The Greater New York Chapter of USA Dance Announces Its Inaugural National Ballroom Dance Week Gala

Sept. 4, 2009 - PRLog -- New York, NY - To celebrate the 20th anniversary of National Ballroom Dance Week, the Greater New York Chapter of USA Dance (NY USA Dance) announced its inaugural National Ballroom Dance Week Gala, to be held Saturday, September 26, 2009 at SPQR Restaurant in Little Italy.

National Ballroom Dance Week got its start in April 1989 as a weeklong festival in New York City celebrating the joys of ballroom dancing.  The idea has since then been adopted across the United States, becoming a nationwide event celebrated during the third week of September. To recognize the festival's origins in New York City, NY USA Dance is honoring the originator of National Ballroom Dance Week, Mary Helen McSweeney-Feld, who served on the Board of the Greater New York Chapter under its previous name of USABDA, the United States Amateur Ballroom Dancers Association.  Herself an avid ballroom dancer who also danced competitively, Mary Helen led a team of volunteers from the Greater New York Chapter to bring the entire dance community together and present ballroom dancing to the public in the most positive light during Ballroom Week.

NY USA Dance will also honor two giants of the ballroom industry who call New York City home:  Bill Davies and Sandra Cameron.  Together, Bill and Sandra were three-time United States Ballroom Champions in 1976, 1977 and 1978 when the national championships were held at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City.  Bill and Sandra represented the United States at the world championships in Tokyo, Japan in 1979 and finished 8th in the world, a major accomplishment for a U.S. team.  

Separately, Bill and Sandra have taught ballroom dancing in New York for decades, training social dancers, dance teachers, and competitive dancers.  Bill has taught in New York City since the 1960s and ran one of the largest and most successful dance studios in New York City until the early 1980s.  His competitive career continued into the 1990s, and he was a professional finalist at major ballroom competitions across the U.S.  Now retired from competition, Bill continues to judge major competitive events across the country, and he still teaches to this day.  

Sandra opened her own dance studio in 1980 after retiring from competitive dancing and has taught generations of dancers for the last three decades, at her own eponymous studio, at the 92nd Street Y, St. Bartholomew's Church Community Center, and other venues throughout the city.  Sandra has sought out the best practitioners of social dance forms, such as salsa, swing, Lindy Hop, and Argentine Tango, and revived popular interest in these dances while preserving their authenticity.

When asked about the gala's honorees, Yang Chen, the President of NY USA Dance, explained that "as dancers and dance teachers, Bill and Sandra have contributed enormously to the cultural and recreational life of this city for many decades. As a dance enthusiast, Mary Helen helped demonstrate just how popular ballroom dancing was, and twenty years later, its popularity has exploded. National Ballroom Dance Week would not have been possible without the foundations laid by Bill, Sandra, and Mary Helen, and the inaugural National Ballroom Dance Week Gala will recognize and celebrate their immense contributions."

The gala will also include a show by current professional World 10-Dance champions, New York's own Gherman Mustuc and Iveta Lukosiute who represent the United States in world competition.

For additional information on NY USA Dance or the National Ballroom Dance Week Gala, visit http://www.nyusadance.org.

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NY USA Dance is the Greater New York chapter of USA Dance, a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting ballroom dancing as a social and competitive activity that is accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds.