Ballroom dancing boom helps couple
Timing is everything. In life and on the dance floor. Dance instructors Tony and Dana Delgado won't disagree.
Eight years ago they decided to trade their fast-paced existence in San Francisco for a slower pace in Las Vegas.
They wanted to raise a family and operate a dance studio instead of traveling to dance competitions.
Life in Las Vegas was good and normal.
Then ABC launched "Dancing with the Stars" in 2005.
"We really didn't think it was going to go anywhere. We were laughing. We thought it was corny," Tony Delgado said.
Then the ratings exploded.
"All of a sudden everybody wanted to be on it," or learning ballroom dancing, he said.
"If the economy was booming, I'd be a billionaire right now," he said. After starting with a studio staff of three, counting himself and his wife, Delgado Dance Studios on South Grand Canyon Drive now offers 12 full-time teachers.
"We're doing well," he said.
It helps that more than two dozen dancers and celebrity partners from "Dancing with the Stars" have trained here with the Delgados.
Other local celebrities, including Venetian headliner Wayne Brady, have been in as well.
"I've been doing this 21 years," said Delgado, a two-time world champion who grew up in El Paso, Texas. "When people asked what I do for a living and I said, 'I teach ballroom dancing,' they thought I did something during the day and did ballroom dancing at night. Now it's in the forefront of glamorous professions."
The public perception of ballroom dancing has gone from something for senior citizens, he said, to seeing an average age in the upper 20s.
"The biggest trend is children. We have well over 100, and one-third of them compete," he said.
He's pulling for two-time champion Cheryl Burke, who came to his class when she was 11. She didn't have her heart in it, he said, "so I made it fun for her. Her mother sends me Christmas cards thanking me (for sparking her interest)."
Burke and her partner, French actor Gilles Marini, are one of the show's hottest couples. His popularity has been skyrocketing since he played Dante the Casanova in the "Sex and the City" movie, and excelled with Burke, who won with Drew Lachey and Emmitt Smith.
"I got to talk to him in the trailer, and he's the nicest guy, so humble. I think he could be another Antonio Banderas," Tony Delgado said.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
Hillary Dobbs, the 21-year-old daughter of CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, will be competing in her first equestrian World Cup here this week, and she should get a medal for juggling a lot of plates. A full-time Harvard University student, she just finished her exams and qualified for the World Cup Finals in show jumping this week. She's being described as the new "it" girl. ...
Something you don't see every day in the sky over the Strip: a skywriting plane spelling out "JESUS" and adding a heart. An Easter message.
SIGHTINGS
Boxer Winky Wright, ordering a 20-ounce steak Saturday at Tao (The Venetian) after losing a 12-round decision earlier to Paul Williams at Mandalay Bay. ... Ten Miss USA contestants, participating in the 9 p.m. Show in the Sky at the Rio on Saturday night. Winners from Pennsylvania, New York, South Carolina, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Oregon, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Ohio and North Carolina rode the riverboat and Pegasus fantasy floats, while tossing out beads. Later they went up to the Voodoo Lounge, where they danced to old-school hip-hop. ... At the Palms on Saturday: Pete Rose (N9NE Steakhouse), Willie Colon of the Pittsburgh Steelers (Moon) and Chuy Bravo of Chelsea Handler's show at Rain. ... CNN talk show host Larry King, at Society Cafe (Encore) with 20 members of family and friends. ... On Sunday, Holly Madison at the Easter Brunch at Simon at Palms Place.
THE PUNCH LINE
"I have a whole new respect for the exotic dancers on my show." -- From David Letterman's Top Ten Things I Have Learned From "Dancing with the Stars" presented by Jerry Springer"
Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.
