san diego n.s.d. smooth talksmooth talk · some people never realize the joy of dancing. savor each...
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May 2013 Page 1 of 8
President’s Message
Mike Cowlishaw
Another good month, another great party.
Thanks to Polly and everyone else that made the
evening such a success!
Ines is our hostess for the May dance,. Please
help her if you can.. The theme is Mardi Gras!!
Al was kind enough to host the April business
meeting. The turnout was great. We had several
reports on the various meetings in Bakersfield. We
will have a club sponsored bus for the convention.
If you are planning to ride the bus, you need to
make reservations ASAP.
We have a nominating committee in action. We
still need a few positions filled - like the social co-
ordinator!
The next business meeting will be at my new
shop location. I’m moving my business from near
downtown San Diego to El Cajon. I hope you can
make it! We will need a few people to bring chairs.
The move is a major effort, so I hope you will un-
derstand if I keep this month’s message short and
hopefully sweet.
Dance tip: Appreciate that we can dance!
Some people never realize the joy of dancing.
Savor each dance!
I wish you happy hearts and happy feet!
Mike
San Diego N.S.D.San Diego N.S.D.San Diego N.S.D.
SMOOTH TALKSMOOTH TALK San Diego Smooth Dancers, Inc.San Diego Smooth Dancers, Inc.San Diego Smooth Dancers, Inc.
“Bringing Ballroom to our Community”“Bringing Ballroom to our Community”“Bringing Ballroom to our Community”
May 2013, Vol. 13 No. 10
I am a dancer. I believe that we learn by practice.
Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing
or to learn to live by practicing living....
In each it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts,
physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement,
a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit.
Martha Graham, c.1953
May 2013 Page 2 of 8
Queen’s Message
Kao
My year has sure
started out at full speed!
Although I knew that the
Bakersfield Boards
would come right after
my coronation, I had for-
gotten how quickly the
other coronations would
follow thereafter. Gold-
en Gate’s coronation is
now already a fond memory as we begin looking for-
ward to a visit to Visalia next month.
I was so pleased when I saw the great turnout by
our San Diego members at Bakersfield. We filled up
a couple of tables and were able to provide full vocal
support to our own San Diego competitors, as well
as to everyone else out on the floor with numbers on
their backs. Sue Kimbrell had a lovely coronation,
and we really enjoyed the waltz she performed with
husband Phil. At one point in the choreography they
performed a very impressive lift, the one where the
lady places her hands on her partner’s hips while he
interlaces his fingers behind her back and begins
spinning with her; as they twirled rapidly together,
Sue’s feet rose off the ground for a beautiful lift.
Very elegantly done, Sue and Phil!
The hotel for the Boards was comfortable, the
walk to the ballroom for each event was short, and
the food for the formal dinner was excellent. We
really appreciated having dinner early on Friday and
being able to enjoy a scrumptious breakfast on Satur-
day morning. It was great to see plenty of support
from all the chapters to meet the attendance goals.
Mark has decided that this year we’re going to
turn these coronations into vacations, so he has come
up with some side destinations for us. When I told
him I had never been to Solvang, he decided we
would spend a couple of hours in this charming Dan-
ish town on the way to Bakersfield. (If you’ve never
had aebleskivers, you need to try a couple in Sol-
vang, before wandering through the many shops.)
The Golden Gate trip allowed for even grander
sightseeing. First, we arranged to spend the night in
Bakersfield on the way up so that we could hang out
with Bakersfield chapter friends Helen and Peter
Wong and son Chris. Helen and Peter own a really
fine Chinese buffet restaurant, the China Palace,
where they invited us for dinner. Believe me, as one
who loves Chinese buffets, this buffet is top-of-the-
line! We were very impressed that their son Chris,
who’s just getting started on an accounting career,
hung out with us all evening—both at dinner and
then afterwards at Helen and Peter’s home. How
many young people nowadays would spend time
with his parents’ dancing friends rather than head
back to his own place in Irvine as early as possible?
After a delightful evening with Helen and her
family, and a restful night at the Doubletree, Mark
and I got on the road to Foster City, arriving there
late Friday afternoon. We wanted to see San Fran-
cisco, so after checking into the coronation hotel we
drove the forty or so miles up north to the City.
