Dave Poferl and Judy Saks
Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha
January is cha cha time! The cha cha (or cha cha cha) is a lively and fun dance that really gets you moving on the dance floor. The dance is of Cuban origin and was introduced by a Cuban composer in the early 1950s. Like the rumba and mambo, cha cha takes the slower steps of both and adds a quicker triple step. The name of the dance is said to be derived from the shuffling sound of the dancers’ feet as they perform that triple step. Cha cha has become a must-learn for beginning dance students and has gained popularity due to its simplicity and energy.
Your instructors are Dave Poferl and Judy Saks. Dave is an experienced instructor who has been teaching since 2015. He has taught many dances with club member Mary Borkovec and, most recently, taught west coast swing with Dottie Adams. This is Judy’s first venture into teaching ballroom dance. She has been ballroom dancing for four years and has been an avid line dancer since 2008. The cha cha is a favorite dance for both Dave and Judy, and they are eager to share their love of this dance with you!
Beginner level classes are held on Sundays in the MountainView ballroom from 3 to 4 p.m. and again on Tuesdays from 5 to 6 p.m. Intermediate level classes are held on Sundays in the MountainView ballroom from 4 to 5 p.m. and on Tuesdays from 6 to 7 p.m. The first class for both beginner and intermediate starts on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025.
January Novice Classes
If you are new to dancing or have not danced in a while, check out our novice classes. Taught by our resident professionals Dale and Ann Pizzitola, these classes are free, and you do not need to be a member of the SaddleBrooke Dance Club. The first class is on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, and will focus on foxtrot and rumba. The second class is on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, and tango and hustle will be taught. Classes are held in the Mariposa Room at DesertView and begin at 4 p.m. There will also be a Novice Practice Party on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in the Mariposa Room at 4 p.m. This party is designed to give you an opportunity to practice what you have just learned.
Practice Makes “Perfect”
Well, if not exactly “perfect,” practice makes things better. And dancers have several opportunities each month to practice and improve upon what they have learned in their classes. Open practice sessions are held on Mondays and Fridays in the Vermilion Room in SaddleBrooke One from 4 to 6 p.m.
Please visit our website at sbballroomdance.com to register for all classes and to keep informed of upcoming events and activities. Remember, the SaddleBrooke Ballroom Dance Club is where the learning continues and the fun never ends.
Extra! Extra! Special Announcement!
The SaddleBrooke Ballroom Dance Club is having a membership event on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, from 3 to 5 p.m. Think Dancing with the Stars! Pomp and circumstance! Best of all, nonmembers are welcome to attend our first-ever Team Match Exhibition. Join us to see what the excitement is all about.
Ted Roupas
A Step at a Time
Ted Roupas
The first time I went to a swing dance at the community center in the town where I lived in Massachusetts, I felt intimidated. Nearly everyone there knew how to dance, and there was no way you could fake your way through the west coast swing or the salsa. I noticed that if a poor dancer invited a good dancer for a spin, there usually wasn’t a rematch. Good thing, I told myself, that I decided to stay on the sidelines instead of making myself persona non grata to every woman there!
After my wife Faye died, I had to make a deliberate effort to prevent myself from slipping into a state of despondency and paralysis. Early on, I resolved to make physical fitness the foundation on which I would begin building a new life. I also resolved to cultivate certain talents I knew I had but which I had no need to develop during 20 years of marriage, one of these being a natural sense of rhythm and a facility for moving my feet in time with whatever music I was listening to.
That night at the community center, observing all those fabulous dancers, I may have been tempted to dismiss the idea of ever acquiring a comparable level of skill. And, yet, those dancers were having such a fun time, and the best dancers, the best time of all! Was there any real reason I could not eventually learn to dance as well as they?
Since that time, I have sampled countless avenues for learning to dance, from big-name studios to group lessons to private lessons. And over the course of 20 years, I have attended dances in Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Arizona, mostly with my wife Dolores whom I met (at a dance, of course!) a year or so after Faye died.
Unfortunately, a couple of years ago, Dolores herself died, so now I am single once more. That hasn’t stopped me from continuing to dance, though, and now I find the SaddleBrooke Ballroom Dance Club an ideal opportunity for socializing, learning new steps, and just having fun while dancing. And let me say this to any men out there who, like me, are single and suspect that dancing might be a useful skill to cultivate: The club needs single men, because there are quite a few single women who love to dance and who need someone to dance with!
Please don’t be intimidated. The SaddleBrooke Ballroom Dance Club has a program especially for those of you not ready for the main ballroom. In the Novice program, our resident professionals Dale and Ann Pizzitola will introduce you to some basic steps and patterns in several ballroom dances. This program is an enormous success and has given many SaddleBrooke residents the confidence to enhance their lives by adding the joy of dancing.