Archive of ‘Ballroom Dance’ category

2014 Dance-o-Rama Sidelines

Standard dancers at Arthur Murray National Dance-o-Rama
Standard dancers at the 2014 Arthur Murray National Dance-o-Rama

Gaylord National

Dance-o-Rama events are undoubtedly the signature gatherings for Arthur Murray dance students. They occur in different cities throughout the year and they make sure that the production is above all of the highest quality. I photographed the local DC area Showcase and Freestyles events, but these Dance-o-Rama events really take it to the next level. On this occasion, the National Dance-o-Rama was held at the Gaylord National right outside of Washington, DC.

Dancers in line prior to going on the dance floor ©TimeLine Media
Dancers in line prior to going on the dance floor ©TimeLine Media

We decided to participate earlier in the year. The preparation to dance at this kind of event starts months prior to the event. They pack a lot of dancing into the weekend, and we really wanted to show well for our studio in front of crowd that stretched much farther than our local area.

Professional Competition

Ashburn, Virginia Arthur Murray professional competing at the National Dance-o-rama ©TimeLine Media
Ashburn, Virginia Arthur Murray professional competing at the National Dance-o-rama ©TimeLine Media
New Jersey Arthur Murray professional competing at the National Dance-o-rama ©TimeLine Media
New Jersey Arthur Murray professional competing at the 2014 National Dance-o-rama ©TimeLine Media

At this time, the professional competition was one of the best reasons to attend a Dance-o-Rama. We saw a lot of familiar faces from the local studios that are friends and customers of our photography. However, we also got to see studios from New York, Canada, the Carolinas, Florida, etc. We were able to see how different our dancing can be stylistically giving us different ideas that we can use and play with. All of us learn from the same base core curriculum, so we have a common place from which to start.

Alexandria, Virginia Arthur Murray professional competing at the National Dance-o-rama ©TimeLine Media
Alexandria, Virginia Arthur Murray professional competing at the National Dance-o-rama ©TimeLine Media
Maryland Arthur Murray professional competing at the National Dance-o-rama ©TimeLine Media
Maryland Arthur Murray professional competing at the National Dance-o-rama ©TimeLine Media

We really enjoyed our time at this event! We placed well within our division, and we hope that we made our instructors proud. We hope to go to another Dance-o-rama as soon as we get to another level of dancing!

Personal photos from the Dance-o-rama ©TimeLine Media
Personal photos from the Dance-o-rama ©TimeLine Media

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That’s Dancing Winter Showcase – Student Performances

That's Dancing Winter Showcase - student routine
That's Dancing Winter Showcase - student routine
2014 That’s Dancing Winter Showcase – student routine

Columbia, Maryland

Last December we made another trip to Columbia, Maryland to visit the staff and students from That’s Dancing on their 2014 winter showcase. Carlos and Marielle Pabon have such a supportive dance studio with dancers that really put on a show for their friends and dance family twice a year at their Showcases. Their holiday edition was again a nice display of the work that they put on to display what they have been working on with choreographed pieces that the staff worked on over the last few months.

That's Dancing Winter Showcase - student routine
That’s Dancing Winter Showcase – student routine

I really enjoyed these photos both in how they were setup, and the showmanship of the dancers. This style of performance really differs from competition dancing. Here, they have a definite direction which to face to make contact with the audience. With this in mind, they position their best lines towards the crowd. I can also photograph from an elevated position since I am in the best position for most of the performances.

Chicago Student Formation from That's Dancing Studio ©TimeLine Media
Chicago Student Formation from That’s Dancing Studio ©TimeLine Media

Carlos works to make sure his students look their best in the photos. As a partnership, both dancers are focused on both the audience and their leader or follower at the same time! It is nice to watch as everything comes together for them – the dance that they want to perform to the music that they carefully selected. You can see from the photos that their months of learning the material has paid off, and the audience showed their appreciation throughout the night!

Carlos Pabon dancing with a student from That's Dancing Studio ©TimeLine Media
Carlos Pabon dancing with a student from That’s Dancing Studio ©TimeLine Media
Student Showcase at the 2014 That’s Dancing Winter Showcase ©TimeLine Media

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2015 Arthur Murray Spring Freestyles photos released

Columbia, MD Arthur Murray at Spring Freestyles in Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media
Columbia, MD Arthur Murray at Spring Freestyles in Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media
Gaithersburg, MD Arthur Murray at Spring Freestyles in Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media
Gaithersburg, MD Arthur Murray at Spring Freestyles in Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media

Tysons, Virginia

We covered another gathering of dancers for the Arthur Murray 2015 Spring Freestyles last week at the McLean Hilton in Tysons. With all of the students in one ballroom throughout the entire weekend, the crowd was LOUD! They were enthusiastically supportive of their dance friends as they danced through heats Friday afternoon to Saturday evening.

Judges at the Arthur Murray Spring Freestyles ©TimeLine Media
Judges at the Arthur Murray 2015 Spring Freestyles ©TimeLine Media

The craziest part of the event made for the best photos. That was the hotly contested Potomac Cup Team Match. In these heats, students from different schools will dance with students from other schools at their same level. Most will have never danced with each other before. But because of the core syllabus that is taught at all Arthur Murray studios, they can dance their figures together. The competition is between the schools from Virginia – Alexandria, Ashburn, Tysons Corner, and Virginia Beach – against the Maryland studios of Chevy Chase, Columbia, Gaithersburg, Silver Spring.

Potomac Cup

Presenting the Potomac Cup at the Arthur Murray Spring Freestyles ©TimeLine Media
Presenting the Potomac Cup at the Arthur Murray Spring Freestyles ©TimeLine Media
Virginia wins the Potomac Cup at the Spring Freestyles event in Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media
Virginia wins the Potomac Cup at the Spring Freestyles event in Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media

There was a theme to the teams as well. Virginia came in their best cowboy Western gear, while Maryland dressed as fairy tale characters. This is a big departure from the ballroom gowns and suits all of the other heats! In the end, Virginia was judged to take the Potomac Cup this time!

Arthur Murray Virginia Beach, VA studio at Spring Freestyles ©TimeLine Media
Arthur Murray Virginia Beach, VA studio at Spring Freestyles ©TimeLine Media

During dinner on Saturday, I was asked by some of the studios to get some group photos. It is always nice to see their happy faces after having all of their hard work pay off. Everyone is much more relaxed, and ready to enjoy some social dancing and professional shows!

Virginia Beach, Virginia Arthur Murray at Spring Freestyles in Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media
Virginia Beach, Virginia Arthur Murray at Spring Freestyles in Tysons, VA ©TimeLine Media

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