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On an overcast Wednesday afternoon, a couple dance in a lofty studio to Al Green's Let's Stay Together.

They are engaged to be married and it will be the first song they jive to on their wedding night. They want to get it right.

On the opposite side of the wooden floor, Jane Berry is dancing for an entirely different reason. The 17-year-old is working to become the best ballroom dancer in the world.

It is a goal she began dreaming of nearly three years ago, while watching dancers who were "so glamorous" on television.

If the trend of ballroom dancing continues the way it has been, Berry is going to have some competition. Lots of it.

Not since Baby and Johnny in Dirty Dancing has pop culture made the art of dancing so appealing to the masses.

Dancing with the Stars, a reality television show, all but promised to pull viewers off the couch and have them cha-cha-cha-ing their way to the nearest instructor.

Films such as Strictly Ballroom, Shall We Dance? and Mad Hot Ballroom (a documentary about 10-year-old children learning how to ballroom dance) have already been effective at popularizing the activity.

Jim Jenkins, president of Dance-Sport Alberta, has noticed an increase but said many people won't stick to their newfound hobby for long. "After awhile, it dies down but some people stay," Jenkins said. "People usually start out for one reason and stay for several more."

Currently, Jenkins said there are about 200 competitive dancers (standard and latin) in the province. He estimates Alberta is home to 5,000 to 10,000 social dancers.

Instructor Steve Natran, owner of Dance On Cloud Nine, is certain the sport is getting more popular but didn't attribute its growth to anything mainstream other than the proliferation of dance movies and TV shows.

"It's a safe hobby," he began. "It's clean. It's good exercise. It's a great stress reliever. It really takes your mind off all of your problems (for a while). It gives you mental, physical and spiritual satisfaction.

"You feel like you're floating on a cloud."

It makes blonde-haired, blue-eyed Berry feel elegant, beautiful and classy. She fell in love with dancing long before it was considered trendy to do so.

"I think ballroom dancing is so classy," Berry said. "Everybody should dance. Everybody can dance."

Berry has been dancing since she was four, when her parents enrolled her in jazz and tap lessons. It was something her older brothers, one of whom is now dancing on a cruise ship, had done before her.

Margie Polushin, mother of those quick-footed children, believes the sport has provided them with some useful life skills.

"It makes them quite confident in front of people," she said. "It also develops their musicality and rhythm."

Polushin drives her daughter to her ballroom dancing lesson each week and watches from a couch as Berry practices.

"It's beautiful to watch," she said. "It's also nice to be able to see her dance socially."

For Berry, the enjoyment is mutual.

"Performing is the best part," she said. "I like it when people watch me dance."

Now that Berry has completed her studies at Louis St. Laurent Catholic High School, she intends to continue striving to realize that initial dream of becoming the best ballroom dancer in the world.

Gerald Cote, her instructor, believes her goal is an attainable one.

"She has tremendous talent," he said. "Dancing is one of those things that anything is possible if you put your mind to it."

Of course, talent alone won't be enough to crown Berry queen of the dance floor. She will need to practice - 20 to 30 hours per week - and show complete dedication to the sport in order to be the best at it. These are all things she seems willing to do.

If she chooses to make career out of her passion, Berry would have no trouble supporting herself financially. The amount of much money she earns will depend on her success and how frequently she competes.

Berry's youth gives her an advantage at the sport. Too young to go dancing in nightclubs, she is also considered too old by many to pursue other forms of dancing (such as jazz and ballet) seriously.

However, in ballroom dancing, she's among the city's youngest competitors. It is a field in which she will have decades of time and countless opportunities to make her mark.

"I see Jane becoming one of the champions of the world if the right attitude, mentality and frame of mind is put in place," Cote said.

But trophies, medals and titles aren't all ballroom dancing has to offer.

