Fred Kelly: Gene's Younger Brother

Although everyone knows who Gene Kelly is, many aren't aware of his equally talented brother, Fred. Fred won four awards for Broadway work and helped with some of Gene's famous film dances. He popularized the Mambo and helped create the Cha-Cha; directed pioneering television shows; became one of America's leading dance teachers; was a magician and a chapter president of the Society of American Magicians; and served as police and fire commissioners and acting mayor of Closter, New Jersey.

Fred's Canadian-born father, James Patrick Kelly, was a sales executive with the Columbia Phonograph Company. His mother, Harriet (Curran) Kelly, as a hobby, performed with a Pittsburgh stock company. At her insistence, all of the children took music and dance lessons. Fred,the youngest child, brothers Gene and James, and sisters Harriet Joan (called J) and Louise began appearing as The Five Dancing Kellys. They filled in for The Seven Little Foys when the latter were stuck in Ohio during a snowstorm in 1921 and at numerous charity events around Pittsburgh. While the others showed some resistance to lessons and performing, Fred took to them immediately. The baby and "cutie pie" of the family, and a natural tap dancer, he was considered by his parents to be the most likely to have a professional dance career. By the time he was eight, Fred was earning as much as $50 a month as a performer, quite an income for even an adult in 1924. And it was Fred who taught Gene tap so they could earn extra money for college, and so Gene could impress the girls.

Fred starred in a show for children at Warner theaters in Pittsburgh while he was in the seventh through twelfth grades. He emceed, danced and did magic in the shows - which became known as Kelly's Kiddy Kabaret. Dick Powell, a young man just out of college, joined the company as a vocalist and bandleader. He had young Fred give him dance lessons after the shows, and Fred's mother helped him use his hands more effectively while performing. From the eighth through twelfth grades, Fred spent part of every summer performing on the Goldenrod Showboat which played Mississippi and Ohio River ports from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. In the shows, emceed by Fred's booking agent from Pittsburgh, Eddie Miller, Fred did rube comedy for other acts

Mrs. Kelly worked as receptionist in a Pittsburgh dance studio and when the owner skipped town in 1927, leaving a pile of unpaid bills, she decided to keep the school going. She paid the bills and renamed it the Kelly Studio of Dance. Soon the family was involved, with the children giving lessons, the mother managing the business and the father handling the books. Radio had hurt the phonograph business, on top of the Depression, putting the senior Kelly out of work. But the debut of little Shirley Temple in movies brought legions of girls, their hair in curls, seeking dancing lessons. Another Kelly Dance Studio objected to the name, and she renamed it for one of her offspring - The Gene Kelly School of Dance - even though Gene wasn't involved in the school yet. The school grew and moved through five locations in Pittsburgh and two branches in Johnstown.

The dance school was becoming one of the most successful in the U.S., but Gene struck out for New York in 1937. The Big Apple wasn't ready for the kid from Pittsburgh yet. Gene tried again the following year and quickly won a part in Leave It to Me starring Sophie Tucker (Mary Martin sang "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" to Gene), then a dancing and singing role in One for the Money, which opened in February 1939. Gene went back to direct Pitt's annual Cap and Gown Show in 1939 in which Fred was the star dancer.

After graduation, Fred joined Gene in New York. At the Theater Guild's summer stock theater in Westport, Connecticut, Gene directed and Fred choreographed Lynn Rigg's play Green Grow the Lilacs, the vehicle Rodgers and Hammerstein three years later turned into Oklahoma!. Gene won a dancing and acting part in the Theater Guild's production of The Time of Your Life. Then Gene won the lead in Pal Joey and recommended Fred to replace him in Time of Your Life. With permission from the author, William Saroyan, who won the Pulitzer for it, and other creators, Fred increased his character's dance numbers from five to eleven. He and Dorothy Maguire (who had replaced Celeste Holm) played together for the show's entire national run, which was much longer than originally expected, thanks to the awards. When the Donaldson Awards were instituted in 1940, Fred got one for his acting, presented by Helen Hayes, one for comedy (from Charlie Chaplin) and one for dance (from Antoinette Perry).

Fred did a screen test for MGM that was successful, but the studio didn't offer him much of a deal. While holding out for a better offer from another studio, he was drafted in December 1941. His friend Ezra Stone (radio's "Henry Aldrich"), who was attached to an entertainment unit, suggested that Fred contact him after basic training. Fred was assigned to the Medical Corps and sent to Camp Stewart in Georgia, where he and other corpsmen wrote and performed in a show called The General's Daughter. When Fred contacted Ezra Stone, he was asked to be the choreographer for a show by Irving Berlin that was being put together at Camp Upton on New York's Long Island. Stone and Berlin hand-picked 310 men-mostly performers, musicians, stage hands and other show people in civilian life-for the first racially integrated company in the U.S. Army. While doing the casting they added six other choreographers, and only the opening, "Mandy" (a minstrel number) remained Fred's. That summer, This is the Army opened with a cast of 300- the largest ever in a Broadway show.

After New York, the show toured 13 cities, ending in Hollywood, where it was made into a film featuring Ronald Reagan. Fred appears in the minstrel number. Then a smaller cast, Fred and only 149 others, went overseas to perform the show in most of the world's war theaters. By the time it closed in Honolulu, October 22, 1945, This is the Army had raised almost $15 million for the Army Relief Emergency Fund to aid spouses and parents of servicemen.

