Vol. 20, No. 1 Winter 2019

Inside This Issue Editor’s Notes ....................... 3

From the President ............... 2

Membership ......................... 2

Photos .................................. 4

UPCOMING DANCES MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

• February 8 (Valentine dinner/dance – black tie optional)

• March 8 • April 12 • May 10 • June 14 • July 12

Regular club meetings are the 2nd Friday evening of each month (with some exceptions due to holidays, etc.) Dance lesson starts at 7:30; open dancing from 8:30 to 10:45. Bring your favorite finger foods to share, and/or a door prize (value not to exceed $10-$12), and enjoy an evening of fun and fellowship. And don’t forget to invite a friend – our monthly dances are a great introduction to ballroom dancing! Cost is $5 for members, $10 for non-members (charge may be added for dinner dances).

See So You Think on Page 3

From the Pres ident Dear Friends, Happy New Year! As we begin 2019, the Palmetto Ballroom Dance club enjoys a journey through its 22nd year. The club is growing! We have added many new members this year and we are excited to show them the world of ballroom dancing. The benefits are numerous, from great physical exercise, great benefits for the mind, great for social life, and great for relationships. As Vence once said, “It’s hard to not be happy when you hold the one you love in your arms while dancing.” A new feature that we have is the expertise of Chef Shawn Campbell. Chef Shawn catered our Christmas dinner. It was delicious and delightful. We hope to have more meals prepared by Chef Shawn. Also for our Christmas dance, we had spotlights performed by the Sumter Ballroom Dance Club, USA Dance in Columbia (The Barn), and our very own Josie and Gallo. These performances were over the top and appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Thank you! This club keeps going due to the support and unending help from its board and its members. This is a team effort, and we owe the club’s success to all of our members! Rich Gerner is still recovering from his knee replacement surgery. Praying for a speedy and complete recovery. I want to say a special thanks to Bruce Blumberg for co-teaching with me and supplying the music for us in Rich’s absence. And to Donna Gerner for her help with lessons as well. As I write this, I am recovering from back surgery. Bruce and Catherine Blumberg have already stepped in to provide music and dance lessons in my absence. I really appreciate their help! “Thank you” does not begin to express my gratitude for the phone calls, texts, and especially the prayers during my surgery and recovery. I look forward to seeing all of you soon. Love to all, Pauline Jelovchan Club President

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Dance Movie Review: “Take The Lead” Reviewed by Deni and Mark Sibley

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Editor’s Note: Like many of us, Deni and Mark Sibley love dance movies. They have volunteered to review some of their favorites from time to time for our newsletter.

Take the Lead

Take the Lead is one of three films based on the work of Pierre Dulaine. Dulaine was born in in Palestine, the son of an Irish father and Palestinian mother. He grew up in Amman, Jordan and began his dancing career working in cabarets and nightclubs. In 1976 Dulaine partnered with Yvonne Marceau and together they won numerous awards and accolades. Their most notable awards included the 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1982 British Exhibition Championships, the Fred Astaire Award for Best Dance on Broadway, Dance Magazine’s Award for Excellence, the National Dance Council of America Award, the Dance Educators of America Award, and the Americans for the Arts “Arts in Education” 2005 Award. In 1984 they founded the American Ballroom Theatre Company.

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Dulaine realized that ballroom dancing could teach youth much more than just technique. Working with the New York City Department of Education, he founded Dancing Classrooms in 1994. The intent of the program was to use dance as a way for fifth graders to learn respect and manners, while strengthening their self-esteem. The program was very successful and is still taught in the New York school system. Take the Lead is a fictionalized adaptation of the Dancing Classrooms program. Antonio Banderas and Alfre Woodard star in the 2006 film. The film takes some liberties with Dulaine’s work (most notably being his working with high schoolers rather than fifth graders). The plot follows a fairly predictable storyline of initial resistance to Dulaine from the inner-city students he attempts to teach, the high school principal, and the parents of the students. Eventually, he wins the students’ trust and works with them as

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they prepare for the climactic ballroom dance competition. The plot has too many storylines, and the film is a bit long. However, there are tango sequences that are well worth watching, and in particular, an amazing three-person tango/hip-hop number during the competition. The weaknesses of the plot are partially redeemed by the dancing competition scenes. Taking everything into consideration, we award Take the Lead two out of five dance shoes. A DVD of Take the Lead is available for viewing in the Palmetto Dance Club video library. We will review the two documentaries on the Dancing Classrooms program in the next newsletter.

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Decorating Help Wanted! We can always use help decorating the Leatherman

Center for our monthly dance. If you have a flair for decorating, this is your chance to get involved! It does not require you to spend any money for we have an inventory of decorations available. If you’d like to help with decorating, please call Marilyn Mong at 665-7513 or email Marilyn.mong@att.net.

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Media Library Our club’s media library includes instructional videos featuring Waltz, Cha Cha, Tango, Rumba, Foxtrot, East Coast Swing, Bolero, Samba, and Salsa! These DVDs are available for loan to members of the PBDC. If interested, please see Janice Flowers who is responsible for maintaining the library. We ask that DVDs be signed out for only one month at a time to allow other members access.

Palmetto Ballroom Dance Club Membership Application

Name(s): Address: Phone: Home Work Cell Email

Annual membership dues are $20 per person. Mail to: Palmetto Ballroom Dance Club, 410 Eastburn Ct., Darlington, SC 29532

2017-18 Leadership President: Pauline Jelovchan Pbjelovchan@yahoo.com

Vice-President: Rich Gerner shamrockrjg@aol.com

Treasurer: Janice Flowers Secretary: Jesse Adams

jesseadms@sc.rr.com Standing Committees Dance Theme & Decorations:

Marilyn Mong Marilyn.mong@att.net

Music and Band:

Rich Gerner shamrockrjg@aol.com Pauline Jelovchan Pbjelovchan@yahoo.com

Dance Instructors: Rich Gerner

and Pauline Jelovchan Assistant Instructors: Bruce and

Catherine Blumberg, Donna Gerner

Newsletter: Dorr Depew

dorrdepew@yahoo.com

Door Prize Chairpersons: Rich and Donna Gerner

Video Librarian: Janice Flowers

Editor’s Notes

Dear Friends, Happy New Year! Dancing is a great way to get out of the house during these cold winter days and enjoy some great exercise and social interaction! Also, why not try your hand at writing a brief article about your dance experience? You don’t have to be a great dancer…or a great writer…to tell your dance story! Just send it to me and we’ll include it in a future newsletter. I’ll even edit and polish if you like! Email it to me at dorrdepew@yahoo.com. Thanks!

Dorr Depew Newsletter Editor

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Thru the Viewfinder Photos From Recent Dances Check the Club Website for more!