I was certain Mark had no idea how to find his
way around San Francisco, but he assured me that it
was almost impossible to get lost in the City: so long
as we “drove north and didn’t cross any bridges,” he
“knew” we would end up at Fisherman’s Wharf.
Eventually he did actually get us there, and we had
some really good fish and chips for dinner. Mark
then found a throwaway tourist map on the sidewalk,
which allowed us to find our way to Coit Tower,
then to steep, crooked Lombard Street, and finally to
China Town, where we parked again and wandered
around the streets. What a wonderful evening!
Mark seemed a bit frazzled trying to find his way to
the 101 to head back; I promised him I wouldn’t in-
clude any pictures of him from this part of the trip.
Saturday afternoon we were enjoying the inti-
mate, relaxed Hospitality that we remembered from
three years ago, with friends from all chapters roam-
ing continuously from one small group to the next.
Later that evening we enjoyed the beautiful corona-
tion, filled with music and dancing. The theme for
Queen Shulamit Rabinovich’s evening was “When
you wish upon a Star,” and it seemed that at least
some of her dreams did come true, as she was at-
tended by husband Boris, their lovely daughter Liya
and smartly dressed grandson Xander.
Shulamit and Boris performed a beautiful waltz,
which they both seemed to enjoy as much as their (Continued on page 3)
May 2013 Page 3 of 8
SUNDAY NIGHT DANCE CLASS
Chuck DiSessa
What a wonder-
ful time it has been
in dance class this
month. Irina
Chalkevitch, work-
ing with Shawna
Timms, another pro-
fessional instructor,
provided some great
choreography and
excellent technique
in both the American Waltz at 5:00pm and the Cha-
Cha taught at 6:00pm. On average, there were twice
as many members than guests attending our classes.
Irina spent some time with the ladies working on
the individual hand styling and head movements for
the waltz. The choreography is pretty and flows well
around the line of dance.
The dance class videos are a tremendous asset to
class members. Once you attend class, leave your e-
mail and you’ll receive a video of the class choreog-
raphy during the week. Ann V. was very helpful in
this regard, preparing the videos for all of us to see
on YouTube.
The Cha-Cha choreography was very entertain-
ing. Irina mentioned that it would be good for all of
us to develop a repertoire of 10 to 12 patterns for
each dance. That way, by the time you dance them
twice at the socials, the music would be finished, and
the variety would have made it a lot of fun.
That’s exactly what Irina has done for us in our
dance classes. In fact, she strongly encouraged all of
us to practice the 10 to 12 patterns in the class chore-
ography and use it at the socials. Every move is
something she personally enjoys doing while danc-
ing, and each pattern is a lot more interesting than
the basics.
I like the way the triple Cha-Cha going back and
forth included spiral turns, and the syncopations in
the New Yorker were an interesting and enjoyable
challenge as well.
We have the month of September open, and if
there is enough interest I could schedule Irina again
for another session that month. Talk to me and let
me know how you feel about this.
Coming up in the May and June classes, Carrie
Kloss will be teaching the International Waltz at
5:00 p.m., followed by the American Tango at 6:00
(Continued on page 4)
audience did. Rounding out the evening’s entertain-
ment, Nadia and Igor Tilinin performed a romantic
rumba in Shulamit’s honor, and the late evening
eventually finished up as a very satisfying success
for Golden Gate.
We rounded out our vacation on Sunday morn-
ing by heading up to Berkeley for a visit with
Mark’s daughter Jessica. Although we initially
crossed the south end of the Bay via the toll-free
eastbound Highway 92 bridge, on the way up Mark
somehow got us on the toll-required westbound Bay
Bridge back into San Francisco. (He told the toll
attendant we really shouldn’t have to pay the toll,
since we didn’t want to go that direction in the first
place and we were actually trying to get to Berkeley.
Anyway, five dollars later. . .) After a pleasant
bay-side brunch with Jessica and her boyfriend, I
told Mark that if he wanted to get home by Sunday
night he’d better let me drive: the Queen knows best
how to return timely to her realm! Mark, being a
wise consort, acquiesced, and I got us home at a de-
cent hour.