While This is the Army was in rehearsal for Broadway, Fred got permission to marry the girl who had been his date at Pitt fraternity parties, Dorothy Greenwalt, known to all as Dottie. With no time for a honeymoon (he did two shows that day and had to help Dottie's family navigate the city), she accompanied him to rehearsals.

While the show was playing London, Fred was summoned to General Dwight D. Eisenhower's office. He was told that he might be asked to give tap dancing lessons to the commander of the Allied war effort, who was in need of exercise and release from stress. Ike decided on painting lessons instead - he preferred a quiet activity that didn't tip off his staff as to whether he was working - but he did dispatch Fred to Buckingham Palace to give Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, and other royal children, ballroom dancing lessons. The mischievous teenagers decided that they also wanted to learn the Can-Can, and later performed for adults in costumes that seemed too revealing. This almost resulted in Sgt. Kelly being busted to private. The princesses also sneaked into performances of This is the Army disguised in caps and jackets borrowed from Fred and a buddy.

Years later, after Elizabeth became Queen, Gene was invited to give a command screening of his film An American in Paris. He had to arrive in England well before, for drilling in how to conduct himself with royalty. When the big moment of meeting came, the Queen jumped a long receiving line and rushed up to Gene. "Is it true that you are Fred Kelly's brother?" she asked.


Fred was hired by NBC to direct the Lanny Ross Show, a pioneering musical variety program. Ross decided to stop doing the show and Fred was assigned to another, the Kay Kyser Kollege of Musical Knowledge. He also choreographed for NBC's popular Colgate Comedy Hour, working with such stars as a Danny Thomas, Red Skelton, Betty Hutton and Martha Raye. Later, he directed more than a thousand hours of The Steve Allen Show and the first 26 United Cerebral Palsy telethons. He directed commercials with the likes of Tallulah Bankhead, Jimmy Durante, and Olsen and Johnson for use in the shows they starred in.

Meanwhile Fred also choreographed and directed three years of Ice Capades. That show was owned by John H. Harris, owner of the Warner theaters in Pittsburgh and a big piece of Republic Pictures. When the show played Los Angeles, tickets were given to movie studios, who passed them on to their big names. Metro-Golden-Mayer tickets went to such people as Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, Clark Gable and Louis B. Mayer, but not their new actor-dancer, Gene Kelly. Fred arranged for Gene and his wife to sit in the Republic central box, next to MGM's, leading Mayer to ask why someone didn't tell him that Gene had such an influential brother.

Back in New York, Fred continued to work for the Latin Quarter, and was asked by a competitor, the Havana Madrid club, to stage a show with the flamenco dancer José Greco. One morning, a Mexican couple Fred and Dottie had met on a cruise to Havana - they danced in the stage show and the Kellys said "If you're ever in Closter, New Jersey..." - showed up at the Kelly house. Greco's run had just ended, so Fred arranged for the husband, Tommy Gomez, to be booked into the Havana Madrid (Mrs. Gomez was too young to perform legally in a cabaret). With Prez Prado as the bandleader, and Gomez and Maryann Drake as dancers, Fred prepared a mambo number that opened June 29, 1948. The audience, including many Latin diplomats, got up and joined the dance. The evening was a big hit with the many critics present who, at Fred's request, identified the choreographer as Frederico Calais (Gaelic for Kelly) so he wouldn't get in trouble with the Latin Quarter.

The wife of the Havana Madrid owner, Angel Lopez, complained about the mambo show - how the loud brass disturbed her at her cashier station near the band, and how customers were dancing instead of ordering food and drinks. Lopez asked Fred to create a new one. The bandleader was now Tito Puente, who, with Fred, put together a number based on the Lindy, except that the dancers moved sideways. They threw in a cry for the orchestra: "cha cha cha!" The show opened August 2, 1948. Years later, Fred got a call from the Smithsonian Institution, asking if he could help locate the Frederico Calais who had introduced these dances to the U.S.!

Fred performed only one onscreen dance with Gene, "I Love to Go Swimmin With Wimmen." from Deep in My Heart (1956) Fred and Gene modified a step created by the Irish-born step dancer who standardized tap dancing, Maximillian Ford. The original step is the "Maxi Ford;" the revised one is called the "Kelly Maxi Ford," both terms that are still used today.

Fred and Dottie had three children. The first, Barry, was born in 1943. A bout of brain fever at 14 months left him mentally impaired, and one of the reasons Fred worked two and three jobs at a time was to keep him in special schools until he died in 1968. Another son, Michael, was born in 1949; he, his wife Diane, and four children live in California, where Michael is a unit production manager and occasional director of Brooke Shields' Suddenly Susan television series, and stage manager of many televison show. Daughter Colleen, born in 1953, lives in Tucson with her husband Jim Beaman and four children and is a high school drama teacher, and dance instructor as well.

Fred sold the dance studio in 1983, and he and Dottie retired to Tucson. Dottie's death from lung cancer in 1995 was a great loss for Fred, who passed away on March 15, 2000. In honor of Fred, his family created a foundation for college students interested in a career in musical theatre with a strong emphasis on tap dancing. Persons interested in making a donation may send checks (payable to: The Fred Kelly Foundation) to: The Fred Kelly Foundation, c/o Dallas Dance Council, 3630 Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75219.

