Happy birthday wishes to Andre' Phelps. Come out to Michael's Cafe in Bensalem Pa to celebrate.

Next week kicks off the balloting for "2003 DanceTalk Readers Choice Awards." Stay tuned. This is where you, get to select your favorites. Here are the 2002 winners, that you selected.

Favorite DJ - Bobby Morales
Favorite Female Dancer - Debbie Ferro
Favorite Male Dancer - Donnie Shields
Favorite Dance Couple - Brian & Silvana Gallagher
Favorite Dance Couple (not hustle) - Robert Royston & Laureen Baldovi
Favorite Female Instructor - Diane Nardone
Favorite Male Instructor - Arte Phillips

A new night club is coming to Levittown, Pa.
"Camelot Nightclub," look for a grand opening later this month. They are planning a Thursday night disco theme. Located on New Falls Rd & Oxford Valley. Stay tuned for updates.

Check out http://www.discostepbystep.com/lv_hilton.htm for all the details on The Ultimate Dance Contest at The Las Vegas Hilton Hotel & Casino - DANCE MANIA at the “Night Club” Discotheque. It goes for seven consecutive weeks concluding on Nov. 30th for over $5,000 in cash and Prizes plus, a 12-week paid contract for a spotlight in the Las Vegas Disco Nights show in the “Night Club” Discotheque at the Las Vegas Hilton.

She captured our hearts and ears, Deborah Gibson, AKA Debbie, is back with a new CD release. Her Electric Youth, from the 80's, made her a house -- hold name. More recently she has been performing on Broadway but now returns to her roots.

The Swing Shift, at Club 56 - Lessons - Buffet - Dancing every Thursday.
The 56th Fighter Group Restaurant: Gate 1, Route 110 @ Republic
Airport (Between Rt.109 and Conklin St.) East Farmingdale, NY Excellent food and lots of it! best deal anywhere. Doors open at 7:45 with a beginner dance lesson at 8:00 and social dancing from 8:30 till 11PM or so. Admission is only $5

The Emerald Ball, organized by Wayne and Donna Eng, one of North America's leading premier dance competitions for pro/am, amateurs and professionals, is part of the United States Dancesport Championships "Grand Tradition Tour." With over 7,000 entries last year, you are invited April 29th - May 2nd, 2004 Los Angeles Airport Hilton Hotel, California, USA, http://www.emeraldball.com

Make it a great week,
Ron

DanceTalk * 10-14-03

Happy Birthday wishes to Kathy Austin, Dave Muzii and Patty McConnell.

Congratulations to Mike Alcorn and Diane DiChiara. On September 20, Mike asked Diane for her hand in marriage. Diane has competed with Raye Avery in Houston at the "Waltz Across Texas," "The Texas Classic" & " Chany's Dance Contest". The Houston "Hustle" community wishes them the best of luck and a long happy life together. A date has not yet been set.

For a magical dance party, read about George Azpuru's Halloween extravaganza below. George is combining magicians, belly dancers and dance music into one big party on October 31st in Manhattan.

Michelle Maniscalco, 22-year-old Runnemede, NJ resident, was the only female among four finalists on MTV's "Wade Robson Project." Michelle is a Philadelphia Eagles football cheerleader and dancer at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. She was one of 80 dancers picked among thousands who showed up for auditions held in eight major cities. The finals were yesterday. The dancer with the most votes received $10,000 worth of clothes and $100,000 in cash. Michelle was first runner up.

Donna Summer's new book, "Ordinary Girl" goes on sale today. Her new CD is also in record stores now, "The Journey." The CD includes three new songs. She will be signing her book today in Manhattan at Borders Book Store.

I had the honor of interviewing Cerrone, the French music wiz, via a translator.
I hope you enjoy part 2, of my 'one on one' interview that I conducted.

