Went to the Crane Club today for swing dancing. It was my first time going there and I liked it. The dancefloor was not big, but there was room to dance outside of it. Live music was provided by Todd Londagin Combo which included the piano, bass, drums, and trombone. There was a separate room with couches and arm chairs and wall pictures from the 1920's. At around 12:30 AM they had a burlesque show the photos from which I will not put up to keep my website rated G...

Photos

Video:

This article has been published in December 1994 issue of
<div align="center"><img src=http://images7.fotki.com/v122/photos/6/6766/26672/tbr-vi.jpg width=500 height=111 alt="The Ballroom Review">
<b><big>A Night of Enchantment: The Viennese Opera Ball</big></b>
<i>By Teddy Kern</i>
</div>
<img src=http://images8.fotki.com/v123/photos/6/6766/26672/vob-vi.jpg width=454 height=307 align=right vspace=2 hspace=2>
The fortieth anniversary of the Viennese Opera Ball, one of the highlights of New York’s social season, will be held on Friday, January 27th, 1995 in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. I have been the principal choreographer and program coordinator of the Opera Ball since 1979.

This historic charity ball, held annually at the Waldorf Astoria, is in the tradition of the grandest of balls which is held in Vienna, Austria each year at Carnival time. The New York event is for the benefit of the Margit Bokor-Norman Scott Memorial Fund for Cancer Research at the Columbia-Presbyterian Cancer Center. The fund was established in 1956 to celebrate the life of Ms. Bokor, a brilliant opera singer, who died of cancer in the prime of her artistic career. Her name was joined by that of Norman Scott of the Metropolitan Opera in 1968.

The ball itself is opened by a contingent of eight cadets from the United States Military Academy at West Point, with a presentation of arms, and American and Austrian colors. This is followed by a Grand March-Processional to introduce members of the Honorary Committee and the diplomatic corps. The honorable Mayor of the City of Austria, their excellences, The Ambassadors to the U.S. and to the U.N., the Honorary Consul General, Archduke Geza and Mrs. Von Habsburg, The Honorary Chairwoman Countess Clemens Reggeguier, and many other dignitaries will participate in the processional. Immediately following the grand march there is a special opening presentation which always includes a performance of Viennese Waltzes. My first association with the Viennese Opera Ball was a principal dancer in the dance corps some seventeen years ago, when my partner, the late Harding Dorn, and I, performed a Viennese Waltz.

At the time, I was on the faculty of the Albert Butler Dance Studio and also at the Julliard School in the American Opera Center. My experience as a theatrical and a ballroom choreographer proved to be an important contribution to the ball, and the following year, I was asked to choreograph the opening and coordinate the evening’s entertainment. I have continued in this capacity ever since.

To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the ball in 1995, a unique opening performance is planned, which will include dancers from Vienna under the direction of Sir Michael Hysek. He and I will work together with a corps of select New York ballroom dancers who will join the Austrian troupe to learn a quadrille and a formation Viennese Waltz. It’s quite exciting and challenging to be working by telephone with an artist-colleague on another continent, through an interpreter! The common language, of course, is the music. Through the years I have had the pleasure of collaborating with New York’s finest society orchestras and their maestri, including the Lester Lanin Orchestra, Peter Duchin, Alex Donner, the New York Philharmonic and this year the Emery Davis Orchestra.

In Addition to the opening performance, there will be a casino with gaming tables and roulette, brought from Vienna and operated by Austrian croupiers for the charity. The ball also includes a musical interlude late in the evening, which varies from full scale operetta scenes performed by celebrated New York vocalists, to cabaret style vignettes, which I have staged or choreographed each year. This year, Miss Elizabeth Koler, star of “Volksopen Vienna”, will perform a program of Viennese music.

One of the most enchanting things about the ball, is how elegantly everyone dresses, (ladies must wear ball gowns and gentlemen white tie, tails and decorations). When I danced in the opening of the ball seventeen years ago, it was the first time I performed in a ball gown and I was an unforgettable experience. In subsequent years, many of New York’s most celebrated teachers and artists have performed my choreography at the bal. I have enjoyed collaborating with Richard and Bonnie Diaz, Danny Carter, Emily Marshall, Jeff and Donna Shelly, Jerry Paris, Victoria Renaldi, Russ Palin and others.

In order to make each ball unique, Executive Producer Erica Borozan and I begin six months prior to the event to work with the orchestra conductor to select the music. Afterwards the dancers and vocalists are chosen and the creation of choreography and evening’s entertainment begins. My knowledge of the techniques of Viennese Waltz has been derived from my association with Josephine Butler, my social dance mentor, and the author of the Encyclopedia of Social Dance, in which the Viennese Waltz is described in rich detail.