Fred and Gene Daning to I Love to Go Swimmin With Wimmin

"I Love To Go Swimmin With Wimmin" - The best home videos are here

The Relationship Between Ballet and Figure Skating

From the time I was a young child, I loved figure skating. Although dancing appealed to me more, I've always felt a connection to the skating world and have a few skating friends. For years skating coaches have been encouraging their skaters to take ballet classes to aid in the skater’s on-ice performance. What parent or coach hasn’t heard their skater say, “What has ballet got to do with skating?” Does ballet really enhance the skater’s performance or on-ice technique? The “skating experts” say yes, and so do the ballet pros. But what is it specifically that is taught and practiced in ballet that relates to the specific elements on the ice?

Classical ballet has a true methodology which takes into account the training of the entire body, head, eyes, hands, torso, etc. in incremental portions which ingrain movement and musicality into the muscle memory. It takes into account the importance of the lower back and core muscles as the “fulcrum” of the body which needs to be trained slowly and carefully for maximum potential in both strength and flexibility. Classical ballet technique forms the body from the inside out so that the technique is safe and the dancer/athlete can be secure and confident in their actual abilities.

First, there's posture. A skater needs a strong core body to connect the upper and lower body for controlled powerful movements. He/she  must be able to keep his shoulders over his hips throughout jumps, spins, footwork and edges. He must also be able to check his shoulders against his hips in Mohawks, 3-turns, brackets, rockers, counters, and Choctaws. So, it is to the skater’s benefit to become aware of the feeling of twisting in the middle of the torso, and also the feeling of staying square. Ballet teachers spend hours teaching students correct ballet posture which is the same posture needed for skating. This correct posture is a neutral spine with the shoulders over the hips. The ballet student is taught to engage the lower abdominal muscles while maintaining a neutral spine. As the skater is working at the barre, he is training his body to maintain correct posture while moving isolated body parts. At the same time, he is developing the ability to apply core strength by engaging the abdominal muscles, thus learning to connect the upper and lower body for strong, powerful movements.

Maintaining neutral spine is essential to on-ice elements and ballet technique. The control needed comes from control of the hips through neutral spine. Ballet teaches the skater how to move the pelvis without losing balance or disconnecting the center in footwork sequences, including pirouette turns, jumps and leaps across the floor. With every movement, in either skating or ballet, there is a weight shift from one foot to the other which causes a constant change in the center of balance within the body.

Having a good sense of balance is critical to a skater’s alignment. This directly affects the skater’s edge quality, footwork, preparation for ajump and maintaining his balance over his axis while rotating. It also aids in strong landings. The combination of core control and balance allows the skater to use the strength he has developed in his off-ice training.

Once an athlete gains a strong core and is able to apply his strength, then he is able to develop the quickness required in rotations, fast footwork and quick change of edge or direction. Correct placement, power and quickness are addressed in ballet classes through basic skills such as plies, tendus, degages, frappe, fouette and grand battement. These movements teach the basic “snap through the hips, knees, ankles and feet” used for skating basics such as power for stroking, pushing through the feet for jumps and agility in quick footwork.

As the skater progresses in dance and skating, both disciplines focus on details of the basics, extension of body lines, flexibility while maintaining body alignment, quality of movement, and development of strength,and confidence. The skater learns to perform to different music rhythms, tempos, count the beats of the music and how style and carriage change with the mood or theme of the music thus establishing a dynamic range in presentation.

How should figure skating parents choose a ballet instructor?

Choosing a ballet instructor is just like choosing a coach. As a parent you should try to observe a class with your son/daughter, discuss the lesson with the instructor afterwards and then privately discuss with your son/daughter what you and she/he felt about the lesson and the teacher.

Similar Moves

Some of the moves figure skaters do look similar to moves that ballet dancers do. If possible, figure skaters should become familiar with the names of the ballet moves that correspond to figure skating jumps, spins, turns, and/or steps. This comes from Annette Thomas, the author of "Fundamentals of Alignment and Classical Movement for Figure Skaters" and the owner of the website Ballet For Figure Skaters.  

       

• The waltz jump is similar to a Grand Tour Jeté which is done by ballet dancers
• The Axel jump resembles a Grand Tour Jeté Entrelacé, but with 1 1/2 revolutions.
• The split falling leaf jump in figure skating is done from a loop jump position, so the entrance and appearance in the air is closely related in appearance to a Grand Jeté en tournent en manège from ballet.
• A back spin in figure skating is equivalent to an “outside” (en dehors) Pirouette from ballet.
• Spirals: Penché in 1st arabesque is the most common pose, but also extensions to the side (écarté devant or écarté derrière if on an outside edge) and also to the front in croisé or effacé devant.
• Attitude: Same as in ballet, usually croisé derrière for an inside edge and effacé derrière for an outside edge.
• Double loop and triple loop jumps: For a counter clockwise skater this takes off on a backward outside right edge and the left leg is slightly bent and crossed in front so the jump would resemble a double or triple Pirouette en dehors in the air.
• Split jump: From a standing still position these are the same as in Character Ballet (as is often seen in the “Chinese Dance” in the Nutcracker) As a traveling jump the position in the air it is most like a Grand Jeté Fouetté from 1st arabesque changing mid air to land in effacé devant.
• Bauer: A lunge with cambré back very similar to a transition pose during the 6th port de bras in the Vaganova Method.
• A ballet jump might look like ballet's Piqué sauté arabesque.

