Our students just came back from the Desert Classic DanceSport Ballroom Dance Competition which is held every year in July in Palm Desert, California. The Desert Classic has a variety of dance events including Pro/Am where amateurs dance with their professional dance teachers. This year we had many ballroom dancers who competed and placed in their Pro/Am dance events!
The results were as follows:
Deborah Perez dancing with:
- Renee De Palma: 1st place in all single dances; 2nd and 5th in her Championships and 5th in her Bronze International Latin scholarship
- Anthony Juels: 1st place in all dances
- Oscar Jimenez: 1st place in all dances
- The By Your Side Salsa Team: 1st place
Guillermo Ceballos dancing with:
- Amy Morro: Five 1st places, one 3rd place, and one 4th place in single dances. 4th place in her Bronze American Rhythm Championship.
- Yukiko Fukushima: Two 1st places, One 2nd place, and one 3rd place in single dances, and 1st place in Theater Arts Bolero
Rene Perez dancing with:
- Amy Morro: Two first places in Argentine Tango
Laura Canellias dancing with:
- Ed Schloss: 1st places in all single dances in Bronze American Smooth
Felipe Telona dancing with:
- Carole Gillie: Fifteen 1st places, two 2nd places in her single dances, and 1st place in her American Rhythm Championship
Congratulations to all of our competitive ballroom dancers who worked so hard. I am so proud of all of you!
I am especially proud of Renee De Palma! She competed in 5 Latin dances and had just learned Paso and Samba! The biggest accomplishment however was that this was her first time competing in a mainstream ballroom dance competition! I was proud to be her instructor and dance partner for such a big occasion in her life.
You might think that competitive ballroom dancing is intimidating but it’s actually a lot of fun and a great way to improve your dancing quickly. You will also be inspired by all of the other ballroom dancers. I encourage all of you to consider competitive ballroom dancing and I promise that you will be amazed at how quickly you improve your dance skills when you have a goal and a firm deadline to meet.
If you are interested in competing in a ballroom dance competition talk with your ballroom dance teacher for more information.
Deborah
