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     JUNE 29, 2008    The 3rd Annual Dancing With the

                                   Albany Stars Fundraiser

                            The Albany Marriott

                            Wolf Road, Albany, NY

                                   CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

                            Day-time Competition: 1-4pm

                            **Demo by Children in Dance Crazy

                                   during Day-time Intermission**

                                   Evening GALA -: 6-10PM

                                   This years STARS:

                                   Michael Lia - Lia Auto Group
                                   Mark O'Brien - WTEN CH. 10
                                   Big Ray - Jamz96.3
                                   Demetra Ganias - WTEN Ch. 10
                                   Laura Daniels - B95.5
                                   Patty Fusco - Fusco Personnel

                                   EMCEE - Brian Cody - Fly92.3

October 6, 2007

Dance Crazy’s 2nd Annual Syllabus Workshop

..Prepares Volunteers and Staff for TEN schools!

   Dance Crazy kicked off its third year on Saturday, October 6, 2007 when Jennifer Girard reviewed the programs syllabus for twenty-six participants.  Those attending included volunteers from last year that wanted a refresher before classes resume this year, new professional ballroom instructors, and ten alumni school teachers.

   During the three-hour workshop, Jennifer not only reviewed a total of 50 steps, but also enthusiastically shared her personal experiences of teaching young children how to ballroom dance.  Some of the topics Jennifer touched upon related to the differences in maturity levels and physical abilities commonly found among ten-year-olds.

   Most who attended left armed with this years Dance Crazy CD of music that will be used in all of the schools and at the Competition.  Many will now begin to teach a six-week series of beginner ballroom lessons to about 50 elementary school teachers across the Capital District.  These teachers will then turn around and help out in the childrens classes that begin in January. 

   This year, the Dance Crazy program is in ten, count ‘em…TEN..schools!  That’s over 300 children!

The inter-school Dance Crazy Competition is scheduled for Sunday, May 18th at the brand new Proctors Black Box Theatre in Schenectady.

   There are still a couple of schools that need volunteer dancers to help out in the childrens classes.  If interested, please call or email Sue at (518)369-3234 or dancinnut1@aol.com .

June 3, 2007

   2nd Annual Dancing With The Albany Stars Fundraiser

The Albany Marriot Hotel

Sponsored by Ms. Jennifer Girard and Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Latham. 

KUDOS to the sponsors of this hugely successful fundraiser! A total of approximately $19,500 was raised!  The winner of the event, Steve Ammerman from Channel 10 News, will receive about $4,500 to donate to his charity of choice, The Aids Council.  The remaining $15,000 goes to Dance Crazy!!!!   

THANK YOU to Ms. Jennifer Girard and all of her very talented staff at Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Latham for donating their time to teach the stars how to dance!! 

And THANK YOU to the eight stars that also donated hours of time and hard work to learning their routines!! 

The eight stars this year were:

Nina Bouphasavanh, Channel 10      Steve Ammerman, Channel 10

Anya Tucker, Channel 10                  Paul Harding, Esq., Martin/Harding/Mazzotti

Kimberlee Brant, It’s Just Lunch     Jeff Stoecker, Channel 10

Chrissy Kavata, Fly 92 AM Show    Jim Clark, Fly 92 AM Show

Emcee:  Brian Cody, Fly 92

Guest Appearance:  Gabriel Young, Albany Conquest

                                   Football Team and Last Years Champion

May 5, 2007 The 1rst Competition

...at Yates Magnet School in Schenectady

It is very possible that on May 5th, ballroom history in this area scored another milestone when Dance Crazy held its very first ballroom dance Competition for the seventy-two 5th and 6th graders in this years program.

Although the event was slated to begin at noon, nervous parents and students began arriving before 11am.  The mood of the growing crowd was unlike the festive flavor of the Dance Crazy dinner dance held on April 17th.  Faces were filled with serious smiles.  Several adults ran around looking for safety pins to attach the team sashes to the girls outfits.  While volunteers scurried to re-route entrances to the gymnasium, the Dance Crazy professional instructors and teaching assistants in the six schools were busy lending support to the competitors.

And then it began.  The crowd was asked not to use flash photography and not to clap along with the beat of the songs since both of these maneuvers could inadvertently distract the competitors.  The judges were introduced, and then the competition commenced with the first dance, the foxtrot.

The dancers danced wonderfully!   All were dressed as dictated by the dress code which included white shirts, black pants for the boys, and black skirts for the girls.  The girls also wore colored sashes, and each schools team had a different sash color. .  Semi-finals lasted about forty minutes, all of which were filled with eruptive cheers from a crowd of about 350 ecstatic onlookers.  The two teams that were chosen to continue on to the Finals were the Red Team (Albany School of Humanities) and the Yellow Team (Yates Magnet School of Schenectady). 

The Finals were comprised of six heats that included one couple from each school in each heat, and then two team heats whereby each team (one at a time) danced the jitterbug.   The winning team was the yellow team, Yates Magnet School of Schenectady.  Yates is now the home of the Dance Crazy 5 ft.- 8 inch tall trophy.   At this time next year, the trophy will be passed on to the new Dance Crazy Champion at the 2nd Annual Competition.  More can be found in the Schenectady Gazette article written about the Competition. To read this article go to http://www.dancecrazy.org/NewestNewspaperArticles.htm .