Suggested Reading

• "Fundamentals of Alignment and Classical Movement for Figure Skaters"
• Figure Skaters Need Ballet Training
• Ballet Secrets for Skaters

John Curry and Cathy Foulkes, 1979 - A truly exquisite performance

10 Quotes to Celebrate the True Meaning of Thanksgiving

Ready for some Thanksgiving quotes? I don't mean the "I'm thankful for my Nintendo Wii" or the "I'm thankful for my new car" quotes that we hear all too often lately. I mean some real Thanksgiving quotes that remind us of what we really have to be thankful for. Here are 10 Thanksgiving quotes to celebrate and ponder.

1. "The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving." ~ H.U. Westermayer

2. "Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow." ~ Edward Sandford Martin

3. "There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American." ~ O. Henry

4. "You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled." ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

5. "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy

6. "We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction." ~ Harry A. Ironside

7. "It must be an odd feeling to be thankful to nobody in particular. Christians in public institutions often see this odd thing happening on Thanksgiving Day. Everyone in the institution seems to be thankful 'in general.' It's very strange. It's a little like being married in general." ~ Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

8. "It is literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast." ~ W. J. Cameron

9. "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others." ~ Cicero

10. "Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men, but be careful that you do not take the day and leave out the gratitude." ~ E.P. Powell

As an extra, here's a video that sums up what this holiday means. Enjoy:




This Thanksgiving Day, let's remember what we truly have to be thankful for. Let's take a good, hard look around us and realize that while we may not have everything we want, what we want is not always what we need. Let these ten Thanksgiving quotes remind you of the true meaning of this great American holiday as you celebrate with friends and family.



Thanks to Noel Jameson for these beautiful quotes.

Why Hindsight: is Not Always Good

The expression that "hindsight is always 20/20" implies that you are clearly able to see the implications of a situation after it occurs.

Hindsight, like many other things, can be good or bad depending on why you are looking back. Members of 12 step groups are asked to do an inventory in which they look back over their life for times when they have hurt other people. The purpose of this is not to depress them or make them feel bad; the purpose is to help them make amends so they can put it all behind them once and for all and find healing for their lives.

Looking back at our lives to seek out ways we can avoid future problems absolutely makes for a better future. It's called learning lessons from our mistakes. Life is all about learning, and the majority of our learning tends to come in the form of making mistakes, stopping to tweak our course and moving on. This allows us to use our past in a helpful way.

Looking back at our lives to remember the good times and the good people is another good use for hindsight. We look back and see the things we did right in relationships and continue to do them. We look back and see the things we did wrong, and hopefully, we ask for forgiveness, make amends, or otherwise do what we can to change how we relate for the better in the future.

This is one reason many grandparents seem so great. They've learned their lessons on their kids, become wise, and now employ those skills they realize in hindsight they should have used from the beginning.

So far hindsight is looking pretty good. I believe for the most part, hindsight is a gift from God. It allows us to learn and make corrections. Unfortunately, when not used to make life better, hindsight can lead to some pretty bad things.

In high school and college, I used to beat myself up over my mistakes. I would look back and see all the things I should have done differently, going over it again and again. This did not lead to learning; it did not lead to healing; it did not lead to correction.

This kind of hindsight, using it as a whipping tool instead of a helpful one, can lead to severe life problems. The first that comes to mind is depression. How can you have a healthy self-esteem if you constantly second-guess yourself and put yourself down for being human?

People can be so caught up in the insights they learn from hindsight that they cannot do anything. They become paralyzed by fear of making more mistakes, and life grinds to a halt. They may turn to learned helplessness or even drugs and other addictions to feel better about themselves.

Hindsight is a gift from God, but if used wrongly, it can feel like anything but. The point of hindsight is to have a tool for learning and correcting. Do that and then let it go - put it behind you and move on. Only then can hindsight do what it was intended to do: help you make yourself a better person.

Ballroom Dance Isn't Just for Adults: Meet TwoTalented Kids

Dmitriy Slobodskiy and Michelle Kaplansky


Ballroom dance has been around for a long time but in recent years, has swelled in popularity. For more and more people of all ages, it's a fun and exciting hobby, and for many, a sport where kids as young as 7 years old, as well as adults and even senior citizens, compete!

Recently, IML blog was invited to attend the USA Dance 2010 National Dance Sport Championships to watch the country's most talented young ballroom dancers face off in Latin and Standard divisions. (In Latin competition, dancers must perform the Cha Cha, Rumba, Tango, Paso Doble, and Jive styles; in Standard they perform the Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, and Quickstep. That's ten different routines!)

All were amazed not just by the level of dancing but also the passion and commitment of these kids and tweens and here is an interview with one young super couple:

Meet Dmitriy and Michelle. Although they're just 12 years old, they've been dancing together for almost 6 years, during which they've won many awards and appeared on "Dancing with the Stars."

IML: How did each of you get started in ballroom dance?

Michelle: I got started in ballroom dancing when I was about 6 years old. I was at the age when I was exploring many different activities, like swimming and gymnastics. One day my mom's friend introduced me to dancing and I tried it, and fell in love with it. It felt like I was sort of destined to do it. I was just so fun and I kept asking my mom to go to the dance classes. From that day on I've been dancing!

