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If you're a dance friend of mine, we've probably never spoken for more than 30 contiguous seconds. Here's a way to find out more about me without wasting valuable floor time...
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Dancing
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Ballroom, Latin: I've been doing Ballroom and Latin dancing since, oh, around 1990. My first venture onto the dance floor was at the Pavilion in Palo Alto. I remember doing the Waltz lesson from 8-9pm and promptly forgetting everything by about 9:07pm. Funny, I went back next week, and the next, and got hooked somewhere along the way.
For many years, I vacillated between West Coast Swing (below) and ballroom.
In January 1998 I decided to get serious (if that's possible for me) about ballroom. I entered a year long International Dance "intensive" (the keyword here is intense) at the Metronome Ballroom in SF. It covered the Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels in all 10 International Style dances. For the uninitiated, that includes:
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Ballroom (a.k.a. Modern or Standard): Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, and Quickstep. |
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Latin: Cha-Cha, Rumba, Samba, Paso Doble, and Jive. |
I've also taken coaching lessons with a variety of teachers including Alise Halbert, former U.S. Champion Stephen Cullip, Denise Jourdaine, Stephan Krauel, David Weise, Valentina Kostenko, U.S. Champion Katusha Demidova, British Open finalists Alan and Donna Shingler, former U.S. Champion Heather Smith, Joanne Bolton, former U.S. Champion Susan Puttock, former US Amateur champion Anna Trebunskya, Igor & Irina Suvorov, Tomas Atkocevicius, and Aira Bubnelyte.
I've been competing in International Standard competitions since mid 1999. My partners include professional Alise Halbert, amateurs Sharon Liu, Kathy Firosz, Jian Zhang, Nancy Tang, and Jessica Kao. You may see photos of Kathy Firosz and me at the City Lights Ball in March 2001 and San Francisco Open April 2001.
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Dance competition pictures here.
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Competition results here.
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And for those of you that are saying, "Why the heck does he like Ballroom Dance so much?", well, uh, to see why, click here.
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Swing: I've been doing West Coast Swing since about 1991. Got pretty addicted on swing for several years when I dropped that stuffy Ballroom stuff. Now I do both. I've competed extensively at national competitions in both "Just Dance" (partnership is arranged beforehand) and "Jack & Jill" (partner is a drawn at random at the event) categories. Hey, and I've even won or placed in a fair number of them.
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Hustle: My newest dance! When I started dancing, my girl friend at the time hated Hustle. Being the good co-dependent that I am, I agreed to hate it too. (Secretly, I thought it was OK.) After a half dozen or so relationships, I finally ventured out onto the hustle floor a couple years ago. I would love to learn more hustle, if I can ever find the time.
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Photography / Videography
I've been an avid photographer since high school. Here's me in the New Rochelle High School Photography Club. I still fondly remember my first Mamiya SLR. When a lunatic student set fire to our high school, I got the best shots in the county. By selling copies to fellow students, I funded my hobby for at least a year. As an interesting aside, not surprisingly to those that know me (e.g., I like being around money), I was also treasurer of the club. Some things never change!
With the dawn of the digital age, I've become involved with digital videography and production too. With Adobe Premiere at my side, I've produced (videotaped, edited, and mastered) four ballroom and latin dance instructional tapes for professionals and Rising Star winners David Weise and Valentina Kostenko.
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Ice Skating
I ice skated when I was a child growing up on the East Coast. I remember going to Playland in Rye, NY where they had a huge ice rink and a great (yes, live) organ player. My family also used to go out to the various iced-over duck ponds to skate in the winter. After graduating from college, when I moved to California, I got the urge to take up, of all things, ice skating again. I mostly frequented the Ice Capades Chalet in the Vallco Shopping Center. I got pretty good: I was doing most of the single jumps, and landed a single axle a few times. Sadly, when I started my software company, Élan Computer Group, in the mid 80's I dropped ice skating (along with everything else fun in my life). However, I have recently taken it up again. With my new pair of Riedel 320's, you might find me practicing my Lutz and Salchow (pronounced "Sow Cow") at the Winter Lodge on a random Monday or Wednesday and the San Jose Ice Arena on Tuesdays.
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Yoga
I've been practicing Yoga since the early 1980s. I was very dedicated for about 10 years. I regularly attended classes at the Yoga Center of Palo Alto, owned and operated by Larry Hatlett and Catherine De Los Santos. I've dropped off the frequency of my practice in recent years trying to squeeze so many other things in my life. I now practice infrequently at the California Yoga Center.
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Massage
I studied therapeutic massage in the late 1980's and became California State Certified in 1989 through the Body Therapy Center in Palo Alto, with continuing education at the School of Shiatsu and Massage in Middletown CA. I've had an on-going practice since 1989. My recent clients include many dancers, as I'm uniquely familiar with dancing. For more information, please see my WEB site DanceMassage.com. I'd be happy to book an appointment with you.
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Vegetarianism
I wanted to be a vegetarian ever since I was a wee child, after reading about some of the more famous vegetarians and their reasons. However, my family thought I would die of malnutrition so that never went anywhere fast. Over the years I slowly weaned myself of those nasty flesh foods, first meat, then chicken, then fish, and around 1980 I became a pure veggie. I am a "lacto-vegetarian," meaning I eat no meat, fish, fowl, or eggs, but I do eat cheese and drink milk. Lastly, I must admit I'm addicted to pizza.
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Traveling
I love to travel. I think what I find most interesting is going someplace and seeing how other people live. Skip the museums, I'm intrigued by the grocery stores and the laundry mats. I also like water sports like snorkeling, wind surfing, and water skiing and I also like simply vegging out on beaches.
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Gadgets
Hey, so I'm a guy. I like stuff. I'm always buying gadgets, which includes: PDA's, watches, laptops, cell phones, cordless phones, wireless anything, digital camcorders, automatic lights and things for my house. If it's new stuff, guaranteed I'll have it before you see it in a catalog. Click here for a picture of me on a typical Saturday.
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My Birthday
Did you know that my birthday, November 9, is shared by such notables as Spiro Agnew, Carl Sagan, and Hedy Lamarr? Recently, my WEB site's visitors were asked to vote who they thought I was most like. Here are the results of this scientific poll:
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