As a result of the tremendous success of this years program, the number of schools applying for next years program is higher than expected.  This is a very good thing!!  If you have an interest in working in the schools with the children next year (starting in January 2008), please contact Sue Robbiano asap.  Knowing the number of volunteers available for next year will help Dance Crazy decide if more than five schools can be accepted into next years program.  Sue can be reached at (518)369-3234 and at dancinnut1@aol.com .

March 11, 2007 Public Demo

…at Danceland in Colonie, NY

Once again, the children in the Dance Crazy program were invited to Danceland to publicly demonstrate the ballroom dance skills they have learned so far this year. 

At about 7pm, children, parents and teachers from the six schools in this years Dance Crazy program began to anxiously wander into Danceland.  Up until this time, ballroom dancing was something the children were familiar with in the classroom, but performing in public was a whole new concept for them.

About 70 children from the program attended, accompanied by parents, siblings, and other relatives.  Many local ballroom dancers were present, as well as cameramen from Fox channel 23 and channel 9.  Rumor had it that a reporter from the Times Union was also in the crowd.

While DJ Rockin Rob played music that the children were familiar with, the crowd watched the dance floor filled with 5th and 6th graders doing the foxtrot, rumba, cha cha, tango and jitterbug.  The children looked great and seemed to be having a ball. 

Many onlookers commented that they were not aware that the Dance Crazy program had grown so much already.  Parents were thrilled when they saw what their children had learned to do.  Overall, the evening was a huge success because the children received exactly what we were hoping they would receive….a lot of public support.  This is an important factor  that will help to boost self-confidence in the young dancers. 

Several of the children that participated in this event will be involved in three more public events.  The first is on April 17th at the Franklin Plaza Ballroom in Troy where several dances will be performed.  Dance Crazy’s 1rst Annual Competition is being held on May 5th at Yates Magnet School (info is available on this website) and all 6 schools will be competing to win the coveted Dance Crazy trophy which was on display today.  The last public performance will be at our 2nd Annual Fundraiser called Dancing With the Albany Stars on June 3rd at The Marriott in Albany, NY.  At that event, some of our students will be performing at break-time between 1-3pm.

Our School Teachers Can Really Dance!

Novembr 17, 2006

As the six week course in ballroom dancing came to an end, some of the 45 school teachers learning to dance braved it out in public on the dancefloor at Danceland in Colonie.  All that attended made it around the dancefloor many times, following the line of dance, looking like naturals!  Congratulations to all of you!  Every one looked great out there, and you'll all be real assets as helpers in the childrens classes.

SUCCESS!

The 1st Annual Dance Crazy Syllabus Workshop Results

30 Volunteers Attend Dance Crazy Workshop

October 7, 2006

Dance Crazy kicked off its program for this year on Saturday, October 7 th in the Latham Arthur Murray Dance Studio.   A mix of more than thirty volunteer ballroom dancers and professional dance instructors attended a workshop taught by Jennifer Girard, Dance Crazy's Artistic Director.  

Jennifer offered this workshop to the Dance Crazy crew, realizing that most volunteers in the Dance Crazy program could use some direction in how to teach ballroom dancing.   Having everyone learn the Syllabus together also helped to ensure that the children in all six schools will be taught the Syllabus in a similar fashion.

The three-hour workshop taught the entire Dance Crazy Syllabus that is being used to teach the 180 children in this year's program.   While a lot of time was devoted to teaching fifteen steps in five dances, Jennifer also offered many tips on how to talk to 5 th and 6 th graders in a way that keeps their attention and makes learning fun.   

Those who attended the workshop provided very positive feedback about the content and quality of the material taught.

On Sunday, June 4, 2006 from 2-5pm

at Danceland in Colonie....

The children from our two schools for 2005-2006 enjoyed an afternoon of ballroom dancing at Danceland, thanks to the generosity of Danceland Owner, Mr. Jim Apicella who donated his place for this event.

Golub Corporation donated light snacks and refreshments.  This was a great opportunity for the children from the two pilot schools to meet eachother, experience dancing in a public dance venue, dance to some great tunes, and enjoy some yummy munchies along the way!

Dance Crazy would like to thank not only Mr. Jim Apicella, but the ballroom dancers that attended the event, danced with the kids, and helped to teach the rumba lesson and the hustle lesson! 

The First Annual Dance Crazy End-of-the-Year Dinner Dance

...was held on May 8th, 2006 at the Schenectady County Community College in the Van Curler Room.  Our two pilot schools did several ballroom dance demo's for the crowd of 96 attendees.  A total of 21 girls and 8 boys filled the dancefloor with confident moves when doing the foxtrot, polished cuban motion with the rumba, and lots of energy and flair when dancing the swing.

Dance Crazy Thanks the public and the local ballroom dance community for supporting our efforts to get ballroom dancing into the schools.  Most especially we want to thank the following: 

• Mr. Bob Englert and Mr. Rob Englert for their donated DJ services.  Bob and Rob can be reached at theclub797@aol.com .
• Ms. Jennifer Girard, our Artistic Director and her partner Mr. Clarence Loppe, who did a beautiful tango demo.
• The children in the pilot program this year!  They are such great ballroom dancers!
• Ms. Karen Urbanski, the Principal of Rensselaer Middle School, who placed alot of faith and trust in our program, and supported our efforts to run a successful pilot program.

Pics of this event are adorable, click on this link to see them, and more!