Dmitriy: When it was my 4th birthday, my parents took me to a dance studio and signed me up for a group class. I really liked it so I kept going week after week, and eventually I got my first partner. We went to a first competition and it was amazing to see how everything worked. I liked it a lot and I didn't quit and I kept on practicing, and now I'm here with my partner, going to different competitions, going around the country...meeting different people and seeing different things!

IML: How did the two of you get paired up?

Michelle: We went to this group class, and our teacher noticed that together we would make a very good dancing couple. We tried it out and it went really well, so from that day on we continued to be partners. And here we are 5 1/2 years later, still dancing together!

IML: That's almost half your life! How has your partnership changed in that time?

Dmitriy: We started off not knowing each other and then as the years went by, we got to know each other more, going to each other's houses. It became a very social and very comfortable relationship. Now we know each other really well and we're really good friends.

IML: What do you think makes a successful dance partnership?

Michelle: We both work together. It's not one person's job. If you don't enjoy dancing together, it shows when you're actually dancing on the floor, so having a good relationship really helps things build and helps you dance better.

IML: Do you think you'd be friends if you'd never become dance partners?

Michelle: We probably would never have met because we come from different areas!

IML: It sounds like dance exposes you to a lot of really great people you wouldn't normally meet. Tell us a bit about a typical day for you. You've got school and social life and family life and dance. How do you balance everything?

Michelle: A typical day would be going to school until 3pm, then we come home from school, eat, do a little bit of homework, and then go to dance at the studio. Usually we dance about 45 minutes each day. After that we come home and finish the rest of our work.

IML: Michelle, your younger sister Madelyne also competes in ballroom dance. Do you give her tips and advice?

Michelle: It's really fun because sometimes I teach her, and she gets to learn from me. I like to be the role model and to show her how to be a successful dancer. Because of dancing we've become much closer. She supports me in competition and I support her in competition!

IML: That's a great thing to share! Dmitriy, what kinds of comments or questions do you get from guys your age who aren't involved in dance?

Dmitriy: Most of them are just like, "What is ballroom dancing?" Other people are like, "We've never heard of this sport, it sounds fun." Some are like, "Oh, I don't think that's cool." I get a lot of different things people say. I just let everybody know how much I like it. Everybody sees my videos on YouTube and I'm cool about people having different opinions and different questions.

IML: Do you feel like you can educate other kids about ballroom? A lot of people don't know anything about it.

Dmitriy: We like to tell people about it, and some people even start taking lessons as a result. We kind of start them on their journey of ballroom dancing, and it's really great to see other people learning what it is. Some people take it to the next level.

IML: In a ballroom dance competition, you're scored by judges. What do they look for?

Dmitriy: They're looking at your technique and your performance overall. How you attract the audience. Like, you can be dancing and nobody really knows you're there, but some people can be dancing and you can just see the excitement in the audience about them. You want to be like that.

IML: When you're competing on a dance floor full of other couples, do you know when you're really standing out and people are noticing you? Or are you just focusing on your own routine?

Michelle: When we go on the floor, it's like we're the only people there. We just pretend there's no one there and that we're just dancing like we do in our studio, because that's where I dance the best. So I just enjoy myself and I have fun with it!

IML: When we watched you in the competition, we thought it was funny how everyone avoids bumping into one another or when another couple gets between you. It's part of the competition that you need to deal with that, right? Is it hard?

Dmitriy: It's sometimes hard to deal with in a big competition, but you get used to going around a person or you can modify a move to make it look like it's supposed to be in your routine. Sometimes it's experimenting with different things. Sometimes it actually makes it better...and sometimes it doesn't.

IML: Do you have a favorite dance style among the styles you do?

Michelle: We do Latin and Standard, and my favorite of those is Rumba. It's slow and it's sort of like the lady's dance, so I get to express my feelings and show my lines in that dance.

Dmitriy: My favorite dance is the Quickstep. I like it because it's really fast and there are a lot of really small steps. It's really quirky and there are lots of tricks you can do with your feet. It's fun to do and really fun to watch.

IML: What has dance given you in life so far?

Michelle: Dance has definitely given me more self-confidence. When we go to competitions we dance in front of a lot of groups of people, so when you go into the world, it's more like you're comfortable with being around people. It's not as stressful. When you dance, you sort of just let go, and it helps you learn to do that in life as well.

Dmitriy: I've become more comfortable around groups of people when I'm performing. I feel like I can express myself more and I'm not as shy as I was before I started dancing. It's just given me a whole new opportunity. Now I'm more open to people because of dance.

IML: Why do you think ballroom dance has become so popular with young people?

Michelle: It's sort of like the new thing, and a lot of kids are trying it. They really like it and they tell their friends, and it spreads from there.

IML: What's your proudest or happiest moment so far?

Dmitriy: My proudest moment is when it's a big competition and you make it to the final, and you feel that adrenalin rush going through your body. Then you just perform everything you know, and you give it all your best. Then later when you're standing on the podium you're just thinking, what place am I going to get? You feel confident and proud that you've made it here, because of all the people who've helped you in life.

