By Michael Fitzmaurice

I arrived at McCarran International Airport in the early evening and stepped outside to be greeted by sweltering heat, probably 105 degrees, with a setting sun. The taxi driver cheerfully welcomed me to “Lost Wages” and inquired as to the purpose of my visit. “Convention or pleasure?” he asked.

“Both,” I replied. “I am attending a ballroom dance camp.”

“Now that’s a first,” he said.

“For me, too,” I chuckled in response.

“What do you do at a dance camp?” the driver inquired.

“That’s what I came to find out.”

Ten minutes later, the taxi deposited me at the Gold Coast Hotel, across the street from the Palms, and just down the road from Caesar’s Palace and Bellagio. A preferred spot for local off-Strip gamblers because of the generous slot machine payoffs and reasonable table game minimums, the Gold Coast caters to the partner dance community, offering weekly dances with live music for the ballroom and salsa crowds.

I breezed through check-in (a welcome surprise for Vegas hotels) and headed for the elevators. As usual, curiosity got the best of me and I got sidetracked along the way, listening to a swing band in a nearby lounge and watching a bevy of dancers cut up the dance floor. You could see the look of genuine appreciation on the musicians’ faces at the well-synchronized movements. Not every gig gets people out of their seats for anything other than a bathroom break or to order another round of drinks.

I broke away after a couple of songs, figuring that I could always return for more of the action after I had settled in. Standing by the elevators, waiting for a ride, three couples approached, dance shoe bags in hand.

“Are you here for the dance camp?” I inquired.

Sure enough, they were. They had just returned from a couple hours of practice, putting to good use what they had learned during the day. Couple number one and two were especially worried about the showcase dance that they would be performing at the gala banquet marking the end of camp. Couple number three was glowing from the hour of private instruction they had received from Ron and Karla Montez.

“After all of these years watching Ron on Championship Ballroom Dancing on PBS, I couldn’t believe I had a chance to dance with him,” gushed the following half of couple number three.

“I hope he didn’t step on your toes,” I said.

“No, my husband has that market covered,” she replied. Everyone had a laugh at her good- natured barb and once again I was reminded why I like dancers.

The next morning I headed to my first day of camp. Dance Camp Las Vegas is the brainchild of DanceVision, America’s leading retailer of dance videos, music and supplies. The president of DanceVision, Wayne Eng, is the organizer of the Emerald Ball, one of North America’s largest and most prestigious DanceSport competitions, and founder of professional organizations DVIDA and the DanzSupport Network. VIP packages start at $599 and include 5 nights hotel, 4 full days of group lessons, a welcome reception, a grand banquet, a spectacular professional show (this year by James and Jaana Kunitz), and open evening practice sessions.

I was a camp straggler, missing the welcome reception and the first day of group classes. I rode the escalators up from the casino floor. Dance Camp Las Vegas commandeered an entire wing of the second floor with three huge ballrooms, one smaller ballroom, and a runway of vendor goods that would entice any dancer. I quickly found my way to the registration table and was greeted by the warm smile of Ginny Walters. Ginny found my nametag in record time (one of the virtues of straggling) and provided me with a schedule of classes.

My mind began to reel at what lay ahead during the day. I had a choice of twenty-four different classes, teaching eight different dances at three levels of skill (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). Plotting which classes to attend with what instructors at which skill level made for the proverbial kid in the candy store experience. Generally speaking, mornings were reserved for Latin/Rhythm dances and afternoons for Standard/Smooth dances.

My approach (not recommended) for the first day was that of pinball wizard. I bounced around from ballroom to ballroom, never staying for an entire class. I wanted to see all of the various teachers, teaching at the different levels. I also wanted to get a feel for the skill levels of the campers that way I figured I could get a lot of the writer/research stuff out of the way and I could focus the last two days on the actual camper experience.

Besides, as a straggler, I harbored some worries about jumping into the middle of things. All worries of not fitting in quickly dissipated. No group of people are as warm and welcoming as dancers. As a solo leader, it should be noted, the odds of a warm reception increase dramatically.

The dance camp faculty can be compared to attending Harvard Law School. Better teachers on the planet may exist from place to place, but maybe not. Like Harvard Law School, each teacher boasts a curriculum vitae of impeccable credentials.

The American /International Latin faculty included the instructor teams of Ron and Karla Montez , Bob Powers and Julia Gorchakova, James and Jaana Kunitz, Donald Johnson and Katarzyna Kozak . These instructors taught the American Dances: Cha Cha, Rumba, Mambo, West Coast Swing, Swing, Bolero and Samba. They also taught the International Latin dances of Cha Cha, Rumba, and Jive.

The Smooth/Standard faculty included the instructor teams of Brian and Susan Puttock, Jim and Jennell Maranto, and Heather Smith and Victor Veyrasset. The faculty taught the American Smooth Dances of Foxtrot, Waltz, Viennese Waltz, and Tango. They also taught the International Standard dances: Viennese Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, and Quickstep.

Classes were also offered on men’s and women’s styling and technique, Nightclub 2-Step, and American Waltz and Swing routines. Over the four days, a diligent student who attended all available classes learned two dance routines, received instruction on styling and technique for the Rhythm, Smooth, Standard, and Latin dances, learned as much as the mind could absorb on 20 different dances.