We’re looking forward to Visalia next month.
Mark claims that it’s virtually impossible to get lost
in Sequoia National Park: just one big circular road,
so he says. With any luck, you’ll hear about our
adventures around Visalia in next month’s newslet-
ter. . .
(Continued from page 2)
Queen Kao and two Queen Barbaras join their fans
for a violet “Queens’ Circle.” Photo by BK
May 2013 Page 4 of 8
A Spring Fling for the Season
Judy Miranda
Kudos to Polly and her committee for
an extremely successful dance party! We
had a good turnout from our members and
from the dance community at large. Jacky
Yu was the DJ and did a fine job as usual.
Entertainment was provided by Morgan
Johnson (Caron’s granddaughter) and
Laird Moone: they are students of Olga
Ginsberg, and the two dances they per-
formed—samba and jive—were spectacu-
lar. It’s always fun watching Morgan and
Laird, as they develop into excellent Latin
dancers. They have grown so much in the
past two years and they are really making a name for themselves in the competitive dance world. Rounding
out the evening’s entertainment, Susan St. Martin and Ernie Rodriguez performed an exciting Argentine
Tango routine choreographed by Michael Kiehm. All photos on this page by JM
p.m. As you may know by now, Carrie is very orga-
nized and always well prepared and has been very
focused on helping all of us to elevate our standard
of dance. So, plan to be there for a great learning
experience.
Also, please arrive early as a large class is ex-
pected. In addition—FYI—the air conditioning sys-
tem is working just fine at the studio, so we should
all be very comfortable even if the weather gets hot!
In other member news, Chuck and Cathy were
accepted to dance in the Senior Follies this July.
This year’s production is entitled “Broadway Babes”
and contains about 3 dozen tunes taken from Broad-
way musicals (see: www.cytsandiego.org for more
details). Al Folkman finds this show so entertaining
that he says that he never wants to miss another pro-
duction of it. Tickets may be purchased from the
CCT box office at 619-588-0206. Several members
have already purchased tickets for the 1:30 p.m.
show on Saturday, July 20th. (Buy early and get the
best seats).
We are having a very good year in our dance
classes. Everyone has been so committed that the
classes usually have a good balance of men and
women, and are well attended. Thank you all once
again for your faithful support.
Sincerely yours for better dancing,
Chuck DiSessa, Dance Class Manager
San Diego Smooth Dancers, Inc.
(Continued from page 3)
May 2013 Page 5 of 8
Queen of Screams meets the
Prince of Wales
Polly McDonald
Our own Mary Murphy, owner of Champion
Ballroom, and a Permanent Judge on "So You Think
You Can Dance"—where she was given the title of
"Queen of Scream"—flew to London in February for
three days to meet Prince Charles, the Prince of
Wales, at Buckingham Palace at a “Thank-you” din-
ner given in honor of those who support one of his
charities.
The invitation for the event read:
“The Prince's foundation for Children and the
Arts present a Gala Performance at Buckingham
Palace on Tuesday Feb 5, 2013, in the presence of
his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.”
The Prince wrote in the program:
"I have always felt that the Arts should be part of
everyone 's life and that the rich heritage of our liter-
ature, music, theater, and visual art needs to be avail-
able and accessible to every child in our nation. It's
about returning a bit of magic into our children's
lives."
Mary said she was proud to be able to give Nigel
Lythgoe an invite to this grand affair, after all he's
done for her; although Nigel is from London he had
never met Prince Charles.
There were 180 people at the dinner, but not eve-
ryone was fortunate enough to shake hands with and
get a picture beside the Prince of Wales. (Royal eti-
quette prohibits people from shaking hands with the
Prince unless he initiates the gesture.) Just a select
few individuals were lucky enough to be chosen. Of
course Mary's table, which was set for ten, was no-
ticed by the Prince: who wouldn't notice Mary?
You can see Mary in the picture at the of the
next column with her two business partners from the
Hollywood Dancesport Championships—Jonathan
Roberts and Michael Chapman—along with Nigel
Lythgoe and Sheila Davis.