Michelle: My proudest moment is probably right before I go on the dance floor. Because I just feel like I'm getting really pumped and excited to show what I've been working for, and I can't wait to show my parents and other family members who support me how much it's all paid off!

IML: What's the funniest thing that ever happened during a competition?

Michelle: That was probably when we were dancing and I accidentally tripped! I stumbled and I got back up and continued to do the routine.

Dmitriy: My funniest moment was when I was dancing Quickstep and right in the middle of the routine, my shoe popped right off. So it took some time...we didn't totally stop, we kept on dancing. But I just had to take some time to put on my shoe and it was really funny to experience that.

IML: What's something that people might be surprised to know about ballroom dance?

Michelle: It's much harder than it looks. When we're dancing, we're just pretending it's really easy. A lot of people start doing it thinking it's going to be easy and then discover how tough it really is.

Dmitriy: If you see people practice and how much effort and time people put in it, and how you have to memorize all the routines, you'll see the truth behind it. People get surprised by how hard everybody works.

IML: What advice do you have for other kids and teens who might want to get involved in ballroom dance?

Michelle: Ballroom dance is hard, so you have to be willing to work really hard. You have to be willing to not be afraid to go into a big crowd of people. But it's a really fun sport and out of it I've made a lot of new friends I would never have made if I hadn't been dancing!

IML: Thanks Michelle and Dmitriy! And good luck!


Here they are doing their Standard routines:

My Grandfather was Fred Astaire - Chat With Tyler McKenzie

West Seattle Herald

If you ask Tyler McKenzie about his grandfather, he might dance around the topic. That's because his grandfather was Fred Astaire, and he is shy about discussing it. But he did, with the West Seattle Herald, and seemed to develop a bounce in his step recalling hanging out with perhaps the greatest dancer in the world.

Full disclosure, they were related through marriage, but Fred and Tyler were as close as any grandfather and grandson, he said. Tyler's father, Richard, married Fred Astaire's daughter, Ava, (pronounced AH-vah) who raised him.(Personal note: Tyler has a brother Kevin, a chef, cooking instructor, and writer in California.)

"My parents divorced when I was very young, and my mother passed away when I was seven, so my brother and I then lived with my father in West Hollywood and that's when he married Ava," said McKenzie, 50, a real estate broker with Windermere, formerly at their Alaska Junction office and now manager at their Green Lake office. He lives in West Seattle and serves as Delridge Neighborhood Development Association Board Chairman.

Richard's McKenzie Gallery was very successful. He painted realistic portraits of stars including Barbara Stanwyck, Tyler recalled, adding that they moved into a relatively modest home in Beverly Hills.

"I'd see Fred frequently when we were living in Beverly Hills." he said.

"In 1972 when I was 11 my parents went on a trip to Europe, came back, and said, 'Kids, we're moving' and just packed us up and we went to London where we lived for three years," said Tyler. "They found a home in Ireland. We moved there from London. I finished my high school in Ireland. My parents still live there, in County Cork.

"He actually came to Ireland to do a film, Purple Taxi," said Tyler of his famous grandfather. "We spent a significant amount of time together traveling around there then.That was in 1977. My mother was his closest confidant, especially after his sister Adele died." (in 1981)

Long before Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire began his career performing with his sister Adele when he was just four and she was six. They were born in Omaha. They toured the country with their mother, Ann and Ann's sister.

"They were a performing dancing dual," Tyler said. "Many people don't realize that until Adele retired she was the bigger star.

"I knew him well," Tyler said of Fred. "We played pool together and talked about stuff. He was a lovely, considerate, interesting man. But I was very cognizant of the fact that despite the fact that he was my grandfather, he was something else that was very meaningful to everybody," said Tyler. "We'd be walking down the street on our way to dinner and the world would stop because people would stop on the street and gasp when they recognized him. It was a bizarre feeling to be moving with the spotlight, and to be just outside the shadow of it.

"I think Fred Astaire embodies elegance," Tyler continued. "He had gravitas in that he was gifted, a physical genius. My mother would tell me he didn't work out, didn't adhere to any physical regimen to be any stronger or more nimble. But he rehearsed constantly and with absolute deliberation over and over again so that by the time a number was on the big screen it was indeed perfect.

"It was a product of excruciating difficult work and very long hours," he said. "And so that grace is the embodiment of hard work. He was a hardworking man who was able to manifest that in absolute elegance. But he did have a gift. He was imbued with a natural precision that was his genius. Where his craft came into play was his ability to tap it, to release it. He performed since age four. That's all he knew."

Annette Kellerman - The First Water Ballet Star

The Original Million Dollar Mermaid: The Annette Kellerman Story [Paperback]
by Emily Gibson

Long before Esther Williams, there was Annette Kellerman. Water ballet, or synchronized swimming, is a blend of water athleticism and the art of dance. People who perform water ballets must have strong cores in order to support themselves against the weight of the water. At the Summer Olympics, this sport may not get as much air time, but it is a demonstration of the beauty of the human body. The origins of water ballet began in the early 20th century.

Kellerman, born on July 6, 1886 in Sydney, Australia, is the originator of water ballet and the original Million Dollar Mermaid. Her birth and childhood gave no hint that she would hold an important place in athletic history. Kellerman was a sickly child who suffered from infant paralysis and rickets, a disease that softens the bones. She began swimming as a form of therapy to strengthen her legs. Swimming led to a world of performing before an audience.

