We mourn the loss of Patrick Swayze, an accomplished dancer, actor and singer. He started dancing as a child in his mothers dance studio where he met Lisa, his wife to be of 34 years. Trained in ballet, the camera loved him and so did his fans. “Ghost”, “The Outsiders” and “Dirty Dancing”. He could sing (She’s Like the Wind), and made dancing macho. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y0TWOttkVo
The World Hustle Dance Championships are only days away. Are you ready. If you need a roommate or need a room to share there is a room mate link now posted on the website. Competitors the deadline to register is September 30th. You must be registered to compete, no exceptions. Just added, two very exciting events: the Team Match and the Triple Threat Pro/am. There are still some tickets available for the Saturday night dinner show, “Dance Explosion”, don’t be left out. www.hustledanceworld.com
Great images from Trisha Caballero’s birthday dance at Michael’s Cafe, courtesy of Fred http://whatsnew.fredf.fotki.com/
Do you remember all these hits, “Disco Inferno”, “Don’t Leave Me This Way”, “Come To Me”, “Bad Luck”, “Love Epidemic”, “The Heart To Break A Heart”, “The Love I Lost”, “Don’t Stop Dancing”, well you can hear them all, LIVE, at the very first Saturday Night Disco Fever, hosted by Mickey B. the “Prince Of Disco”. It all takes place on November 7th, Saturday night for a spectacular concert, dance party and dance contest. Your enjoy the wonderful atmosphere of the Patchogue Theatre, located at 71 East Main St, Patchogue, NY. For tickets call 516 – 822 – 9612 visit the website at www.mickeyb.com
Zachary’s and the big $10,000. dance contest continues every Friday night. This past weeks first place winners were Susan Fritz and Wingo Hom. To enter the contest contact Charlie, your host, at (516) 983-3913 For details visit www.zacharysny.com
This week Michael’s Cafe has dance Champion Stephanie Risser teaching the free class at 8:30PM, DJ Mark spins till 12:45AM. There is no cover charge and free parking. Located on Street Road in Bensalem Pa. Next week’s guest teacher is Brian “the King” Gallagher.
Dancing With The Stars returns tonight for a 3 day premiere kick off. The 9th season begins with a tribute to the late great, Patrick Swayze. 8PM (EST) on ABC television.
This weeks edition of DanceTalk is sponsored by Mickey B.s’ Saturday Night Disco Fever for all the details visit – www.mickeyb.com
Make it a great week,
Ron
The Forum Panelists
We are excited to attend the very first open forum in search of creative ideas to collectively help grow the hustle. It will take place at this years World Hustle Dance Championships on October 9th & 10th. We have assembled a talented panel to assist fielding questions to help facilitate the discussions. We invite everyone to attend and share your thoughts on growing the hustle and attracting new friends to learn the hustle. You can e mail your questions prior to the discussion to either The Rhythm Lounge – http://rhythmlounge.tv/the-growth-of-hustle-open-forum/ or to Rowenlb22@aol.com For more details on the event please go to www.hustledanceworld.com
Lets take a closer look at our panelists:
Lisa Nunziella – CA – Lisa’s resume dates back to the late 70′s as a performer in the Disco Dance Stars partnering with Arte Phillips. She took first place in the Harvest Moonball, a two time winner of the USBC’s, the World Hustle title, semi finalist on Dance Fever and undefeated on Star Search with Eddie Vega. She has appeared in multiple motion pictures and videos with Deano Georgio and has released her own line of dance DVDs. Lisa continues to train, perform and coach dancers.
Wingo Hom – NY, a competitor and student since the 70′s, Wingo brings 40 years of dance experience. He has been active in dancing and competitions at national events. He has extensive training in WCS, hustle, Salsa and ballroom dancing. He has accumulated 460 first place titles; an unprecedented 32 Jack & Jill first place titles over the years. He is a Silver certified teacher in 10 different American dance styles.
Donna DeSimone – LI, Hustle’s first Lady from Long Island, she hasn’t stopped dancing since the 70′s when she opened her first dance studio. Donna has won numerous competitions including the Virginia State Ballroom Championships in Latin, Ohio Star Ball State Championships, USBC American Rhythm Champion and NY Hustle Congress. She is the Ballroom Entertainment Director for the “Stardust Dance Weekends” in the Catskills & Stardust Cruises and continues to train, compete and perform.
Lori Brizzi – NY, a dance veteran that has a long history of teaching, performing and competing since the 70′s. Lori is the organizer of the annual dance convention “New York Hustle Congress.” She was voted two years in a row, “Person Of the Year” by thousands of dancers across the country in DanceTalk. Lori is popular for her weekly dance socials (Millennium Dance) held in New York that are rated A+
Erica Smith – VA, from the new generation of hustle dancers, Erica has made a great impact on the current dance scene. Erica was first introduced to Hustle while attending the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law . Trained in various styles of dance she has excelled in WCS & Hustle. With her incredible speed and expressive style, TV Guide Magazine coined Erica the “Disco-Dancing Lawyer” after she performed a Hustle that led her to Vegas on the television show, “So You Think You Can Dance.”
