of these dance pros lost their flare oredge as they impressed the audience!Mahalo to Paul & Rita for the specialdance treat!The <strong>Academy</strong> Star Ball eveningwas a spectacular event unlike any otheron Maui!<strong>Dance</strong> Professionals Rita O’Connor &Paul Pellicoro dance an impromptu Hustle.Photo by Jim DriftmeierBRIEF HISTORY OF TANGO“Due to tango’s popularity in theearly 1900s, Argentine tango wasimported to other countries throughoutthe world. As a language that might bespoken with an accent by a non-native,tango outside of Argentina likewise beganto be danced differently”, comments PaulPellicoro in his book “Paul Pellicoro onTango.”American Style tango is onesuch variation which emphasizes powerand presence in the dance, anaristocratic kind of elegance. TheAmerican Style tango has more flarethan some of its counterparts, as it ismuch more expressive and theatrical.Pellicoro notes that “inAmerican tango (based on a “Fred andGinger” dance style) the couple goes backand forth between dancing close anddancing apart – at moments connected byonly an outstretched hand and sometimeseven dancing solo.The American style tango musicfeatures a strong staccato (sharp, almost“clipped” beat), and while the dance israrely improvised it creates anatmosphere of tense anticipation anddrama.MUSIC TO DANCE BYThere are many songs created and refashionedto fit ballroom tempo. Evenpopular musicians sometimes have songsthat are in appropriate rhythm & speed.While Rumba tempo is intertwined in ourcontemporary music genre, AmericanTango is less prevalent. Below are a fewsuggestions for the Rumba & Tango, aswell as for the upcoming East CoastSwing classes:RUMBA: “I Just Called To Say I LoveYou” – Stevie Wonder; “Mi Buen Amour” –Gloria EstafanAMERICAN TANGO: “”Let’s <strong>Dance</strong>” –Tango/Cha-Cha - Debelah Morgan;“Hernando’s (or Fernando’s) Hideaway –Various ArtistsEAST COAST SWING: ”I’m Your BabyTonight” – Whitney Houston; “It’s In HisKiss” – Cher, “Stray Cat Strut” – StrayCats; “Two For The Blues” – Natalie Cole;“Grasshackin’” – Hula Joe & The HutJumpersDANCE BIRTHDAYS TO CELEBRATE!JULY:Toni BennettJanette CarvelhoMarilou FernandezDallas FryNancy GoodeNancy KahumokuLinda KingMike MatejaMilam PenderPeronelle PhilipJudi SheltonAUGUST:Sophia De LorenzoSunya EchternachLisa FlemingsJohn GarciaMaggie HorwitzBarbara LauridsenPatrick Mc ClureGary ThortonAl YniguezSEPTEMBER:Jade EnglishTracy FlamJack FlynnCynthia FoxWendy HattawayCheryl JohnsonEtsuko TaomotoOCTOBER:Vern AndrewsLes GrimesSue SchneiderKeoki SousaGeneva ThorntonNOVEMBER:Lisa BachSandra BarkerDennis BellMarty-Jean BenderErnie CronkiteNoriko DavisAlexander DiffleyLinda IonJohn TattsukeDECEMBER:Alice InouyeRichard InouyeEddie GuerreroKenneth LancasterBeka MerrifieldTeri MisterEric RobertsCarl SheltonCarol YamamuraSMILE – YOU’RE ON DANCE CAMERAIf you have a camera and love capturingyour fellow dance friends smiling at<strong>Academy</strong> events, please bring yourcamera, along with your dance shoes, andcapture the dancing duos and divas onfilm for all to see. Spread the dancehappiness! And if you have a spare photoor two (or 3 or 4 or more) that you canshare with Rita O’Connor; she loves toupdate the photo boards, newslettersand <strong>Academy</strong> website as often aspossible! Mahalo!8
HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE OF MAUI’SBALLROOM & LATIN DANCING!Applications are now beingaccepted by those who wish to be an<strong>Academy</strong> Officer for the 2005 calendaryear! See <strong>Academy</strong> Secretary, JulieKatz or any of the officers for anapplication and/or more informationabout the details of the positions.Officer Positions include President, VicePresident - Themed Parties, VicePresident – Maintenance, Vice President –Volunteer Coordinator, Secretary andTreasurer.All completed applications mustbe returned to Al Yniguez, <strong>Academy</strong>President by October 13 th to beconsidered for nomination.In addition to hands-oninvolvement in many of the <strong>Academy</strong>’sactivities, the Officers receive FREE<strong>Aloha</strong> <strong>Ballroom</strong> <strong>Dance</strong> <strong>Academy</strong> groupclasses, FREE admittance to the<strong>Academy</strong> Balls (with their spouse orpartner/guest ticket at 50% off), &FREE monthly private lessons with RitaO’Connor of Private Image!CURRENT <strong>2004</strong> ACADEMY OFFICERSAl Yniguez – President, 874-4364Shelley Ting, VP-Themed PartiesLes Grimes, VP-Maintenance, 878-4140Julie Katz, Secretary, 875-1810Teri Mister, Treasurer, 891-92494STAYING CURRENTCheck out the Bulletin Board bythe water cooler at the Kihei CommunityCenter classes on Wednesday evenings.Events, dance news, notices, etc., preapprovedby the <strong>Academy</strong> officers areposted.www.alohaballroom.comIn addition, <strong>Academy</strong> student MilamPender has created “Maui <strong>Dance</strong> Events”to keep everyone up-to-date on classes &events on Maui:http://calendar.yahoo.com/mauidanceeventsCOMPETITORS DEMONSTRATE THEIRSKILLS FOR ACADEMY STUDENTSDuring intermission onWednesday, September 15 th , RitaO’Connor took the podium and talkedabout the upcoming Hawaii Star Balldance competition in Oahu September22-25 th . Rita described how diligently thestudents taking private lessons under herdirection have worked toward theircompetitive goals, what the competingstudents would be judged on and how thejudges score the competitors.Rita shared the excitement ofthe competition and explained that the(male) competitors wear designatednumbers on their backs and that theaudience cheers them on by (loudly)calling out their numbers. This evening,Rita asked the <strong>Academy</strong> students cheeron Maui’s competitors, Les Grimes & JulieKatz and Dennis & Jenifer Goss! And sowe did, screaming at the top of our lungs“Go, number 121,” and “Competitors 227”– the demonstrating competitors smiledeven more!Students wishing to compete doso for many reasons, but many times it’sjust to have a goal or deadline by whichto accomplish progress, whether it’s newsteps, technique and new dance, etc. Inaddition to the time, energy andpracticing involved, there are financialconsiderations in competitive dancing:private lessons, costumes, competitionentry fees, event entrance tickets,airfare and hotel accommodations, toname a few.Rita encouraged anyone who wasable to and wanted to support thecompetitor’s efforts could do so not onlyby their applause and well-wishes, butalso by making a monetary contribution tooffset their costs. The two competitivecouples were touched by not only theoutpouring of enthusiasm and vocalsupport, but also by the kind andgenerous donations made to theirexpenses; the couples split the donationsand are very grateful to everyone inattendance that evening!All smiles, Les Grimes & Julie Katz dance theRumba for <strong>Academy</strong> students.Photo by Brian O’Connor9<strong>Academy</strong> students, Les Grimes& Julie Katz, dressed in “Sunday Best”(as their category level dictates)romantically danced their Newcomer andPre-Bronze (up to five steps) syllabusAmerican Style Rumba, followed by anelegant Waltz and ending with a lively,hip swaying Cha-Cha. Julie commentedthat she didn’t expect the emotionalsupport of the audience to be such a partin the performance, and that it addedgreatly to her desire to be inspired andinspire others to reach their dancepotential.Dennis & Jenifer Goss perform a Samba forthe supportive audience.Photo by Brian O’ConnorDennis & Jenifer Goss enteredthe <strong>Academy</strong> dance floor dressed in theircompetitive costumes (allowed in theircategories of competitive dance). Dennisdonned custom-made latin dance pants(sorry, no pockets, guys) and silver Mylarinfused muscle-tee, while Jeniferstrutted out in a two-piece silverhologram top and mini-skirt. The Goss’sdanced two of their dances learnedthrough private lessons at Private Image:Bolero and Samba. They felt that theirfellow students might like to see dancesnot instructed at the <strong>Academy</strong>. Theircategory level dances allow up to 15 stepswithin the Closed Bronze Syllabus. TheGoss’s love to perform and were happy toshare their dance progress with theirfriends at the <strong>Academy</strong>!At the conclusion of the multidancedemonstration, Rita O’Connorpresented the Maui competitive dancerswith “Olympic” red, white and blueribbons dangling with (chocolate) goldmedallions (which she made herself),