August, 2004 - Nr. 8
Ballroom and Latin Dance Students Graduate
by Herwig Wandschneider
Students of the Kessler Studio of Dancing were treated to a
special evening for their Graduation – the event, when students at all
levels – standard + latin, pre-bronze to silver - received their Certificate
of Achievement. The event, held at the Alpine Club, completed another season
of Ballroom and Latin dancing for group and private lessons.
Special and different this year was what followed the dinner and the handing-out of the certificates, namely the "Auftakt": the ceremonial opening of the evening ("feierliche Eröffnung des Tanzabends") with a polonaise to Johann Strauss Sr.’s Radetzky March, performed by some of the students from the Bronze and Silver Classes. It gave the evening a whole new atmosphere and added a touch of class one can only imagine that it was in times gone by.
But it did not end there. After dancing to Ballroom and Latin tunes, including an impressive Pre-Bronze demonstration Cha-Cha-Cha with Mary Scharbach, Kessler’s oldest student (in her mid eighties) and socializing among the various classes, the event continued along the lines of the Viennese Protocol with the highlight of the evening: a Quadrille performed to Johann Strauss’s Fledermaus, at first with some 20 couples. The couples then fanned out and encouraged the - at first - rather reluctant audience of dancers, who had never seen or experienced a Quadrille, to join in for the 5th cours. Once on the floor, they all participated, clearly enjoying their own attempts to follow those, who had had a chance to practice beforehand.
![Horst Kessler (c.) flanked by proud graduates [photo: Ursel Kampmann]](408c-HW_Kessler1a.jpg)
The evening continued with non-stop dancing, an opportunity to practice what had been learned in regular classes. No question that they all looked forward to the next season of dance lessons, which begin again in the third week of September.