This year, for the first time, students from my Viennese Waltz performance class at Dance Manhattan will attend the bal as guests. With my passion for the Viennese Waltz, which I consider the most elegant and beautiful of all social dances, I know that my students will be captivated by this magical experience and I look forward to sharing this evening with them.

***
<i>Ms. Kern is the Dance Director and co-owner of <a href=http://dance-manhattan.com>;Dance Manhattan Studio</a>. She is also the artistic director of the American Swing Dance Championships and co-founder of the American Swing Dance Teachers Guild.</i>

<b>Related Links:</b><ul><li><a href=http://journals.rpungin.fotki.com/dance/entry/sgqksfgtwt/>;Photos and videos from the Viennese Opera Ball 2000</a>
</li><li><a href=http://journals.rpungin.fotki.com/blog/entry/krksqdftq/>;Photos and videos from the Viennese Opera Ball 2005</a>
</li>

</ul>

Bal Polonaise is one of the society balls that takes place at The Plaza hotel during the ball season in New York City. It has been taking place in March, but this year it was moved to the fall and will take place on October 29. I've been coming to this ball for many years and found it to be one of the most fun balls of the season. There are plenty of young people attending. The music starts with a jazz band in the Grand Ballroom playing foxtrots, waltzes, swing, and other ballroom music. There are performances by Polish American Folk Dance Company. The music continues in the wee hours with a DJ spinning Disco and Funk in the Baroque Room. Here are some photos from the previous balls: 2003, 2002, 2001, Various

Admission for a dinner and dancing is $260, which is quite steep for many people, but you can get dancing-only tickets for $70 which entitles you to dancing starting from 10 o'clock. Click on the picture for the ball invitation and response card.

Today I went to the National Ballroom Dance Week party held at Stepping Out Dance Studio. The party was sponsored by NYUSABDA. The attendance was quite high. There were many people from the NYU Dance Team as well as other colleges. The party featured the Latin performance by Jaime Hurtado and Hillary Hayward-Thomas who are collegiate competitors. Also we got to see a Standard performance by Egor Abashkin and Katya Kanevskaya who are the current US Amateur Open Standard champions.
Click here for the photos that I took of these two great dance couples.

Jump to NY Salsa Congress 2005

This weekend was filled with Salsa music, dancing and performances as I attended the 3 days of the New York Salsa Congress. This was one of the yearly salsa big events that take place in various parts of United States and other countries. I was there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The total cost was $75, but it was well worth it. Dancing went on from late afternoon until 5 o'clock in the morning! Of course I did not stay all the way to the end since I had reached the limit of how much dancing I could do in one night. What I enjoyed the most about the event is the unique opportunity to dance with some of the best Salsa dancers from around the country and from abroad. Below is my review of the event with many photos and videos.

(Click on a small picture to see a larger version.)

The congress took place at the Hilton Hotel located at 53rd street and 6th avenue which is only 3 blocks from my apartment building. Since it was so close, I felt guilty not go there for all 3 days of the weekend. According to David Melendez, more than 900 rooms of the hotel were occupied by the salseros who came to the event.
Good thing that I got to buy my wrist band in the afternoon, because when I got there at around 9 PM there was a long line at the registration booth. Another advantage of living so close!	At the entrance to the grand ballroom there were plenty of bouncers making sure that the crowd going in had the appropriate bracelet. They were also checking people's bags.

The foyer of the Grand Ballroom was filled with various vendors selling dance outfits, shoes, dance instruction videos, and other paraphernalia.

The Grand Ballroom was humongous. Even though there were hundreds of people dancing at the same time, there was plenty of room on the dancefloor. This certainly beats dancing at a typical salsa club where almost always I end up stepping on other couple's feet or pushing my partner straight into them.

In addition to the DJ, the music was provided by a live band.

During the day separate hotel rooms were used for workshops on Salsa dancing conducted by the top instructors. A separate fee was required to participate in the workshops, but they did not seem to stop the people without the appropriate colored bracelet from entering the rooms. At least I can speak for myself. In this shot separate instructors discuss the steps for men and women. Later they joined partners to work on the routine.

One of the rooms was reserved for the Salsa Museum which displayed many photos which illustrated the evolution of Salsa from the early years to the present.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday there were 3 spectacular shows during each day at 5 PM, 9:30 PM and Midnight. Each show featured around 10 dance groups ranging from just a single couple to a group of up to a dozen people. They were dressed in matching colorful costumes. Salsa dance groups from all over the United States and several foreign countries were performing some of the best salsa routines on the stage in front of hundreds of spectators. The foreign country that supplied the most number of dance groups turned out to be... Japan. There is something about the Japanese that makes them fall in love with Salsa. Among the performers were such Salsa legends as Eddie and Maria Torres as well as Freddy Rios and Mike Ramos. The latter were hornored by a Lifetime Achievement Award for their contribution to Salsa dance. My absolutely favorite was the final act of a Saturday show: Edie "Salsa Freak" & Al "Liquid Silver" from Los Angeles. This was not really salsa, but instead a funny break-dance style routine which was totally synched up to the music with funny sound effects. Oh my god, this was so funny and creative and definately made me clap as loud as I could at the end!

