The Ballroom "Blues" that is. Some go to Florida, others, who get to enjoy what finally is a good Southwestern Ontario winter, look for evening fun activities and to keep in shape on the dance floor. No matter how cold it is between the parking lot and the dance floor.

Some 120 ballroom dancers gathered at the Alpine Club Saturday evening, January 20, 2007 to practice their steps, to show off or to just enjoy DJ Christa’s rhythms. For ballroom dancing with 60 couples, the dance floor of the Alpine Club is just the right size. Enough space demanded by the dances, if you want to really go through all the steps learned at your dance school. If you do want to "perform", that is, under the watchful eyes of ballroom expert Horst Kessler, who was also there with his wife Kim. However, as the Kesslers explained, they were there strictly for their own enjoyment. At the same time Mr Kessler could not hide his joy when he spotted one of his student couples go through the dance routine in perfect harmony.

Echo Germanica covered the ballroom dance scene in this area a year ago in the February 2006 issue (see www.echoworld.com/B06/B0602/B0602HW-a.htm). It has not become particularly easier to find the activities in the meantime. However you find DJ Christa’s website as a subheader "Dancing Dreams" under Tony Hornick’s website www.dancinglist.com/ . DJ Christa and Bill Novak chose "Dancing Dreams" as the name for their "Social Latin and Ballroom" events they organize themselves, at the Alpine Club and perhaps also at other venues in the future.

DJ Christa can also be found DJ’ing Social Dances on some Sundays at German Clubs, such as the "Germania Club" in Hamilton (www.germaniaclub.ca/EN/Sunday%20Nite.pdf), where she has been retained to DJ also New Years Eve dances for the last 5 years. Another venue is the "Burlington Social Club", on some Saturdays and Sundays, and at the Concordia Club in Kitchener, where she is the DJ, for example, next on Saturday, February 10. You still have to check-out the individual club’s website to know what happens where and when.

Christa explained that at other German Clubs the music she plays matches the audience and is not necessarily dedicated to ballroom dancing, whereas - at the Alpine Club - the audience matches the music. The idea to stage her own event, currently only at the Alpine Club, as "Social, Latin and Ballroom Dancing" is for the sake of specific dance-styles, thus attracting singles and couples independent of any ethnic affiliations. And the Alpine Club facilities are just perfect for this purpose, both for her and the dancers. Watching the couples dance here is a pure joy, since most know many ballroom dances well, as well as line dances to the tune of "Zorba the Greek" and others.

At the Alpine Club, Christa brings sweets for a mid-evening break, and coffee or tea is prepared by the club, all included in the ticket price of $10 per person. The bar is, of course, open throughout the event. A draw for free tickets to the next event or dinner for two provides another break midway through the evening.

Christa hails from Kamen, Germany, and has been in Canada since 1994. She clearly enjoys what she is doing and chooses the music expertly to keep the dancers on the floor for most of the evening and to blow the winter blues out the window.