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Eastwood Mall shoppers treated to ballroom show
By ELISE McKEOWN SKOLNICK
NILES
Ballroom dancers took center court at Eastwood Mall, showing off their skills at waltzing, fox- trotting, swing-dancing and more.
“We hope that we’ll encourage [spectators] maybe to take dancing lessons, to get more involved,” said Betty Orning, social director for USA Dance, the sponsor of Saturday’s event. “It’s a great social thing; you meet a lot of people. It’s a lot of fun. It’s good for you.”
The event was to celebrate National Ballroom Dance Week.
Angeleena Wheatley, 9, of Austintown, and her partner, 75-year-old Joe Altinger of Boardman, drew cheers for their East Coast Swing dance, though they’ve been partners only for a couple of months.
“I think it’s fun,” Wheatley said. “And he was awesome, so I decided to do it with him.”
Altinger is a friend of Wheatley’s grandmother.
“[Angeleena] said at one time, ‘Hey, I want to dance with you,’” Altinger said.
So they began taking lessons together.
“It’s great fun,” Altinger said. “And for me, it’s great exercise.”
His arthritis caused his body to be stiff, he explained, and he couldn’t go up and down stairs before starting ballroom dancing.
Wheatley, who wants to be a professional dancer, said more kids her age should give ballroom dancing a try.
This was the first exhibition for the two, but they plan to participate in more demonstrations.
Gary Copley of Leetonia and Peppe Smith of Canfield danced a tango at the event.
Copley said the event at the mall shows shoppers why they should try ballroom dancing.
Ballroom dancing is “something extra that couples can do to spend time with each other, quality time,” he said. “I don’t think it gets more quality than dancing together, finding new things to do together.”
Copley and Smith have been dancing together for three years. He also performs with Ballet Western Reserve of Youngstown.
They participate in the mall event each year.
“It’s exciting for us because Gary and I have been working on our tango through August so we could perform in September,” Smith said.
Sheila Snyder of Lowellville and Elaine Kornack of Rogers were shopping for an upcoming homecoming dance when they stopped to watch the dancers.
“I think it’s awesome,” Snyder said. “It’s amazing.”
Kornack agreed.
“I like dancing,” she said. “But I don’t know if I’d try [ballroom dancing].”
They enjoyed the event so much they didn’t want to leave center court to finish their shopping, Snyder said.
“I love to watch dancing, so I think it’s great,” said Victoria Kaczmarek, 16, of Lordstown.
She’s never had a chance to try ballroom dancing, she said, but she might like to.
“They make it look easy,” she said. “But it looks hard, too.”
USA Dance is a national, nonprofit organization that promotes ballroom and Latin dancing as both a social activity and a competitive sport. The Youngstown-Warren Chapter has monthly dances that are open to the public, with a lesson before the dance.