In 1905, at the age of 15, Kellerman won the Swim Champion of New South Wales, her first title. In addition to winning the title, she became recognized for her skills as a long-distance swimming and set women's world records. Her athletic prowess increased her love of public performances. That same year, she began performing at the Melbourne Exhibition Aquarium, diving into a 60 foot glass fish tank. Eventually, she became an international swimming star.

Kellerman traveled to London and swam across the Thames and made three failed attempts at crossing the English Channel. However, she defeated male swimmers in Paris and the Danube. She became a featured act at the London Hippodrome Theatre. She combined diving, swimming, and underwater dancing, which wowed audiences. Ultimately, her fame led her to the United States.

By 1907, she had an aquatic vaudeville act. She performed in New York, Chicago, and Boston. Although she performed her water ballet act for years, the official introduction of synchronized swimming occurred at the New York Hippodrome. The act included high diving, stunt swimming, and underwater swimming while audiences watched through a glass tank. In 1916, she replaced Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova at the Hippodrome. As expected, Kellerman made her presence at the beginning of the movie industry.

Kellerman performed in more than 10 movies from 1909 to 1924. She made her screen debut in 1919s "The Bride of Lammermoor: A Tragedy of Bonnie Scotland." She also made water-inspired films such as "Siren of the Sea" (1911), Mermaid (1911), and "Neptune's Daughter" (1914). She inspired swimmer and actress Esther Williams, who portrayed Kellerman in 1952s "Million Dollar Mermaid."

When Kay Curtis founded the water ballet club at the University of Chicago in 1923, she cited Kellerman as her influence. Curtis introduced water ballet at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair and swimming teams sprang up in the Chicago area. After World War II, water ballet, or synchronized swimming, spread around the world. However, it wasn't until the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles that athletes won the first metals.

On November 6, 1975, three years after her husband died, time finally caught up with Kellerman. Her ashes were scattered over the Great Barrier Reef to reunite her with the sea, as she had requested. A fitting end for someone who once said, “The man who has not given himself completely to the sun and wind and cold sting of the waves will never know all the meanings of life. I still wait to see my first real mermaid sitting on a damp grey rock combing her long green hair.”

Rare film footage of Annette Kellerman, 1925

Keeping Your Inner Critic from Destroying Your Self Confidence

Others can hurt our feelings and wound our pride, but it is our own inner voice which is most often responsible for wielding the fatal blow that kills our self confidence.

Sometimes our inner dialogue is filled with with distorted, negative self perception. In some cases it is the echoes of haunting, critical voices from our past. The negative thoughts swirling around inside our minds will do us in faster than any criticism from an exterior source. We will bully ourselves and discount our worth without even being aware of the damage we are wreaking on our own self confidence.

One of the most lethal negative thoughts is, "What will "they" think?" Worrying excessively about the impression we are making on others is a side effect of the "Comparing Syndrome." We mentally pit our value and performance against others and the voices in our head convince us we cannot compete or measure up.

The moment we verbally express an intention to act, the phrases, "I can't" and "But, what if?" begin a mental tangent of self doubting dialogue designed to thwart our efforts and paralyze us into inactivity. will remind us of our intrinsic value and worth.

We do not have to surrender to the slaughter of our confidence. We can take affirmative action to silence the voices, or dub over them with more appropriate thoughts.

We can use the following techniques to silence our critical inner voice:

* Thinking positive

Replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations and behave like the self confident person we desire to become. We can stand tall, smile and be well groomed to illustrate to the world and ourselves that we are worthy of serious consideration. We can act like what we want to be and soon we will become our aspiration. In the words of famous artist, Vincent Van Gogh, "If you hear a voice within you say, "You cannot paint," then by all means, paint, and the voice will be silenced."

* Practice self awareness

By examining our conscience we can discover where the inner dialogue originated. Often when we are victims of criticism or verbal abuse in our formative years, we naively accept the negative assessment as truth and assign it to "automatic record" to be played back over and over in our mind. It takes keen self awareness and concentrated, determined effort to stop beating ourselves up with internal negative discourse learned in the past and habitually repeated in the present.


* Develop a moral code

Identifying our core values and principles and not deviating from that designated standard of behavior will give us consistent guidelines for standing up to our inner voice with confidence. Treating ourselves and others with utmost respect and kindness will reinforce our self esteem and trust.

* Become goal oriented

When we plan, prepare and carry out specific goals, great or small, our self confidence thrives and we bask in the glow of success. Set goals with premeditated planning for positive outcomes. Success breeds more and greater success.

Acquiring knowledge and experience is empowering and will act as a deterrent to protect us from our negative inner selves. Even the loudest and most aggressive inner critic loses validity in the face of practiced knowledge and successful performance.

* Be physically fit

Do not underestimate the mental strength of good physical health and well being. Loving ourselves with regular medical checkups, proper diet and adequate exercise goes long way toward quieting negativity. When we are at our optimal best physically, we are better prepared to slay the mental dragons in our minds and imaginations. Actually, all of the tips for strengthening our confidence are naught if we are not physically fit to cope.

