IMDb lists Melissa Dexter as one of the "Professional Latin Dance Finalist"s along with Tony, Melanie, Jean Marc, France, the Kunitz's, et cetera, meaning the other dancers in the competition final (IMDb - Dance with Me).

Unfortunately, I cannot locate a photograph of either woman.

jj

Clive, there are ballet competitions on an amateur level at local, regional, national and international levels. The winners placement in such competitions helps them gain entrance into ballet schools and ballet companies. (It gets them noticed.) Not unlike Professional level ballroom competitions.

As for adding ballroom to the Olympics... I agree it will do more to alter the art form than improve it. While it may bring more people to take classes, boosting the profession, it will certainly evolve into a more athletic and trick heavy performing art. Just look at all the changes in figure skating. Long gone are the days of skating the figures for technique and accuracy (too boring for TV). Instead, we push athletes to jump higher and turn faster. After all it doesn't matter if they're successful at it... either way it's good TV. A perfectly landed quad is great to see but the crowd loves a good wipe out too. In fact, it's sometime those most likely to fall on the ice who bring in ratings. Could the draw for ratings infect ballroom dancing? Absolutely.

6delights, excellent points about figure skating. Dick Button, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, and Scott Hamilton wouldn't stand a chance for even a bronze medal today.

You can extend the comparison to any judged event (my real reason for not wanting BD in the Olympics). Diving has become more dangerous and gymnastics more cantankerous as judges look for thrills rather than artistry.

jj

jofjonesboro. Don't you believe it you think the ice skaters you named wouldn't win a Bronze Medal today. The judging system has taken a backflip. If those basics aren't done correctly it is an automatic deduction. This will undoubtably be followed in ballroom dancing. The WDC have already set up a commitee which will govern this side of dancing. The commitee contains the who is who of ballroom dancing. All are former champions. I would expect to see some action.

This " system " was implemented in the UK one time in the 70s/80s (?), and readily abandoned.. the competitors refused to take part !

Without amat. participation . there would be virtually no competitions !

techn. we all would agree is important, but not to the detriment of advancement of the "art " form... ya know.. no slide rules .

when we adjudicate the lower levels, we ( judges ) are very cognisant of poor techn. and do not reward it with high marks .

I once heard an American judge say that he never watches the feet. He believes that bad footwork shows up in the dancers' overall movements and so he watches the heads and shoulders, especially their rise and fall.

jj

This is absolutly true that this teacher whos name has been mentioned several times here. This couple came for a Tango lesson for the first time. The teacher put the disk on with his back towards the pupils. He never looked around once. The teacher said that was an awfull Tango. The pupil said but you didn't look around once. The teacher said i didn't need to . I could hear all I wanted

Is it true that Ben Ermis was 'background decoration" for both DWM and SWD/US? Just curious.

And I personally watch (and shamelessly love) these movies for their entertainment values, which vary from individual to individual.

I personally found Assassination Tango to be cinematically lamentable, save only for the dancing. Gus McCrae can do so much better than some old douche with a pony tail and Foster Grants.

On that note, another movie I liked was White Knights with Mikhail Baryshnikov (I know, not ballroom, but WOW, I'd forgotten how much I loved him).

DWM will always be my favorite dance movie for these reasons:

Jane's facial expression of slackjawed, starry-eyed awe mirrored mine the first time I walked into the Maxwell House ballroom and saw right in the middle of the floor Ben Ermis and Ruthie Perkins in a perfect TO during slowfox. Since all you fellas are such accomplished competitive dancesport experts, I'm not sure if you've ever had tears prick your eyes just by the way a thousand tiny rhinestones dance underneath hot lights in a room swimming with color and action and music, but that's ok- it's up to you what you get out of your dancing- and writing about it.

The first dance I ever wanted to learn (which came along much later than the first dance I ever *saw*, years before) was the International SlowFoxtrot, ever since I saw the picturelines and multiple pivots (the current bane of my lessons) and feather-and-three with those swirly feathery dancey skirts. I've tried and tried and TRIED to find Jess Harnell's "Dream Dancing" rendition, and can't.

You might dislike these movies, but they serve a very important purpose, and that's generating interest in dancing in a way broadcasted ballroom competitions on PBS can't.

Diva, Ben Ermis is not listed among the cast of DWM but IMDb lists the movie as a credit for him.

Seriously, you do a creditable job of eliciting the magic and wonder that enchants everyone new to ballroom dancing. The allure of endless possibilities intoxicates all of us for that first year on the floor. I think that it's obvious that many of us on this forum have become too jaded to remember how much fun we had when we started.

jj

Well, it's stuck with me into the third year, so maybe when I'm old (and jaded ), it'll still be there. Hopefully, I'll still be *on* the floor and not just writing about it anymore.

(Although, writing about it sure passes the time in between practices and events!)