Anthony Lee – NJ, from the early days of hustle he dominated the circuit capturing the Harvest Moonball, Blackpool England and Phil Gary’s World Dance Contest. He appeared on the televised shows Dance Fever and Soul Alive and has been inducted into both the Swing and Hustle dance Hall Of Fame’s. Anthony is the organizer of the annual dance weekends, Big Apple Dance Festival and the Country World Championships.
Stephanie Risser – PA, new generation dancer that is currently the reigning professional hustle title holder. Trained in classical dance she brings a young, fresh approach to the hustle. A graduate of the University of Hartford she has a BFA in Dance Pedagogy. A full time dance teacher, Stephanie co-choreographed the Disco America dinner show in 2009 and is on staff at many of the national competitions.
Billy Marti – NY, The “Prince of Hustle”, Billy brings the classic hustle style to the new generation of dancers. A professional competitor, he brings years of dance experience to the floor. His speed and technique are second to none. In addition to teaching and competing he has performed with many dance companies and appeared in music videos. He continues to be a top competitor and teacher on the circuit.
Roberto Pagan – NJ, his longevity in dancing spans back to his teen years. Roberto continues to stay active with his dance studio, performing, competing and training new students and couples. He has been a U.S. Rising Star Theater Arts champion, Cabaret Couple of the year, Blackpool Theater Arts finalist, Two time Canadian Theater Arts Champion & World Hustle Champion. He is the 2 time winner of the award Top Hustle instructor in the country by DanceTalk. He has won over 200 titles in five professional divisions.
Letters to the Editor
(our goal is to post readers letters twice a month, unfortunately due to space limitations we can not publish them all)
Thank you to all who participated and supported this year’s 5th Annual New York Hustle Congress on Labor Day weekend! Congratulations to all of the competitors! What a fantastic show all of the Professionals competitors gave us on Saturday night! Thanks to my terrific staff, DJs and to all of the Broadway and TV celebrities who participated in this years Circle of Love ‘Hustle for the Hounds’ to raise money for animal rescue. I am hoping to get to $1,000 so if anyone missed out the charity and still wishes to contribute, we will continue to collect at my party at Club 412. The money will go to a group that I have fostered and volunteered, http://www.louieslegacy.org/
Thank you for all of your terrific feedback and I’m looking forward to making next year’s event even better. Stay tuned for upcoming details for the 6th Annual New York Hustle Congress in 2010! check out this year’s competition results on our website at http://www.nyhustlecongress.com/results.htm
Warm Regards,
Lori Brizzi
Event Director
NY Hustle Congress
Hi Ron,
Great newsletter. I wanted to let you know that I voted for David and Zoe on Americas Got Talent. My entire family loves the show and the excitement of seeing dancers that we have seen in person. I first saw this charming couple perform at New York Congress. They were unreal, I mean MIND BLOWING. I think they will go on to bigger and better things now. In hindsight after I watched the finals it is a bit disappointing to see the overall winner. In my eyes he shouldn’t have won and I would have placed David and Zoe in the top five.
Thanks Ron,
Jim McGraph
Dear Ron
I am very excited to read that there will be a reunion of the Scintilations dancers. Those were great times. We were regulars every Saturday night. Like clockwork about 4 or 5 of my friends would all go and have the time of our lives. I’m crossing my fingers that Rose, Larry, Karen all come too.
Darla Thomas
Dear Ron Bess,I am not sure I will be attending your “Open Forum” at the World Hustle Championship in October, so I thought I would humbly submit my own proposal to the Hustle community at-large which includes everyone dancing Hustle throughout the world. I propose we establish the “Hustle 2011 Initiative” whose purpose is to double the existing number of Hustle dancers by the end of 2011. People would sign on and become a pivotal part of this initiative by doing what only they can uniquely do to double Hustle in two years i.e. by the end of 2011. People may want to share Hustle with their family and friends, get involved organizationally, donate their time, resources, etc. or create their own participation. The only requirement of the Hustle 2011 Initiative is that people be in communication by including their e-mail address next to their printed name and signature. Each person’s signature represents their stand in making the Hustle 2011 Initiative real. What do you think?
Thank you very much!
Daryl Polansky
Hey Ron,
I have a CD with many of the classic songs from the late 70s and early 80′s. One of my favorite songs is Romeo and Juliet by Alec R Constindos. This was such a great song that everyone in the club would start screaming. As a parent, now pushing 50 years old, I listen to these songs and still can appreciate the symphonic sound that these bands and orchestras utilized. I grew up with the Stones and Beatles too but I was loved the real symphonic disco music the best. I would love to see that type of modern day classic music make a come back. Please, I’m sick of the rap. We need a change.
Later,
John C.