Unfortunately the room which was chosen for the show was too small to accommodate several thousand of spectators. A section of the room was actually around the corner from the stage and people sitting in that section had to watch the show on a video projector. Also there were not enough seats for everyone, so a bunch of people (including myself) had to stand in the back or in the isle against the wall. The second shot on the left was taken right after the last act of a show finished as people started to leave. As you can see that's a LOT of people. The organizer of the congress David Melendez promised that next year a different room will be chosen that can accommodate everyone.

On Sunday dancing took place not in the Grand Ballroom but in a smaller room which had 3 separate dancefloors. There were substantially less people who came on this day so still there was plenty of room to dance.

New York Salsa Congress Videos

As we paid to get our bracelets to get admitted to the event, we had to sign a waiver saying that during the event the dancers may be videotaped for promoting Salsa dancing and the Salsa Congress. Later in the night, in addition to the professional videographers there were plenty of spectators who gathered around in a circle with their camcorders to videotape some of the best salsa dancers. Below are the video clips that I shot with my digital camera.
(Note that the latest version of RealPlayer is required to watch the videos.



Here are some other couples showing off their stuff:
This woman amazingly managed to dance non-stop with one guy after another yet showing now signs of tiredness. Her name is Ana and she is a Salsa Instructor from Boston. Check out her website.

Videos were unavailable for the last two days because I forgot to pay for my webhost. I have made the payment and the videos are back on line. Enjoy!

Click on the photos below to learn on line.

Basic Level

Advanced Level

IHSC 2005 is going to be held at a new hotel. Below is the information. Check out hustleandsalsa.com for more information.

IHSC 2004 Videos

Today from 3 to 7 PM Central Park had a Saturday Afternoon Fever as the sounds of Disco came out of the Bandshell where DJ Bobby Morales had set up his sound equipment. Instead of a bunch of rollerbladers and skateboarders, the area in front of the Bandshell was occupied by the Hustle dancers showing of their best moves in front of the crowd of spectators. You can see the video clips of me dancing with the Hustle addict Amara here:
There are also still captures from the first clip here.

Dancing on the concrete was not as good as on the conventional wooden dancefloor, but I appreciated all the space that we had. We could just move around all over the place without worrying about bumping into other couples. Most people who were dancing were the regulars who come to the Monday Night Huslte Party at DanceSport. David Padilla and Zula performed a Mambo routine and Miguel Marrero and Stacy Redler performed their Hustle routine full of fancy lifts that pleased the crowed of spectators. Anyone could participate in the event but most people preferred to watch rather than to dance. Perhaps hey were intimidated by the fancy moves of the hustlers. But this was not true for a groom and a bride who were passing by and decided to join the dancers.

This free event premiered two weeks ago. I hope that it will continue through the rest of the summer, since it's a good way to expose the world of Hustle to the masses.

At the Salsa & Huslte Bash 2 Lisa Daniels and her partner did an excellent Hustle performance. Here is the video:

They were dancing to the song More More More by Kylie Minogue.

The room was brightly lit for the performance which made this video to be one of the better dance videos that I shot with my digital camera.

More info in the main blog.

Maria Torres tought hustle workshop at DanceSport dance studio. Her students performed at the weekly Monday Night Hustle party today. Here is the video:
It's impressive how together everyone was given lots of open choreography and only two hours of rehearsing.

Click here to see my collection of Hustle videos.

Click on the photo above to see more photos.

I had a fabulous time at the 5th Annual International Hustle and Salsa Competition held in Deauville Resort Hotel in Miami, Florida. I arrived on Thursday, April 1st and stayed there until April 5th. Every day except for the last I was dancing. I was competing on Friday and did social dancing on other days. I have never danced so much before. I really think my dancing improved a lot just from such an intense practice. The weather was beautiful compared to New York City. While taking a break from dancing I enjoyed my time in the hotel's pool and jacuzzi as well as swimming in the ocean and relaxing on the beach.

Videos

Professional Hustle
Professional Hustle Jack and Jill
Cabaret Division
Salsa
Amature Jack & Jill
Social Dancing

Scores

During the Salsa Night at club Cache a group of students from Empire Dance dance studio performed hot Samba to the sounds of live Brazilian drums. The performance ended with audience participation. Click on the photo to see more.

Video Clip:

Stream Download (8.4 MB)

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Click here for the article published in the Spring 2004 issue of The Ballroom Review.