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27th Annual Christmas Show
- Author:
- Phillip Stephens (philtex44@aol.com | 713-248-2499)
- Date Published:
- December 31, 2011
27th Annual Christmas Show at The Dance Place
Every year on the Saturday before Christmas, The Dance Place presents its Annual Christmas Show. Normally, our report on the show follows very quickly. This year, yours truly (Phillip Stephens) had foot surgery on Monday after the show and got behind in many areas. Please accept my apologies for sending out a late report, but - Wow! - What a show.
The Annual Christmas Show presented by The Dance Place has become one of those “must attend” items on people’s calendars. The show is “open”, which means that not only do our own students and teachers participate, but teachers and students from all over the city join us for this large and spectacular event. This year, the show was held on Saturday, December 17, and the studio was filled with energetic performers and an eager audience. In fact, the studio was filled with over 160 people that night, and this was one of the most appreciative audiences we’ve ever enjoyed performing for.
We were very happy that independent teachers Maurice Bonillo and Mauro Marcone joined us this year as did: Alex Olivares with Learn to Dance Houston; students and staff from the newly formed Danceez studio; students and staff from Dance With Stars studio; Annette Farrell-Klein with a group from SmoothDancer Ballroom; Vika Belova Soto, who teaches at Arthur Murray’s on I-10 and at The Dance Place. As per normal, The Dance Place had a large contingent of teachers and staff participating in the show, which featured a total of 52 routines.
The show got underway at just past 7pm with a lovely routine presented by Rabih and Susan Timani of DanceEZ Studio that was dedicated to Roger Mitzel and Marilyn Westheimer, two students that passed away in 2011. The entire show was, in fact, dedicated in memory of several people connected with The Dance Place who passed away in 2011. In addition to Roger and Marilyn, the show was also dedicated to Mr. Jack Alles, Ms Mary Dooley and Mrs. Bettye Erney.
There is always a good mixture of performance levels in our shows. Each year, there is an assortment of new-to-performing dancers out there who are shaking in their dance shoes with nervousness, but who nonetheless step onto the floor and do a super job. And we have a large group of people who have been dancing in competitions and shows for some time and who are less nervous and are what we call the “seasoned shakers”. One gal, Sharon Shelton-Pease, has been performing in our shows since 1993 and has finally gotten to the point where it is “old hat” to her and she steps out there and gives relaxed and entertaining performances. If we were to give a “longevity award”, though, it would have to be to the person who has been around the studio almost as long as Phillip and Michael. That award would go to Yvonne Kubiceck, who has been in 26 of our 27 shows, only missing out on the first one in December of 1985.
The routines in our show are always as diverse as the dancers performing them. We had some routines that featured very young dancers, some that featured displays of school figure knowledge, some that were intense and sensual, some that were sharp and fast, some that were theatrical and some that were just plain fun.
In our “Top Dog” division, we were very proud to present Senior I Amateur Latin champions Cami and Irsan Tisnabudi performing 3 of their fabulous Latin routines. Our “Top Dog” professional couples included Country Western Champions Shelley James and Chad Guidry, who did 2 super numbers, American Rhythm pros Alex Olivares and Laurin Jimenez who presented an outstanding Cha Cha and an excellent Swing. Multi-titled Katia Kuznetsova and Cristiano Callegari gave us 3 superb Latin routines.
While all of the performers work hard on their routines and add a lot to our shows, we’d have to say that the couple deserving of this year’s “icing on the cake” award unquestionably goes to Craig Shaw and his lovely partner, Evgeniya Sutyaginskaya. Craig and Evgeniya compete around the world and are among the top 24 couples competing in World Championship Ballroom Competitions. It was a pleasure to watch them glide around the floor in an effortless-looking foxtrot and sheer fun-filled delight to watch them dash around the ballroom in their light and lively quickstep.
The entire show was immortalized by Captured Motion, a photographic and videography service offered by Doug and Bonnie Stockwell (canadaRN76@aol.com / 281-386-8894), and DVDs of the show are available for purchase. To order a DVD, please send an inquiry to info@the-dance-place.com. The DVDs are finally ready for purchase and pick-up, and we know many of the performers are eager to see their routines. You may also contact Michael via mgs122156@sbcglobal.net to see about purchasing or picking up a DVD during the next couple of weeks.
That’s our report for now. All of us at The Dance Place wish you the very best in 2012, and hope that you are blessed with a year that brings you many small joys.
Happy Dancing
and remember
www.the-dance-place.com is also www.theplace2dance.com