Make it a great week,
Ron

Cerrone (Part 2)

Every Sunday night, when you tune into the "Bobby Gerard's" radio show in Florida, your sure to be treated to a Cerrone classic. It's virtually impossible to discuss the disco era and not bring his name up.
Jean Marc Cerrone, unmistakably exceeded his 15 minutes of fame. During the 70', 80's and 90's he released some of the most moving, exciting dance music of the era. His music was created to dance too. And thats what we did. "SuperNature," "Love In C Minor," "Cerrone's Paradise," "Give Me Love," "Love Is Here" ..... had us hustle dancing till the wee hours of the morning. Some of his songs were the entire side of an album, creating elaborate orchestration with the high beat of the bass drum. After an eight year hiatus -- he is back. With many new projects on the way he is especially proud to watch his son, Greg's musical influences unfold. As far as he is concerned, "the music world needs to keep unfolding naturally, i.e., composers and song writers should remain as honest as can be towards themselves in order to best translate society's day to day expressions." Music is, to Cerrone, a vehicle like no other which can best assemble a crowd to reach a heartfelt symbiosis. Music speaks to the body and cools the mind as it reaches higher temperatures through movement, gestures and most of all dancing."
As a big fan of Cerrone growing up, It concerns me that the music in the US is dominated by Rap. The dance music being produced is not finding it's way to the air waves. But that is not the case in most other nations. It seems other countries still enjoy dance music. Cerrone states, "other countries truly do enjoy the orchestrations brought upon by Dance music. The US’s west coast is reopening the Dance drawers as RAP takes on different turns (necessary ones) in the plight of its fate. "RAP is a necessary tool for the American listener who finds himself bound to the ‘street’ experience and the right of speech. The US expresses quite some freedom through RAP, probably to sit in the front seat for quite a while, but look in the rear view mirror! and you'll see Dance (music) moving up in no time," expresses Cerrone.
In January, 2003, Cerrone performed live at the OLYMPIA of Paris, "An unforgettable night," signed Cerrone. "The Olympia was at full capacity! Until dawn the public danced to the rhythm and sound of electro-tribal-dance," a musical imprint unique to Cerrone. With international guest stars such as Nile Rodgers from Chic, DJ Spiller (Groove Jet) Fo, Mandel Turner, and DJ Mousse, Cerrone brought the French Touch yet one significant step forward. Accompanied by his percussionists Kongas and DJ Greg Cerrone on the turntables, "Hysteria" is the first album released by Cerrone since his eight years of silence. The new album marks his 16th album of his career. Cerrone has again collaborated with Bob Sinclar, " the king of the dance floor The cover artwork for the new album is classic Cerrone, full of provocation. "Hysteria" includes 12 new original tracks, along with Cerrone's closest collaborators; Don Ray (Garden Of Love fame), Nile Rodgers from 'Chic,' Bob Mitchell, the "Cerrone Angels" and his son Greg Cerrone.
This month look for the new release: Cerrone feat. Eve Angeli
English Version : "Love on the Dance Floor"
We welcome Cerrone back to the forefront of the dance music scene. We look to him for more heart pounding music to fill our lives with dance.

Letter to the editor

Ron,
In response to your article, "can you meet MR or MISS right in the discotheque & will it last. Well my husband & I are living proof of that. We met 21 years ago in ROSELAND, he proposed to me 1 year later & we got married 4 years later. (thru the 4 years, we continue to dance) and the best part after 15 years of marriage, I got pregnant on one of our vacation trips on a dance convention. We are now blessed with a 2 year old beautiful boy that loves to dance, and althought it is a very expensive night, between hiring a babysitter & other evening expenses, we go out every Tuesday night & still dance as we just met for the first time.

Still Dancing Raymond & Karen Velez

A Letter from Ettie Kurtz (Ettie suffered the loss of her youngest daughter Jill
just three weeks ago)

We want to thank everyone for all the love and support they have extended to us during this difficult time. I cannot tell you, and may you never know, of the tragedy and devastation of losing your child. It is unlike anything you could imagine.
Thank you everyone for your beautiful flowers, baskets, cards, gifts, visits, and phone calls. The food for the Shiva was so greatly appreciated by all.
I am still trying to tie up all of Jill's affairs. I have bad days and worse days. No good days yet. I hope they will come...
I'm not up to writing everyone yet a personal thank you and I hope everyone will forgive me for now. Phone calls are especially hard - I can't seem to get the words out.
I hope to see everyone soon - we may try to go away somewhere for a few days just to get our minds in a different place...
Thank you all again.
Love to everyone

DanceTalk * 10-7-03

Happy birthday wishes go out to Diane Nardone, John Russomanno, Cat Tito.

Tickets for Hooked On Hustle, in Philadelphia, are now available on line. Visit the website www.hookedonhustle.com for details. Don't miss this festive party. The Who's Who of hustle are sure to be there. You can also purchase tickets from Shannon Johnson at Michael's Cafe on Tuesday's.

