Happy Holidays!!! It's that time of year again and you need to get ready to dance, dance, dance. As we have been telling you, we are planning a fantastic Formal/Semi-Formal Christmas Dance and show by Robertas and Inga on 12/16/06. Please tell all your friends and family and bring them along for some great food, dancing, and entertainment. Please scroll to bottom of the newsletter to view our flyer. Feel free to print it and post where appropriate.

While there is no question that dancing with a better partner will make you look good, and that with such a partner you can concentrate more on styling details and so on because the lead and follow doesn't need so much attention, it is not the best way to practice lead/follow skills. If learning leaders only dance with accomplished followers and vice versa, they won't develop great leading/following skills, because they won't need to. Now let's suppose that YOU are a great leader or follower. What happens if you dance only with other great dancers? Your lead and follow skills will gradually deteriorate — because you're not working them very hard. After some months without exposure to beginners, you may be surprised to find that you can't dance with them very well, even though they seem to do okay with other beginners.

If you love to dance, the Triangle offers many venues for you to fulfill your passion. Click on the link below to view the many dance venues in our area. View Dance Calendars

Are you a Dance-aholic? TAKE THE TEST AND FACE THE TRUTH! Is dancing taking over your life? Have you heard whispers that you're becoming addicted to dance? Are you afraid that you or a loved one is becoming a dance-aholic? Take this simple test, or take it on behalf of someone you care about. However painful it might be, it's time you faced the truth. Count 1 point for every YES answer.

1. You listen to dance music at times when you cannot possibly dance — i.e., on your car stereo, with headphones while taking public transportation, on airplanes. Give yourself an additional point if you have actually taken your hands off the steering wheel while driving in order to clap your hands at the spot in the music where you would clap if you were dancing.

2. More than 50% of the t-shirts in your wardrobe are dance related. Give yourself an extra point if any of them are no longer the right size or are too worn to wear, but you keep them any way for sentimental reasons because they remind you of a special dance event.

3. When you are debating whether or not to buy a new article of clothing, a chief factor in the decision is whether or not you can wear it dancing.

4. You go to non-dance social functions with other dancers but you cannot carry on a conversation for longer than 15 minutes without talking about dance. (This includes gossiping about people at dance class!)

5. You have to explain at least once a week that you missed some over-hyped television program, a business function or social event because it conflicted with dance class.

6. What you eat for dinner depends on whether or not you're going dancing afterwards (nothing too heavy, no garlic or onions).

7. Even though you are an advanced dancer, you drop in on the beginner's classes at least once a month just in case they are doing a beginner dance you've never learned.

8. At least once a month you phone or e-mail another dancer to find out whether he/she is going to a dance class. Give yourself another point if, when you find out he/she is not going dancing, you go anyway.

9. You subscribe to more than one dance-related magazine or newsletter — Rokdim, The Grapevine, Nirkoda, Let's Dance, New Zealand Israeli Folk Dancer, etc.

10. At least two gifts per year (received or given) are dance related — clothing, music, video, money for dance camp, etc.

11. The photos on your desk at work include at least one of you at a dance-related event.

12. You plan business trips and vacations so you can avoid missing your favorite local dance classes, i.e. leaving the morning after the class and/or arriving the afternoon before the class.

13. You get information about dancing in the area of your vacation or business trip, and pack dance clothing so you can dance while you're there. Two extra points if you pack extra dance gear on business trips just in case your returning afternoon flight is delayed and you have to drive from the airport directly to class instead of going home to change clothes.

14. You passed up a promotion because one of the job duties involved a meeting that conflicted with your favorite night of dancing.

15. Your car is adorned with (1 point for each): a. Dance-related personalized license plate; b. Dance-related license plate holder; c. Dance-related bumpersticker.

16. You use your computer for dance-related activities (1 point for each): a. You have e-mail relationships with other dancers in which you write about dance-related activities; b. You check "rec.folkdance" for news of dance events; c. You subscribe to a mailing list organized around dance-related topics; d. You surf for dance-related websites; e. You maintain a dance-related website. Give yourself an extra point if your e-mail address is dance-related!

17. If you have pets, at least one of them has a dance-related name — a cat named Debka, a dog named Yoya, a bird named Polka.

18. You don't know the last name of at least five dancers, but refer to them descriptively instead as something like "Yossi Who Dances with Ronit" or "Shoshana The Tall Blond Who Wears Leggings and Long T-shirts."

BONUS QUESTIONS: The following questions were not part of the original test, but were added by popular demand.

19. You have, at least once in the past year, spent more time driving to a dance event than you knew you would actually spend dancing, i.e. one hour each way commuting to dance less than two hours.

20. If your company offers you a promotion in another city, do you check out the folk dancing scene before deciding whether or not to accept the position?

21. Did it take you two extra semesters to get through graduate school because one of the required courses was offered on the same night as your favorite night of dancing?

22. Was a celebration of a significant life event — your wedding, house-warming party, graduation party, etc. — a folk dance party?

23. Have you left instructions in your will to have folk dancing at your wake/funeral/memorial service?

SCORING • 15 POINTS OR MORE: Mayday, Mayday. Houston, we have a serious dance problem. Don't be surprised if your friends organize an intervention to confront you with your addiction. You can deal with the problem directly by checking your phone book for the local 12-step-hop program in your area.

• 11-14 POINTS: You're a borderline dance- aholic. With some effort on your part you can take back control of your life without outside help. It may be enough to cut out dancing between dance classes.

• 6-10 POINTS: Not to worry. You're one of those social dancers. You can take it or leave it. You can walk off the dance floor anytime. Dance-aholics view you with suspicion.

• 1-5 POINTS: Are you kidding? Are you taking this test as a joke? You probably don't know a step-hop from a pivot. Get outta here — you wouldn't even watch dance-related television programs!

As we mentioned in our October newsletter, we will once again be part of the entertainment during the City of Raleigh's First Night. This year we will be back in the Sir Walter Raleigh Hotel Ballroom. The event organizer would like for us to judge a competition. The plan is to allow couples to sign up in advance to compete. Then our teachers will judge the competition and declare a winner. Should be a lot of fun. If you are in town on New Year's Eve, WE NEED YOUR HELP. PLEASE SIGN UP AS A VOLUNTEER AND YOUR ADMISSION IF FREE!

This is a new section that will appear from time to time. If you have any suggestions on how to make affordable dresses and other clothing tips for men and women, please email Leslie Young at: leslie_young@ncsu.edu

Many of you have been looking for a good general long skirt that “moves” when you move and lets you do the Tango (American or International)! A “gored” Capezio® skirt was available ten years ago. Well it’s back and looks even better: The Adult Long Swirl Skirt 7424 by Capezio. It can be ordered online at Discount Dance Supply (www.discountdance.com) and you can sometimes even find it in dancewear stores around the Triangle. I spotted some at Footlights in Seaboard Station, 10 West Franklin St., Suite 130, Raleigh. It only comes in black and the online price is $44.30 (plus shipping). The adult sizes are XS, S, M, L, XL and the sizes run a little small. Description: The Capezio Dancesport long swirl skirt features a flared bottom and is designed for maximum comfort, performance and versatility. Made of a very fine soft knit fiber, this garment has excellent drape and movement. The DanceDry finish accelerates evaporation to keep the body dry. Dancesport pieces offer excellent potential for mix-and-match within the collection and with other dancewear. Washing instructions: (Yeah! It does not have to be dry cleaned!) Machine wash in cold water on delicate cycle. Hang dry, do not bleach and do not dry clean.