Are you a fan of “Dancing with the Stars”? Do you enjoy glitzy Broadway musicals or old movies with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire? Do graceful dancers in tuxedos and swirly sequined dresses make you swoon?

U.S Women's Standard Champions Citabria Phillips, left, and Zoe Balfour perform in the evening show.

It was all that and more when ballroom dancers from around the world gathered in Sacramento on Sunday. The Ballroom of Sacramento hosted the third annual Dancing in the River City Same-Sex Dance Competition, followed by an evening dance show.

This year’s show was “Over the Rainbow in the River City,” and featured performances by The Dancing Dorothys, the Vima Vice Squad, the Magical Marionettes and many of the star performers from the afternoon competition.

Heintje Soriano and David Estrada dance to a number from "Wicked".

Loosely based on a "Wizard of Oz" theme, the show played to a capacity crowd. During intermission, and after the show, the floor was opened for public dancing, and the audience members were quick to take the floor and try out their  moves.

The dancers in the show obviously love to perform, and their numbers were technically challenging, beautifully staged and very
creative. The costumes were fabulous, and the audience clapped and cheered each dance.  It was a dance spectacular worthy of a much larger audience.

Photon; Photis Pishiaras and Ron Jenkins, second place Men's Standard.

The Vice Squad channels Dorothy.

2010 Gay Games gold medalists and U.S. Men's Latin Champions; Jose Comoda, left, and Chris Phan.

Sunny Williams, left, and Heather Brockett are the Women's Latin Champions. Also seen in photo at top of article.

Mitch and Misha; Misha Belfer, left and Mitchel Kibel took the Show Dance Men's A Standard title.

The tireless energy and enthusiasm of the performers was inspiring, especially as most of them had been dancing all day
long. The show was the culmination of a very demanding day of high-level competition.

The North American Same-Sex Partner Dance Association (NASSPDA) 2011 California  State titles were awarded in the day-long competition.

Competitors included several current and former world, European and national champions, and competitors from “So You Think You Can Dance.”  Local dancers from beginner status through professional instructors showed off their best moves to an appreciative audience.

Four years ago, a group of same-sex dancers in Sacramento created a partnership, raising funds to send dancers to the international Gay Games, an Olympics-style competition of 35 different sports. By organizing the annual Dancing in the River City competition and dance shows, the group was able to sponsor 10 dancers to the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne, Germany.
Cindy Mills has been dancing for eight years and has seen the same-sex dance  phenomenon grow with every event. 

“Ballroom dancing takes years to master, and the level of dancing in Sacramento is getting higher all the time,” she said.

“We (U.S. dancers) did very well in Cologne.  U.S. dancers are finally starting to catch up with European dancers who have had structured same-sex ballroom for far longer,” Mills continued. 

Mills won gold and silver  medals in Cologne with her Latin dance partner, Elly Bishop. Mills and her partner of 25 years, Annette Wegesend, are instrumental in organizing and producing this annual dance event.

She said she hopes to send even more dancers to the 2014 Gay Games in Cleveland. Proceeds from the annual competition and show go to fund that endeavor.

Dancing With Pride, the same-sex dance instruction program at The Ballroom, is led by Robbie Tristan, a three-time world champion with European titles and Gay Games gold medals to his credit.

Robbie Tristan, instructor, during a performance.

Tristan with Ginny Cunningham, Latin Equality ChaCha winners.

With his former dance partner, Robbie won world champion titles for the Standard, Latin and Show Dance categories.
Robbie retains his Hungarian accent and his European charm.  He danced throughout the competition with a variety of partners, squiring many of his students in Pro-Am events.

Throughout the day, a total of 72 heats were danced and judged by a five-member panel of international judges. 

Categories included international standard dances, international Latin dances, and awards for formation team dances and showdances.  Also included were equality dances, which are open to traditional role and reverse-role dancers as well as to same-sex couples.

Mother and daughter team Samantha Gossett and Ruanna Gossett took first place in West Coast Swing.

The Women’s Standard winners were Citabria Phillips and Zoe Balfour (photo at top of page), the current U.S. standard
champions (a title they have held for five years running).  They were ranked fifth in the world overall at the 2010 Gay Games, and they teach and coach aspiring dancers in Oakland.  They announced that this was their final competition together and received an award of appreciation from the event organizers.

The Men’s Standard winners were Ron Jenkins and Potis Pishiaris, also Gay Games competitors.  The San Francisco team compete and perform as “Photon.” Misha Belfer and Mitch Kibel from Denver.

The Women’s Latin title belongs to San Franciscans Sunny Wiiliams and Heather Brockett. They won silver medals at the 2010 Gay Games.

In the Men’s Latin competition, the title was once again awarded to 2009 California State winners Chris Phan and Jose Comoda of San Francisco.

“Standard” dances include Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, and Quickstep. “Latin” dances include the Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble and Jive.

Also awarded was the California State title for a formation team dance.  The Sacramento team of 16 student dancers, The Sugar Tucks, performed a beautifully choreographed West Coast Swing number.

The Show Dance event included performances by three top male teams and was won by the Denver team of Mitch Kibel and Misha Belfer. They were the first same-sex couple to compete on “So You Think You Can Dance,” giving positive national exposure to the world of same-sex dance.

Same-sex ballroom dancing, long known as “Equality Dancing” in Europe, has come out of the closet in the United States in recent  years and is now an extremely popular activity.

Ballroom dancing at the competitive level requires athleticism, dedication, grace and lots of time spent on the practice floor,
but anyone who enjoys dance will find it invigorating and rewarding.

Estrada and Soriano display their versatility in this number.

There are many different programs and types of dancing, from the recently popularized Argentine Tango to Salsa and Country Western.  Local dance clubs like Faces and Badlands host lessons and special dance nights. Check local calendars for details.

Information on same-sex ballroom dance in Sacramento is available through dancingintherivercity.com (click on Dancing with Pride).

For more information on NAASPDA, visit nasspda.org.
 

The next major California event will be the USA Championship, held at the annual April Follies at Just Dance Studio in Oakland.
The competition, dinner and show are scheduled for April 30.
Information is available at aprilfollies.com or (415) 971-0410.

  SacPress Photos | Kati Garner