Brooke Burke Wins "Dancing With the Stars" Trophy

Brooke Burke, television host and model waltzed away with the mirror ball trophy in the Dancing With the Stars (DWTS) Season 7 finale on November 25. Dancing a Viennese Waltz with her partner Derek Hough to the song Daughters by Joe Mayers, she impressed the judges and television viewers, and scored 88 out of a maximum 90 points. Coming in second was former National Football League player Warren Sapp who did the Hustle with Kim Johnston to the catchy tune of Funky Town. At third place was former 'N Sync singer, Lance Bass swinging the Jitterbug with Lacey Schwimmer to the song Jim Dandy.

Dancing With The Stars is based on the format of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) hit television show Strictly Come Dancing in which celebrities are partnered with professional dancers in various ballroom and Latin American dance routines that are judged by an expert panel and by public votes. Season 7 of Dancing With The Stars premiered on ABC TV on September 22 2008 and was one of the most popular television shows in the United States. During season 7, Salsa, West Coast Swing, Jitterbug and Hustle were included for the first time in the show.

The 13 celebrities who took part in Season 7 included singer Toni Braxton, actress Cloris Leachman and Olympic sprinter Maurice Greene. Among the professional dancers were world renowned Latin American dancer Karina Smirnoff (the former partner of Slavik Kryklyvvy), Corky Ballas, the US Profession Latin Champion 1984-1991 & World Professional Latin Champion 1995-1996, and his 22 year old son, Mark Ballas. Mark who danced and grew up in England became the British Junior Ballroom and Latin American dance champion at the age of 10.

The day after being crowned Dancing With The Stars Champion, Brooke Burke's past as a Playboy model was a hot topic on the internet. Burke had been featured on the cover of Playboy twice, first on the May 2001 edition and most recently on the November 2004 issue. No sooner had the champagne bottles been popped that there is already buzz about the next season of the show. Season 8 of Dancing With The Stars is scheduled to premiere on Monday, March 9 2009 at 8.00 pm ET. The celebrities who will be taking part include gymnast and Olympic gold medallist Shawn Johnson, singers Jewel and Belinda Carlisle.

Warmest Regards,

Dance Aficionado
Dancesport Malaysia

Viennese Ball 2008 Kuala Lumpur - 5 Lucky Couples Chosen To Attend Vienna Opera Ball

The Viennese Ball 2008 which was held on October 25 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre was a truly spectacular event. More than 700 persons amongst them royalty, dignitaries and socialites attended the social function. Those present included the Royal Patron of the ball, Yang Amat Mulia, Tunku Naquiyuddin Tuanku Ja'afar, Regent of the State of Negri Sembilan and His Excellency Dr Donatus Koeck, the Austrian Ambassador to Malaysia. The ball was held in aid of the Yayasan Tunku Naquiyuddin and Pure Life Society charity foundations. This is the second time the Austrian Embassy in Malaysia is organizing the ball (www.vienneseball.my) after the resounding success of the one held last year.

At the cocktail reception there was a performance by young musicians from the Ann Perreau Music Studio, Austria who charmed everyone with a splendid show despite their young ages. During dinner, there was a haute couture fashion show by Malaysian designer Melvin Lam. This was followed by a piano recital by Austrian pianist Professor Johann Turek. Renowned soprano Marcelo Cerno, accompanied by the Ambassade Orchestra Vienna also gave a splendid performance. Josef Dolinsky and Raffaela Pegani, two of the principal dancers from the Ballet School of the Vienna State Opera delighted the audience with a polka, waltz and czardas (Hungarian dance) performance.

