By Elizabeth Knoll
1991 US National Professional International Standard Champion
Finalist in all major American Style Smooth Championships

So what?s the difference? I am constantly asked this question regarding International and American styles of dancing, with the question coming from beginning dancers, advanced dancers, judges and non-dancers. There are several answers, some easy and some more open to subjective opinion. We?ll start with the easy ones!
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We’d like to introduce the 2011 USA Dance Portland Chapter Board Members:

President and River City Ball Co-Organizer
Mark Richman

Vice President
Roy F. Aveling

Treasurer
Pam Leitch

Secretary
Julie Duncan

Spring Showcase Coordinator
Ruby Tang

River City Ball Co-Organizer
Sonya Tilton

Our 2011 Calendar of Events:

April 23 – Spring Showcase
July 16 – River City Ball
Sept. 17 – Day of Dance
Dec. 3 – Winter Wonderland

We look forward to a great year of dance!

by An Ton That

The scene at any dance event always looks the same. There are more women than men. There are more women on the dance floor and more women sitting down than men. Last time I checked, the 2000 Census showed that there are 96.3 men for every 100 women in this country, but looking at any ballroom scene one would think that men are on the government’s endangered species list.
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A great article about ballroom in the April 2010 issue of Sports Travel magazine (pg 30-31):

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/schneider/sportstravel_201004/#/30

By Elizabeth Knoll
1991 US National Professional International Standard Champion
Finalist in all major American Style Smooth Championships

Floorcraft is…sanding and re-finishing your hardwoods? Yes, obviously, but for us dancers it is much more. As all of us know, sometimes things can get a little crowded out on the dance floor, whether it’s at a competition or a social occasion. Floor craft is the ability to negotiate the dance floor with a minimum number of incidents; it is also the ability to stay out of trouble, not just to extricate yourself from a squash.

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Please vote now to elect the USA Dance Portland Chapter #1006 Board Members for 2011. Current membership required. Not a member or need to renew? Renew or sign up today…

Click here to go to the ballot. Voting ends December 5th.

You will be asked to provide your USA Dance member number. This is used for validation purposes only by our webmaster and your vote is kept confidential from current board members.

By Beth Knoll

Welcome back to Beth’s Soapbox Derby!

Each competition we attend, whether as spectators or participants, gives us something to ponder, occasionally question, and sometimes even complain about. Indeed while judging, which is supposed to be the most mindless of activities-simply look at what is being presented and either make a couple of helpful comments or rank in order of merit-we constantly question and take issue with certain things.
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