Typical of the campers experience was a story told by one Canadian couple that will remain semi-anonymous thanks to a computer crash that has ruined my notes regarding their identity.

We had a chance to chat during the 10-minute breaks between classes. The leader took a look at my nametag and asked, “Where is Dancing USA? In which state?” I quickly explained that he had not failed geography in school. While I was from Dancing USA, a magazine, I lived in suburban Chicago.

The couple was a pair of avid social dancers and wanted to combine a vacation with dancing. Having spotted the camp while surfing the internet, they felt that the combination of Las Vegas and intense dancing sounded too irresistible to pass up even though they had visited Las Vegas only weeks earlier to participate in a billiards tournament.

I asked if they were enjoying themselves and they said immensely. The biggest shock to their system was the quality of the dancing and the huge volume of material. Back home, they explained, they were pretty much the stars of the dance floor thanks to the sparse number of dancers in their rural community. Here at the dance camp they felt less confident in their abilities compared to other dancers.

“No need to be intimidated,” I said. “You came here to improve.”

During the entire camp, I did not meet a single camper who did not express similar feelings. Even the most advanced campers had feelings of inadequacy. One look at the skill level of the faculty reminded each and every dancer how much more there was to learn.

Dance Vision has operated Dance Camp Las Vegas since 1992. This year’s enrollment was the largest ever with a shade under 300 campers. I was amazed at the diversity of the student body. They came in all sizes, shapes, color, and ages. My best guess from eyeballing the situation is that the vast majority of the campers were between ages 30-60, but I couldn’t hazard a good guess which of the three decades had the largest contingent. A group of campers from the Kansas City area decided to attend the camp together and brought a contingent of fourteen, ranging in ages from the early twenties to early retirement.

The largest source of anxiety for the week came in the form of dance routines. Dance Camp Las Vegas concludes with a gala banquet that includes six group dance routines. There is a Waltz routine and a Swing routine performed at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Campers decide on their own if they want to dance Waltz, Swing, both or none and at which level they want to perform. Each day of camp has an hour of instruction devoted to the Swing routine and another hour for the Waltz routine.

The instructors came up with choreography suitable for each group class level that would challenge the dancers, entertain the audience, and prove digestible in merely four hours of class. The first day of instruction the choreography was introduced and partnerships made. The second day the choreography was reinforced and the first half of the dance mastered. The third day the second half of the dance was mastered. The fourth day the instructors tweaked the choreography and helped boost the dancers confidence, telling the campers that they were more than prepared for the evenings show, don’t worry about small mistakes or big mistakes, and no matter what don’t stop dancing because the show must go on. There are no do overs.

I watched the final preparations for the advanced Waltz routine. These experienced and talented dancers demonstrated at least as many pre-show jitters as the beginners. A number of dancers were stumbling over the choreography (at least to the level of perfection they expected of themselves). One woman, a beautiful dancer to my eye, became so frustrated she insisted that she would prefer to skip the evening’s performance so that she would not reflect poorly on the other dancers. The class, however, refused to allow her to give in to her fears. They clapped and cheered and insisted that she perform.

The tension before the gala banquet was palpable. All of the campers wanted to shine on the dance floor, putting to use not only what they had learned for the routine but also demonstrating to themselves and others that the hard work they put in all week was now paying dividends in their dancing.

Showing the wisdom of their experience, the organizers kicked off the banquet with the dance routines. Sufficient time was provided, however, for the dancers to comfortably find their table and to imbibe a cocktail to take the edge off if desired. There was no way that the campers could sit through a delicious meal with the prospect of a dance routine hanging overhead.

With an enthusiastic and sympathetic audience, the dance routines went off without a hitch. In fact, they were great. The most boisterous reception went to the beginner Swing routine choreographed and coached by Donald Johnson and Kataryna Kozak. These might not have been the best dancers are the floor, but they just exuded a vibe that forced the audience to embrace their performance with whistles, catcalls and cheers.

Once the routines finished, the campers let out a collective sigh of relief and began to thoroughly enjoy the evening. After dinner, James and Jaana Kunitz brought the house down with a spectacular display of dancing. Campers then table hopped, chatting up their new friends and taking pictures with their instructors. A drawing was held offering a bevy of prizes. The evening concluded with hours of social dancing and Jack & Jill contests.

Daniel Cooper of Los Alamos, New Mexico provided an ideal summary of Dance Camp Las Vegas. He is a relative beginner, having started dancing about a year ago at the bequest of his girlfriend. While his favorite dance is Swing, he chose to dance a beginner Waltz routine to help him stretch his dancing horizons. Although he attended the camp with his girlfriend, she studied in the intermediate and advanced classes and he stuck mostly to the beginner classes. As he described his decision, “I dance with my girlfriend all the time. The best way to learn to dance is with other people. She is a better dancer than me. I got to learn a lot without the same pressure.”

When asked what he liked best about the camp, Cooper first cited the availability of classes at each level. He liked studying at a lower level, but appreciated the ability to drop in on higher level classes to observe or participate. Then he added, “While the teachers are great, the campers make it special. I’ve found them to be polite, kind, fun people.”

I could not agree more.

Dance Camp Las Vegas 2004 is June 13-18. I hope to see you there.

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