One of the highlights of the Viennese Ball was the introduction of the 53 debutantes and the opening dance by the debutantes and their partners. A debutante was by tradition an upper class girl in Europe who had come of age and is to be formally introduced or who makes a debut at a ball to announce her eligibility to other men. The debutantes who were immaculately dressed in white ballgowns and their partners who looked resplendent in tailcoats danced the Polonaise, Quadrille and the Viennese Waltz. Five of the best couples were chosen to attend the Vienna Opera Ball in Austria in February 2009. They were:-

1. Jonathan Fam & Ellya Sam

2. Samuel Sum & Chew Su Fen

3. Jan Zwiefelhofer & Theresa Ahrens

4. Syed Amir Faisal Syed Ali & Sasha Leong

5. Surendaran Chandra Sekaran & Alicia Thooi

Debutante co-ordinator Selma Skriegner said - "We weren't just looking at how well they did the Viennese Waltz. We also had to see if they were good dancers, whether they could do the other dances like the Cha Cha Cha, Rumba, Foxtrot and Rock & Roll. Dance instructor Reinhard Polt who was very pleased with his charges, quipped - "They performed very very well. And I think they loved it, they've enjoyed this Viennese Ball!" His Excellency Dr Donatus Koeck said he hoped that the Viennese Ball will be a yearly event here and that Malaysians can get more interested in organizing it. "Its quite a huge task for a small embassy like mine" he added.

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> Dancing The Viennese Waltz And The Fleckerls

> Johann Sebastian Strauss And The Viennese Waltz

Dancing The Viennese Waltz And The Fleckerls

The Viennese waltz is one of the five ballroom dances; the others being the waltz, quickstep, tango and foxtrot. It is often considered a regal dance and has been popular in Europe for a very long time. For the the competitive ballroom dance events at the Blackpool Dance Festival in England and many major European dance competitions, the Viennese waltz has unfortunately been excluded. In the International version of the Viennese waltz, only seven dance figures are used. They are the Natural Turn, Reverse Turn, Forward Change, Backward Change, Natural Fleckerl, Reverse Fleckerl and the Check from Reverse to Natural Fleckerl. In the American version, variations like open hold, shadow positions, and under arm turns are permissible.

The time signature for the Viennese waltz is 3/4, meaning there are three beats in a bar of music. The first beat is accented. The music is usually played at about 58-60 bars per minute. Due to the fast tempo of the music the rise and fall is not as pronounced as in the slow waltz. The basis of the dance is a series of Natural Turns followed by a Change Step, then a series of Reverse Turns followed by a Change Step. Some dancers like to time the changes so that they take place at the end of an eight bar phrase of the music to give the dance a better rhythmic interpretation. Others may like to dance the Reverse Turns at the long sides of the dance floor and the Natural Turns at the short sides as it is generally more difficult to do Reverse Turns at the short sides.

One of the most beautiful ballroom dance figures is the Fleckerl. The Fleckerls are Viennese waltz figures where the dancers rotate around each other on the same spot. The Fleckerls which are very difficult to master are usually danced in the centre of the dance floor so as not to impede the progression of the other dancers. Due to the strong rotation, there must be a foot swivel on the flat foot on each step. The sequence is preceeded by dancing a reverse turn to the centre of the dance floor, followed by the Reverse Fleckerl, Check to Natural Fleckerl, Natural Fleckerl and finally dancing a Natural Turn and moving to the outside of the dance floor again to rejoin the other dancers.

One dance couple who were well known for their Viennese waltz was the English pair of Harry Smith-Hampshire and his wife Doreen Casey (pic). Smith-Hampshire and Casey won the World Professional Ballroom Championships from 1955 to 1961 and they were also the Blackpool Professional Standard Champions from 1959 to 1961. Their speciality in this dance was a vertigo-inducing finale of 64 bars of continuous Fleckerls at speeds of up to 84 rotations per minute! Casey died on September 16 2002 and Smith-Hampshire passed away after a heart operation, on November 9 2004. The Times Online saw it fit to pay a glowing tribute to this pair of Viennese waltz maestros in an obituary on November 29 2004.

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Johann Sebastian Strauss And The Viennese Waltz

The Vienna Operetta Orchestra will be staging a performance on November 1 2008 at 8.30 pm at the Auditorium Majlis Bandaraya in Shah Alam, Selangor. Under the baton of conductor Siegfried Andraschek, together with featured vocalists Michael Suttner (tenor) and Izabela Labuda (soprano), the orchestra will perform favourites composed by the great composers like Johann Sebastian Strauss and Franz Lehar. The orchestra will be joined on stage by local singer and actress Amy Mastura. Together they will be entertaining the audience to an evening of authentic Viennese song and dance.

