Dance Like a Ballerina

I don't own ballet shoes, I've never had a tutu and the only time you'll find me tuning into Dancing with the Stars is when my other TV options go on commercial--all of them. So what, then, was I doing at Equinox for a dance class? Because it's not every day that you can attend a group fitness class taught by professional Joffrey Ballet dancers. Even if you do trip over your own two feet, lack coordination and look about as graceful as a penguin walking across a room.

Equinox Fitness Clubs and The Joffrey Ballet have teamed up once again (they first partnered up in the spring) to offer a ballet-inspired group fitness class for the fall. Classes started October 5 and run through November 10 at two Equinox locations, 900 N. Michigan and Lincoln Park. Coinciding with The Joffrey's production of Don Quixote, which runs October 12-23, dancers will lead class-goers through a marriage of Spanish dance and Bolshoi ballet moves.

Salsa Dancing for a Cause

He came, he salsa'd, he wowed the crowd. And out of all the competitors, he raised the most money for the cause, Susan G. Komen For the Cure's Chicago affiliate. Robbie Ventura easily came out a winner at last Friday's Dancing with Chicago Celebrities.

He's used to winning cycling races and leading the pack on two wheels, but going into the dance arena to compete in the Fourth Annual Dancing with Chicago Celebrities brought an entirely different course of action. Ventura practiced numerous times with his partner Annette Goldman and even with a week-long cycling camp sandwiched in between lessons he came to the competition ready to compete. Onlookers say that Ventura looked sharp on the dance floor and brought the same determination from his cycling days to his dance steps. He looked so good--and coordinated--the crowd cheering for him swore that he won the event. There must have been some glitch in the judging because Ventura states he didn't win the dancing part, but did receive the title of MVP for raising the most money for the cause.

Jury's still out on who did win the race, but when I find out I'll let you know. Media coverage after the fact seems to be a little sparce--I found a video of Evelyn Holmes from ABC dancing and heard Daryl Hawks recount his experience briefly on the Sunday night news. But in the meantime congrats to Ventura for bringing finesse to the dance floor. Could this mean a stint at Nacional 27's salsa nights? Posted by Kate

Dance for Lance

Dancing with the Stars has me in a dancing mood. I don't even watch the show with any regularity--and yes I missed the premiere earlier in the week--but I love catching up with the news after the fact. When I'm not working out or thinking sports, my guilty pleasure hands down is reading People, the magazine and the website. Sure, keeping up with the addition of Holly from The Girls Next Door and Melissa from The Bachelor has been fun, but I'm really digging the content for the local event, Dancing with Chicago Celebrities I wrote about earlier in the week.

The big news with Dancing with Chicago Celebrities is not only that it's on Friday night, but that a member from the city's cycling and triathlon community is involved. Robbie Ventura first made a name for himself as a member of the U.S. Postal Service cycling team--and at the same time as Lance Armstrong--and now he has become the name and face behind Vision Quest Coaching, a company he founded that now has locations in Chicago, Highland Park, and Naperville in Illinois and Altamonte Springs in Florida. In between, you may have seen his byline in the pages of Windy City Sports in Chicago or as commentator for the Tour de France.

Talk about moving out of your comfort zone...Ventura has all of these cycling accomplishments and accolades, plus a finish at the 2008 Ironman Canada, but now he's tackling the dance floor? Hey, that's what Dancing with the Stars is all about, so it must hold true for the Chicago competition, too. And just in the practice rounds Ventura was making progress on the dance floor. His partner, Annette Goldman, says she studied up on cycling before meeting Ventura so that she could apply his sport to moves on the dance floor. Goldman has gotten Ventura to move and step to the salsa beats that once seemed so foreign, and she had him worrying about practicing while in California at the VQ training camp in Solvang. Ventura joked he might pull some campers aside to practice outside the studio.

As competition day looms, Ventura's back to practicing his moves with Goldman as often as he can. Even between his first class and his fourth, he's improved and fancying his footwork, so imagine how fluid he'll be by the end. Need more proof that Ventura can bring it on the dance floor come Friday? Lance Armstrong can tell ya. Posted by Kate

Putting on His Dancing Shoes

While Dancing with the Stars premieres on ABC tonight, Chicagoans can get the real deal on Friday, March 13. OK, so it doesn't include the same celebrities, but you'll catch some familiar faces around Chicago competing. A Dancing with the Stars type competition comes to the Hyatt Regency in the form of Dancing with Chicago Celebrities. And the reason this all fits in with endurance sports is that a local face among the active community is competing. Robbie Ventura, founder of Vision Quest Coaching and a former U.S. Postal Team cyclist, ties on his dancing shoes for the competition.

Ventura is currently preparing to dance the night away at the Fourth Annual Dancing with Chicago Celebrities to benefit the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Chicagoland affiliate. He joins other famous Chicago faces like Miss Illinois Kate Lorenz, CBS 2's Dana Kozlov, NBC 5's Daryl Hawks, ABC 7's Evelyn Holmes, WGN’s Lourdes Duarte and WLS Radio’s Pat Cassidy in friendly competition. Mike Adamle will be emceeing the event and 2008 winner, WGN's Dina Bair, will be a judge and performing a dance as well.

2009 marks Ventura’s first year dancing in the event and also the first year that a member of the active lifestyle community is participating. Ventura is extremely proud of the invitation to compete and honored to be raising money for breast cancer. His mother is a breast cancer survivor.

“I’m happy for the cycling and triathlon community to be recognized,” Ventura says. “I’m totally honored to be a part of this event.” Ventura also has a personal goal of raising at least $10,000 for the event. You can support Ventura by visiting his fundraising page.

Ventura can tell you just about anything you want to know about a bike, cycling and racing on two wheels. As founder of Vision Quest Coaching, many endurance athletes in Chicago and the suburbs utilize his services to up their skill sets for cycling races and triathlons. Now Ventura is heading into a new realm, learning salsa moves with his partner, Arthur Murray Dance Studio instructor Annette Goldman, to compete in the event. And he’s taking the focus, drive and other cycling skills he’s acquired over the years to the dance floor while learning these new moves.

“I’m out of my comfort zone in the dance studio and dancing is a whole different ballgame from cycling,” Ventura says. “Annette is a great instructor and applies my sport to dancing.”

For more information about the event, to purchase tickets or to donate to a competitor, visit dancingwithchicagocelebrities.kintera.org. Posted by Kate