* Communicate effectively

As with all relationships, good communication is the key ingredient to dispelling misunderstanding. When our inner voice threatens to take control of our outer confidence, we need to respond firmly with all the ammunition at our disposal,i.e., positive thoughts, knowledgeable self awareness, a high level of morals and values integrated with preparation and planning to achieve aspired goals. This is one situation where talking to ourselves is valuable and mentally healthy. Using all our powers of persuasion we can talk back, talk down and talk it out with ourselves.

Contradicting our negative inner voice is imperative if we are to live a well rounded, productive life. Yes, the words of others can inflict pain and wound our spirit, but our own inner voice is most often the real killer of confidence.

Are we going to fight with all our might, or allow our inner voice to get away with murder?

Your True Colors

"I see your true colors shining through, I see your true colors and that's why I love you." So states the song made famous by one who certainly did seem to display her 'true colors', Ms Cyndi Lauper. Throughout life, a temptation exists for one to present a false self to the world, instead of showing one's true colors, in order to get ahead and increase one's popularity in 'acceptable society'.

Yet the downside is that through this false presentation it is very easy to actually lose sight of the essential self. You may gain favor, even fame and riches along the way, but at what cost? The Bible states it clearly when it says, "What good is it to a man if he gains the whole world but loses his very soul?" So many seem to be living lives in tune to the expectations of parents and family 'musts'. Or being dictated to by the incessant beat of an overbearing society, all the while losing sight of their essential natures and their true identities.

Through the ages, many wise sages have taught the importance of honest living, combined with a certain amount of common sense and intelligence. At times, the world seems almost to be crying out for shining role models who set admirable examples and lead with authenticity and integrity. Especially more so in this age of throwaway, media-constructed, false personas.

So how do you recognize your true colors? Quite simply, it's all about being in touch with your inner world and understanding the fabric of you own persona and inner callings. Who is the real you? Not the individual who has been altered and adjusted by the expectations of others over the years. Think back to your childhood - how did you identify then? Were you clear in your focus and life's desires? Probably not but it's likely that you were more organic and 'real' in your approach to the world, more natural if you like.

You should be able to recognize your true colors by being aware of what really moves you in life and what activities and goals inspire you on a deep and soulful level. When are your inner passions ignited and fueled? When do you feel most 'true' to yourself? What matters most to you? Only you will know the true answers to these highly personal and self-reflecting questions. There are no right and wrong answers, it is all about individuality and the expression of same. Go deep and find the inner truths being reflected.

Then practice the courage to shine from the inside so that the whole world can experience your authentic magnificence. As the song states: "So don't be afraid, to let them show ... your true colors, true colors, are beautiful ... like a rainbow."

Theater Terms that Apply to Dancers as Well as Actors

Miami City Ballet's curtain call at New York City Center ater Symphony in C, 2009






There are many theater terms that performers share, whether they're actors or dancers. Here are some:

Apron: The part of the stage extending in front of the curtain.

Bridge: An elevated backstage walkway above the stage space that gives the backstage crew access to equipment.

Crossover: The area where performers cross behind the stage to make an entrance on the opposite side.

Downstage: The front of the stage, closest to the audience. It originates from the early European stages that were on a slant, causing a performer's position to literally be downstage.

Upstage: Near the back of the stage, farthest from the audience. 2. A performer's moving towards the back of the stage in order to force another performer to turn his/her back to the audience, diverting attention away from the downstage performer. 3. To take the audience's attention away from another actor or dancer.

Wings: The sides of the stage, unseen by the audience, where the performers gather and prepare to enter the main stage.

Pit: Area in front of the stage where the orchestra sits.

Cyclorama: A wall or curtain placed at the back of the stage to give added dimension to the set and enhance the decor.

Dry Tech: Technical rehearsal in the performance venue but without performers. Used to rehearse integration of lights, scenery and sound.

Wet Tech: Full rehearsal with performers and all technical elements.

Call sheet: Sheet posted backstage(or at a dance studio) that lists the dancers' names and at what times they are expected at the theater or rehersal. Dancers must sign the sheet daily to indicate their presence and readiness for performances/rehearsals.

"Places": The backstage call from the stage manager or director requesting that the performers take their positions either on or offstage for the beginning of the performance.

Stage Manager: Oversees all the backstage action during rehearsals and performances, including directing the stagehands and technical crew, calling out cues for lighting, curtains and scene changes, and ensuring that the performers are in their proper opening places.

Greenroom: Backstage room where performers wait and/or rest before going onstage. The origin is unknown, but one explanation is that the color green is thought to be restful to the eyes and provides a relief from bright onstage lights.

Flyman: A stage assistant responsible for operating the system of ropes or pulleys used to raise or lower scenery or to "fly" actors or dancers across the stage.

Footlights: Set of lights set at the front of a stage that offset shadows caused by overhead lights and can be used for special effects.

Fresnel: Lighting instument where the lens is bumby on one side and etched with concentric circles on the other, producing a broad, soft light.

Gel: Term for a color filter that slips onto a backstage light consisting of two clear plastic pieces with a color adhesive in between. When light passes through, the filter absorbs all color except for the color of the interior adhesive.

Shinbuster: The lowest light on a vertical backstage lighting pole, so named because it illuminates the calves of a performer's legs.

Scrim: Woven cloth through which lights shine or action is viewed, creating specific lighting and staging effects.

Curtain Call: The after the end of a performance when the entire cast comes on stage to bow or curtsy to the audience.