Franz Lehar (born 1870) was an Austrian of Hungarian descent. He is best known as a composer of operettas; the most famous of which is "The Merry Widow". Besides operettas he also wrote sonatas, marches and waltzes including the popular "Gold And Silver". Lehar died in 1948 in Bad Ischl near Salzburg where he is also buried. Johann Sebastian Strauss (1825-1899) was an Austrian composer well known for his waltzes. Besides the waltz, Strauss also wrote polkas, marches and operettas. Die Fledermaus which was composed by Strauss in 1874 remains the quintessential Viennese operetta.

It is of course the waltzes for which Strauss is most famous for. Known as the "Waltz King", Strauss composed more than 60 waltzes, amongst them the Blue Danube Waltz, Tales From The Vienna Woods Waltz, Emperor Waltz, Voices Of Spring Waltz, Wine, Woman And Song Waltz and Artist's Life Waltz. It must be remembered that the great waltzes were published in concert, not dance arrangements and the original compositions are generally not suited for dancing the International Viennese Waltz due to the tempo changes, pauses and long playing time. The Blue Danube, Tales From The Vienna Woods and Emperor have a playing time of more than 10 minutes each!

The versions of the great waltzes that people dance to nowadays have been rearranged by other musicians, abridged to about 3 minutes playing time and set to strict Viennese waltz tempo. Several modern songs have of course been composed with strict Viennese waltz tempo. My favourite is "A Summer Place", whether it is the instrumental version by the Percy Faith Orchestra or the one sung by Andy Williams. There is something very special about this song that can evoke strong emotions for me. Whenever I hear this song being played in a dance hall I just have to step out on to the floor with my partner and dance the Viennese waltz. It's just pure bliss! Happy Dancing!

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Viennese Ball 2008 Kuala Lumpur Set To Be Social Event Of The Year

The Viennese Ball 2008 Kuala Lumpur will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on October 25 2008. This is the second year the ball is being held after the resounding success of the ball last year. Modelled on the most prestigious ball of the European ball season, the Vienna Opera Ball; the Viennese Ball is organized by the Austrian Embassy in Malaysia. The Vienna Opera Ball is an event filled with glamour, elegance and romanticism. The tradition of the Vienna Opera Ball dates back to the 18th century and has been held since then almost every year.

One of the the highlights of the Viennese Ball will be the introduction of 50 debutantes and the opening dance by the 50 debutantes and their partners. A debutante was by tradition an upper class girl in Europe who had come of age and is to be formally introduced or who makes a debut at a ball to announce her eligibility to other men. For the Viennese Ball, the debutantes and their partners will perform an opening dance comprising of the Viennese Waltz, Polonaise and Quadrille. The Best 5 couples will be selected to take part in the Vienna Opera Ball in Austria.

The Viennese Ball is a formal black-tie affair. Ladies are expected to be dressed in long ball gowns (white for the debutantes) and gentlemen are required to wear tailcoats or tuxedos. The glitterati and the whose who in Malaysia are also expected to attend this event. YAM Tunku Naquiyuddin ibni Tuanku Ja'afar, the Crown Prince of Negri Sembilan has kindly consented to be the Royal Patron of the Viennese Ball 2008.

The Austrian Embassy will be providing free dance lessons for the participants. Austrian dance instructor Reinhart Polt will be conducting the dance classes at the following place:-

Venue - Sapura Auto Showroom, Level 1, Sapura Auto, 362 Jalan Tun Razak, K L

Date - October 6 to 9

Time - 8.00 to 10.00 pm

Reinhart Polt will also be teaching the foxtrot, cha cha cha, rumba, samba and rock n' roll. For more information on the Viennese Ball 2008 please log on to www.vienneseball.my.

Best Wishes,

Dance Aficionado
Dancesport Malaysia