Mary said it was an honor to meet and shake
hands with Prince Charles—the experience of a life-
time!—saying it was "surreal." She never dreamed
as a young girl from Ohio that all these wonderful
things might one day happen to her. Mary said she
was so nervous that she did the fastest curtsey in the
history of ballroom curtseys!
I asked Mary a "Red Carpet" question: "What
were you wearing?" She said she bought her dress,
which was designed by "Mandalay," at Neiman
Marcus in San Diego. She thought everyone at the
event would probably be wearing black, so she de-
cided to brighten things up with this shimmering
gown. Doesn't she look exquisite?
A memorable moment occurred when Mary was
introduced to Prince Charles: he announced to her
that he has “always wanted to learn the Tango."
I think the Prince was flirting with Mary. What do
you think?
Look for Mary as she begins her 10th Season
with "So You Think You Can Dance" on May 14th at 8 p.m. on Fox.
After an interview with Mary Murphy conducted
by Polly McDonald and Mark Chapman.
Ed. Note: “For more than 35 years The Prince of Wales has
been a leader in identifying charitable need and setting up and
driving forward charities to meet it. From the early days of The
Prince’s Trust in the mid-1970s his charitable interests have
grown to the point where his charities represent, as a group, the
largest multi-cause charitable enterprise in the UK. The chari-
ties are active in a broad range of areas, including the Built
Environment, Responsible Business and Enterprise, and Young
people and Education.” (http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/the-
prince-of-wales/the-princes-charities)
Mary Murphy with Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace for a
gala charity evening. Photo by MM
May 2013 Page 6 of 8
Mark C. Chapman, publisher (619) 213-9119
Smooth Talk is a members’ service and re-
source: 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:
Monthly Deadlines: Submissions—15th Distribution—22nd
May Birthdays
Fox, Ricci 5/8
Hunt, Mark 5/17
Ross, Nancy 5/25
Kloss, Carrie 5/26
Mom 5/26
Ghianni, Terry 5/29
Madrid, Rose 5/31
Photo Credits Key
A big “Thank you” to those who contributed photos
for this month’s newsletter:
“BK” Been Kao
“JM” Judy Miranda
“MM” Mary Murphy
Thanks for the Help!
Polly McDonald
I want to thank all the people by
name who helped me make the
"April Fling" a success.
First, Nancy Ross and Anthony
Montalto for greeting the dancers
and collecting their money. Nancy
also ordered the two cakes from
Costco and picked them up—everyone knows that is
a real pain in the neck!)
Then the volunteers who brought food: Anita
Tey, Kao and Mark Chapman, Ashlee Chu, Lou and
Amante Reyes. Thanks also to those who came in
early with me to help set up the tables with the table
cloths and centerpieces. I want to mention new
member Mel Mesa: although it turned out that he
arrived a bit too late to help us set things up, he did
make the effort to come in early to give us a hand.
Come back again next month at about 6:00 p.m.,
Mel—I know the next social team will be grateful!
I really appreciated Al Folkman and Mark
Chapman, who set up the tables that evening. Then
thanks to all the folks who stayed and helped take
the tables and chairs down and put them away at the
end of the evening. Jackie Yu, thanks for the great-
est music—”Job well done!” A thank you also to
Chuck for volunteering to buy the gifts for the per-
formers.
A special “Thank-you” to Kay Ryan, Patricia
DiSessa, and Ann Meador, for having the supplies
(tablecloths, centerpieces, utensils and candy) ready
to go in a container in the storage room, ahead of
time. What a help that was!!! I wondered, when
writing this, how many people know what these la-
dies do by way of preparation to make things easier
for the Social Chair each month. Wow!! Thanks
ladies!!
I didn't think ahead of time that I would actually
enjoy the evening because of the stress I expected it
to involve, but as it turns out I had the "Best Time."
Maybe I will do this again sometime, maybe
even sooner than I would have thought!
Next Meeting: The next General Membership Meeting will be held on May 11th at 2:30 p.m.
at Mike Cowlishaw’s new shop, located at 380 Vernon Way, suites C&D, El Cajon, 92020.
Be sure to bring along a dish for the potluck afterwards!