US National Amateur Dancesport Championship results

The US National Amateur Dancesport Championship (March 11-13, 2010) has just completed in Utah. Results are posted at http://byudancesport.com/

U.S. National - Amateur Standard Championship - (W/T/VW/F/Q) 
Number Couples = 41 Number Rounds = 4

1 757 Ronen Zinshtein Miriam Ismaylova Brooklyn, NY
2 503 Igor Mikushov Margaret Midura
3 556 Pasha Pashkov Daniella Karagach Staten Island, NY
4 455 Tal Livshits Vlada Semenova Fair Lawn, NJ
5 183 Leonid Burlo Sasha Alekseyeva
6 667 Simeon Stoynov Kora Stoynova Bellevue, WA

U.S. National - Amateur Latin Championship - (CC/S/R/PD/J) 
Number Couples = 51 Number Rounds = 4

1 770 Valentin Chmerkovskiy Daria Chesnokova Saddle Brook, NJ
2 769 Ruslan Aydaev Valeriya Kozharinova Tabernacle, NJ
3 830 Oleksandr Altukhov Oksana Dmytrenko Dedham, MA
4 556 Pasha Pashkov Daniella Karagach Staten Island, NY
5 423 Andrei Kazlouski Kate Kapshandy Schererville, IN
6 455 Tal Livshits Vlada Semenova Fair Lawn, NJ
7 421 Alexey Karaulov Sasha Wissengolts Brooklyn, NY

Caveat Emptor (buyer beware)

Found this very amusing dance resume plus explanation by way of danceforums.

Why some people won't dance

An interesting article by a dancing psychologist. The self consciousness he talks about is very understandable. This is just more obvious with dance, since it is a social setting, but having people see how uncoordinated we are is uncomfortable to consider. How many people would abandon playing tennis, or even jogging, if they knew they had an audience?

There are relatively simple ways to improve how you move, without surgery. Perhaps we can't all be as graceful as Fonteyne or Barishnikov, but through regular dancing we can all become more graceful than before we started dancing. Training is good, but even just doing it, getting your body used to moving rythmically, finding joy in movement, will improve your physical grace. And isn't that what we most enjoy seeing in a graceful adult, or in a child--their apparent joy in movement.

Ballet Blog

Swan Lake Samba Girl is a blog heavily focused on Ballet, although she does occasionally write about other things.

Benefits of Ballet

An insightful letter to the editor on the benefits of ballet.

Romeo et Juliette at Pacific Northwest Ballet

Seattle Times talks about the "challenging" version of Romeo and Juliet being performed by PNB.

Boys can be interested in ballet....

A profile of Isaac Akiba, who was recruited by the Boston Ballet through a program offered in the public schools.

Chinese Ballet's Revolutionary Past

AP has a piece coinciding with release of Mao's Last Dancer

Copellia in Bellevue, WA

MK Ballet to put on Copellia at Meydenbauer in Bellevue

Over 35 standard championship to take place in Canada this year

And one of the judges is one of the hosts on Canada's version of "So You Think You Can Dance". Article here.

China's most successful ballerina

Yuan Yuan Tan Returns to China.

Profile on Baryshnikov

On the occasion of a performance in Santa Monica, Los Angeles Times has this profile of Mikhail Baryshnikov.

DWTS Pairings Announced

See who is dancing with who. Mark Dacascos would be my favorite to win, except for Lacey's tendency to play fast and loose with the requirements of a particular dance.

DWTS cast announced

Among the contestants, former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. According to the article, though, not a complete beginner, he does dance with his wife.

"Dancing with the Stars" Gaining Weight

ET reports that Dancing with the Stars will have 16 celebrities this season, with three weeks of double elimination rounds.

Dance Video Social Site

In looking for dance clips on Google Video, I came across mydanceclips.com

It includes both social and competitive partner dancing, ballet, and many other styles. I don't think it will have as many dance clips as youtube, but it's all dance.

"My grandpa, he's 95 . . ."

Dance is the fountain of youth - couple dancing their way through Downtown Hollywood.

Ballroom dancing getting more popular as an exercise

A doctor in Norwich talks about some of the benefits of ballroom dance as exercise, and its increasing popularity.

Review of "Burn the Floor"

A review of the Broadway ballroom dance production that seems to have been going on for an awful long time. This incarnation features Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, known for their "Dancing with the Stars" appearances.