Congratulations to Susan Fritz. She has joined the staff at Dance Times Square (home of Tony Meredith and Melanie Lapatin) in NYC. She will be teaching beginner hustle lessons. For details call the studio at (212) 994 - 9500 www.dancetimessquare.com

Now is the time to book your flights for the Hustle Dance Cruise 2004. Since it is a holiday weekend, take advantage of the low rates now -- before prices go up. Here is a hotel site for those staying the entire week in Florida http://www.sunny.org/listings/index.cfm?action=showSub&catID=2&subcatID=5

Singing sensation Kristine W has a new CD that will hit the stores on October 21st on Tommy Boy records. She has battled back from cancer and sounds better then ever. Stay tuned for more details.

"Dance Mania" comes to the Hilton Casino in Las Vegas. Social dancing continues to heat up in the city of sin. Julia and Donnie will be teaching hustle lessons at the brand new "Night Club" located in the Hilton. A Major dance contest for big cash prizes will take place starting October 19th. See more details below

Classic DJs Nicky Siano & Kenny Carpenter will host a one night classics party on Oct. 11th at Studio 450 in NY, see all the details below
nickysiano.com

This week on the Wade Robson Project, (MTV) will be the semi finals in the free style dance contests. The show airs daily at 4:00PM EST.

Next week, DanceTalk® will feature the second part of our one on one interview with the music legend Cerrone. We will bring you up to date on his current endeavors.

Make it a great week,
Ron

Editorial
"Making the connection"

I was pleased to hear another couple from the dance community recently became engaged to be married. Over the last year, a number of couples have become engaged that have met, via the dance floor.
HMMMMM, who said you can't meet Mr. or Miss Right at the Discotheque?
Actually, a number of these couples have met at dance socials, competitions and at night clubs.
The Myth has always been -- you can't meet the right person at a club?
Here is the misnomer -- meeting at the discoteque/night club for a special night of social dancing is not the same as hitting the local bar scene looking for a Hotty.
There is quite a difference. Lets not confuse meeting a person with similar interests and hobbies at a dance function with hanging out at a club on retread night -- lurking for a one night stand.
Many of the Dance conventions / competitions create the right environment to meet interesting folks with similar interests. As many have said over the years, we tend to meet the right person when we're not really on the hunt. Hence, your out for a night of intense dancing, taking part in a group dance class (made up of males and females) with the primary goal of shaking your groove thang. This creates the perfect climate to meet that special person. Your mind is set on dancing and not on the prowl. Presto, you meet that special individual. Well, maybe not that easy but looking at the statistics, many of our fellow dancers (to many to list) have met and developed relationships dancing, dating and even marriage.
In many cases, before we developed the dance bug, the real attraction to dance was a journey to meet people. As one becomes more passionate about dancing our path takes on new directions.
But, there is a flip side. Once established, can a relationship over come the pressures created from dancing? Can a "dance couple" sustain that magic?
That all depends on the people. Dance, like everything else has a time and place. Keeping dance in perspective is vital. For a professional couple, the stress can be lethal. Many have struggled to keep the professional dance side separated from the personal side. Since social dancing is dependent on two. Dancing can create pressure on each partner to "pull their weight." The competitive circuit can take its toll on a relationship. Hopefully that relationship has a strong foundation.
A relationship limited to just one dynamic, like dance, can create a lopsided base. For the non competitive dancer, there is greater opportunity to grow the relationship in and outside of dancing. The focus is not restricted to dancing. Clearly one can meet great people thru dancing. Relationships can be created. The sixty-thousand dollar question is......... will it last?

(DanceTalk® will take a closer looker at that in the near future)

Letters to the Editor
(Nino Torre on WKTU radio in NY)

Ron - I am writing in response to the performance by Nino Torre on KTU Sunday night. For those of you that did not have the pleasure of hearing it, Nino definitely kicked it up a notch from 8:00 to 9:00pm with Joe Causi. He played a stupendous mix of 70's music that he really hit all the favorites including one of my favorites "Date with the rain". He did a tremendous and professional job. The phones were ringing off the hook at the station commending the selection of music that he played. They also announced on the radio the details of the upcoming "Hustle Dance Cruise" in February. Just wanted to say "Hats off" to Nino Torre for a great job done. I hope they give him the opportunity to play again.

Thanks
Silvia

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