Happy birthday wishes to Wendy Bess, Kathi O’neil, Charlie Paci, Nicola Royston, Barb Maroney, Barbara Almo, Chris Donfrio, Jerise Massone, David Paris and Andy Spicer.
Our condolences go out to Denise Killian/Reedman on the loss of her younger brother Johnny. Please keep Denise and her family in your thoughts and prayers.
A great local Philadelphia dancer, Ernie Zampese, recently passed away. Ernie and his long-time partner, Gloria Torchia, were regulars on the dance scene at Paso Doble Ballroom, the Stardust Ballroom and every major dance event until failing health limited their dancing. Our deepest sympathies go out to Ernie’s family and especially to Gloria.
Congratulation to Sonya Elmore and her husband Ryan on the birth of their son Christian Landon , 8 pounds, 9 oz. Everyone is healthy and warming up for the 2009 Philadelphia SalsaFest.
It’s been 30 years in the making, the Reunion at Scintillations. It takes place this coming Friday, October 2nd , at the Old Sheraton in King of Prussia, Pa. A back in the day party featuring the original DJ, Tyrone Ebo. Donna Boyle and Jose Gonzales will perform and many of the original staff members, dancers and DJ’s will be in the house. The party starts at 6pm and the cover is only $20 cover (includes 2 free drinks). For more details visit the website. www.scintillations.net
Don’t miss the deadline to register for the World Hustle Dance Championships, you must confirm by September 30th. The music will be hot as will the ‘Battle Of The DJ’s’. The event starts October 8th and goes to the 11th at the East Brunswick NJ, Hilton Hotel. For all the details visit www.hustledanceworld.com
Say good bye to summer and hello to the newest release from DJ Fancy. All the top of the chart dance songs including Jordan Sparks (Battlefield), Black Eyed Peas ( Tonight’s gonna Be..), Madonna (Celebration), Sharkira (She Wolf) ….17 dance songs in all. To order your copy, send a check for $15 to: Edward Archie, 6034 Magnolia Ave. Pennsauken, NJ 08109. The price including handling & shipping.
The Friday night Zachary’s dance contest continues every week until the semi finals. This past weeks winners were the stars from America’s Got Talent – David Paris and Zoe. Second place was Elvis and Marisase. To enter the contest contact Charlie, your host, at (516) 983-3913 For details visit www.zacharysny.com
Hott off the press, photos from Joe Kerner’s birthday bash at Michael’s Cafe, courtesy of Scott Michielli. http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1319179017/a=6882511_6882511/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=comcast/
November 2, 2009 is the 24th anniversary of ” America Dances”, featuring the stars of TV. Held at the NY Hilton, it features dance stars from So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With The Stars, America’s Best Dance Crews, and Super Stars of Dance. www.careertransition.org
Only 5 weeks left until the 1st Annual Philadelphia SALSAFEST. Salsa workshops for all levels
Professional Shows, Dancing till 5 am, Full Event Pass $205 until Sept 30th, A la carte pricing until Sept 30th: Evening Pass (Fri-Sun) $65, Friday Night Only $25, Saturday Night Only $25, Sunday Night Only $20 Saturday Workshops $85, Sunday Workshops $85 http://www.philadelphiasalsafest.com,
This Wednesday night, Michael’s Cafe will be jumping with a free hustle lesson by Brian “the King” Gallagher at 8:30PM. Then keep dancing to hustle, Swing and Latin till 12:45AM with DJ Mark. Located on Street Road, in Bensalem Pa. No cover charge & free parking. Next week guest teacher is Andre’ Phelps.
This weeks edition of DanceTalk is sponsored by Scintillations 30 year reunion party, Friday Oct 2nd, For all the details visit www.scintillations.net
Make it a great week,
Ron
A lost Angel
Our entertainment media failed to report the loss of a great singer that achieved number one singles in the UK and songs on the charts, right here in the US. Viola Mae Wilerson passed away this past May. Best known to us as Viola Wills. She was born in Los Angeles, California and was discovered by the late Barry White. A trained artist at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, Viola majored in the piano. A gifted singer that loved jazz, R&B, gospel and dance music. She was taken under the wings of Barry White and performed with the ‘Love Unlimited Orchestra’. She then became a back up singer for Joe Cocker. As her popularity grew she would later tour and perform with Smokey Robinson. In 1979 she had a break away hit with “Gonna Get Along Without You Now”. She would go on to release many dance classics making her a true club “Disco Diva”. Some of her hits included “Stormy Weather”, “Up On the Roof” and the classic, “If You Could Read My Mind”. She experienced much greater fame and success in Europe then in her home, the USA. After a long run recording and touring she returned to school to get a degree in music therapy. Her music was up lifting and full of energy. Although she didn’t receive excessive radio air play, she was a favorite of the night club DJs. I’ll always remember dancing at Alexis Dance Studio in NYC to “Up On The Roof”. It didn’t’ get any better then that. Viola Wills passed away on May 6th from Leukemia.
Dance Trivia
* Hustle Dance pioneer Franc. “Perico” Reyes has two new motion pictures in production. Franc. was a member of the Dance Dimension and wrote 3 Top 40 songs. Look for 2012 releases for both his new flicks – “Palladium” and “Tiny Dancer”
* Gene Anthony Ray, played the popular role of Leroy in both the film and television series “Fame”. With no formal dance training he was cast for the part. Prior to his feature role in Fame, he won the ‘Best Male Disco Dancer Award’ at Roseland in 1977. He passed away in 2003 from a stroke.
* During 1978 the home grown show “Soul Alive” took the airwaves on WPIX channel 11 Saturday mornings at 11:00am . The television show starred WWRL radio DJ “Golden Voice” Gerry Bledsoe. This one hour show featured a dance competiton between various clubs in the NY/NJ area.
* In 1972 the Philadelphia band, ” the Trammps” released their first single,” Zing Went the Strings of My Heart”. A true classic that set the Philly mood and lead to other big hits for the group including, “Love Epidemic”, “Where the Happy People Go” and their monster hit, “Disco Inferno”.
* Jean – Marc Genereux along with his partner/wife France Mousseau are a power dance couple from Quebec. Winning top honors in ballroom dancing thru out the world, Jean – Marc is a choreographer for the hit show “So You Think You Can Dance” and a permanent judge on “So You Think You Can Dance Canada”.
* “I Will Survive” was #1 during the 1979 energy crisis, people wanted to dance and take their minds off the tough times. The song won a Grammy for Best Disco Song in 1979. It has been included in over 50 movie & TV soundtracks. In 2000 VH-1 honored Ms. Gaynor with the number one spot during their countdown of the Top 100 Dance Records of All Time. In 2005 Gloria was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame during a ceremony that took place in NYC. It has been re-recorded over 200 times by various artists such as Gladys Knight, Chantay Moore, Diana Ross….
* He made a name for himself on TV performing on Dancing With The Stars but Corky Ballas was already a ballroom house hold name as he and his wife Shirley dominated the Latin title from 1986 till 1990. A resident of Texas, his son just won his second title on DWTS.
* The late Paul Jabara won an Oscar in 1979 for Best Music, Original Song for “Last Dance” which was performed in the motion picture “Thank God It’s Friday”. He also won a golden Globe for the song and was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1980 for Best Original Song – Motion Picture for: The Main Event (1979)