"It gives freedom, it gives expression," Cote said. "It gives confidence that other people use later in life... dancing gives a boost to everybody, young or old."

methompson@thejournal.canwest.com

© The Edmonton Journal 2005

Ballroom dancing helps local couple stay healthy

Women tend to blame a lot of things on menopause but Lesley Tombs is probably the first woman on earth to blame ballroom dancing on the change of life.

As Tombs tells it, about six years ago she was having a tough time dealing with the excess energy she was experiencing as she was getting older so her husband Stephen suggested she do something to keep her from driving herself as well as him crazy - his suggestion was ballroom dancing. And now, six years later, they just completed their first competition at the Island Fantasy Ball in Nanaimo and tied for eight place - a very respectable showing.

Lesley had enjoyed dancing as a child, so she took to it quickly. However, the same wasn't true for Stephen.

"I originally thought ballroom dancing was one dance," he says.

"And I discovered there was a whole bunch of them."

The Tombs stated taking lessons with local teachers Ken and Margaret Yung but before Stephen ever stepped on to the dance floor, he watched the instructors give a demonstration.

"And I thought, 'No way is this ever going to happen!'" he recalls. And he did indeed discover that he possessed the proverbial two left feet. But he persevered and his feet began to sort themselves out. Like, Lesley, Stephen discovered that ballroom dancing is good exercise, great fun and a terrific way to make new friends.

Three years ago, the Tombs became a bit more serious about dancing and began taking lessons from Frederick and Brigitte Mark, a dance couple who live in Germany for six months and in the Oceanside area the other six months of the year.

In November of last year, they suggested that Stephan and Lesley enter a competition.

"Our teachers decided it would be a good idea," Lesley says.

Frederick Mark explained that competition would give them a goal to aim for. If they didn't have something to reach for, they would lose the incentive to keep dancing.

That argument made sense to the Tombs and so, to make it easier to practice every day of the week, they built a huge dance floor as a new addition to their house.

They worked hard and even though Lesley recalls being a nervous wreck the night before the competition, she also says that the actual event was fun and it was well worth it - so much so that the couple is entered in its next competition in Victoria June 18 at Dance Pacifica.

"It's good exercise," Lesley says. "If nothing else, we'll be in good shape."

The benefits of ballroom dancing are enormous, Lesley adds - it's fun, it's social and it does wonders for handling the symptoms of menopause.

Their First Dance:

Not what you might expect today’s bride and groom

There’s even an unexpected bonus to learning how to dance for your wedding. "Many couples come back to the studios after their weddings and tell us that they were able to enjoy dancing with uncles and aunts and grandparents for the first time"., says Tony Cardinali, first Vice President of Franchise Relations for Arthur Murray International. "While they know that many different age groups will attend, couples don’t realize that the musical range is enormous. When they know the basics, they can really enjoy dancing to all different kinds of music."

Dateline: Miami, FL
How to take a vacation without leaving town….. and make it a sizzler…..

Here are a few tips to make the most of your summer dance vacation:
- Summer dancing is hot – so drink lots of water before, during and after a dance vacation.
- You won’t need sun block, but your feet will sweat more in summer- so powder your favorite dance shoes and let them air out between trips.
- Music captures so many memories in our lives. Don’t wait for summer to be over to buy your favorite dance recording - it’ll warm you up when winter comes.
- Bring a camera and take pictures of your summer travel friends!
- Before you set out on your summer dance vacation, make a list of all the dances you ever wanted to learn.
- For many, a summer vacation experience is a starting point for a career change or a hobby that becomes a way of life. If the dancing bug bites, remember that dance-sport is now an Olympic event – and you could be a contender. You might even decide to teach dance, and give yourself an ‘endless summer."

Dateline: Coral Gables, FL
For the brides and grooms planning a wedding now is the time to start working on that special first dance. Captured on videotape, photographed and sent today by video email to friends who can’t attend the wedding, those first steps will be memorialized for many years to come.

Single people can meet new friends as dancing provides a natural icebreaker and becomes a common denominator in any crowd.

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