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Champion Ballroom Dancer Finds Young Partners Rare in US

Two nights a week, Ilana Keselman of Boxborough clasps her spiraling auburn locks, highlights her features with creams and powders, dons a ruffled miniskirt, and travels to Needham, where she dances in 3-inch heels for hours to pulsating Latin beats.

These hours on the dance floor, however, aren't simply for fun. Nor are they for the conditioning that keeps the 5-foot-4-inch girl svelte. Though she is only 13, Ilana is a champion ballroom dancer, and has been since elementary school in her native Israel. She is hoping that this rigorous training will help her regain her status as a champion.

''I started at 6 years old," said Ilana, while leafing through a family scrapbook highlighting her glory years on the dance floor. ''I was young. I liked to dance. I saw ballroom dancing on TV. In Israel, it was really popular. There were a lot of kids who danced."

But here in the United States, where Ilana lived temporarily four years ago before immigrating with her family last November, salsa and waltz competitions for youngsters are far less common.

For starters, Ilana's parents learned that few Americans view ballroom dancing as a viable extracurricular activity for their youngsters. That translated into difficulty finding instructors who could train Ilana for competitions, which the Keselmans discovered were few and far between anyway.

But even after Ilana began training in June at Dance Fever, a Needham-based studio, she still lacks an essential choreographic ingredient.

''She can't find a partner under 20 [years old] in Boston," said Tatiana Keselman in the waiting room overlooking a studio where her daughter was swiveling her hips and arms to the rhythm of a samba.

At Ruta Ioukhnikov's heavily accented instruction, Ilana and the other dancers paired up to perfect their techniques. All partnerships include one male and one female, said Emil Ioukhnikov, a former Lithuanian champion who owns the studio with Ruta, his wife and dance partner.

Typically, Keselman would have practiced with a male instructor or a college-age man in the class, as the few teenage boys who compete already have partners. But on this night, her partner is a little more age-appropriate. Needham High School sophomore Ilya Vidrin, 15, asked for Keselman's hand, and the two twirled together to recorded Spanish crooning.

''His partner is away on vacation," Inna Vidrin said of her son, who began training in March and scored well during an annual competition in New Jersey.

Like Vidrin and a vast majority of the parents in the waiting room, Keselman is a Russian immigrant.

Tatiana Keselman, who grew up in Moscow, said that generations of Russian children have benefited from free dance and music classes. ''

Every school has a ballroom dance school in Russia," she said. ''It is like a sport."

Emil Ioukhnikov noted that ''Israel is really supportive of kids dancing, and in Canada, it's the same way."

At Dance Fever, the parents appreciate the Ioukhnikovs' serious approach to training.''They do Russian style," said Keselman.

''They don't compliment every move, just the results."

But other than that, she said, there are many differences between American ballroom dancers and their international counterparts, besides the numbers of students.

''In Israel, it's also less expensive, and [practices] are for longer times," said Keselman, referring to the three-hour sessions where Ilana first performed an alemana turn.

Moreover, teenage enthusiasts in this country can compete only in the Latin dances, such as the rumba, pasa doble, and cha-cha, because competitions appear nonexistent for such standard dances as the waltz and Foxtrot. Commuting to competitions is expensive, as most are in New Jersey, New York, and Los Angeles, cities with large populations of Russian immigrants.

Studios in Israel hosted weekly competitions for children and teens, Keselman said, ''and every place was close by."

''Israel is a very small country. It's much easier to get to competitions," said Emil Ioukhnikov, who is trying to help Ilana find a partner.

''They have to have something in common, and visually, how they look together," he said of champion dance partners. ''But patience is the most important thing. We're going to try to match her with someone within a two-year [age] range, nothing older than that. We have to keep things in perspective. Right now, she uses a 20- to 21-year-old in practice, but that's not going to work in competition. They won't have anything in common."

An older partner may require Keselman to compete as an adult, as contestants qualify for levels based on the older partner's age. ''She should not have to skip seven years," said Ioukhnikov.

Other options include competing with an instructor. In this case, Keselman would compete in her age group, but judges would rate only her performance. But that has drawbacks, warned George Lacerte, a former ballroom dance professional from Lowell, who owns Steppin' Out dance studio.

''They make it very, very difficult for singles," said Lacerte, speaking from an experience when his longtime partner moved out of state. Being responsible for the full entry fee for each dance is only part of the equation. ''They charge a partnership fee for every dance you enter. Sixteen years ago, I paid $35 for 2 minutes of dancing. That's where it can get expensive."

Fortunately for Ilana, time, another important dance element, is on her side. No competitions loom in the near future, and her instructors are confident that more teenage boys will be persuaded to give ballroom dancing a whirl.

''We're trying to show people that kids can start dancing early," said Emil Ioukhnikov, who is also coordinating competitions for teens with local colleges and universities. ''Teenagers, surprisingly, are our biggest clients, especially boys. We are getting much more boys."

Source: The Boston Globe