THEY'RE MAD ABOUT HOT BALLROOM TEACHER PIERRE DULAINE.Byline: - Evan Henerson He's a self-described "geek A technically oriented person. It has typically implied a "nerdy" or "weird" personality, someone with limited social skills who likes to tinker with scientific or high-tech projects. The origin of the term dates back to the late 1800s. " who swats errant students with his tie, looks nothing like Antonio Banderas and makes every woman he takes in his arms feel like an absolute princess. Meet Pierre Dulaine Pierre Dulaine is a dance instructor who was the influence for the main character of Take the Lead. He is also a real leading dance instructor in the inner part of New York City, and his teaching has brought his techniques all across schools in the U.S. : dancer, teacher, and champion of manners and good breeding politeness; genteel deportment. See also: Breeding both on and off the dance floor. "My dream," says Dulaine, the inspiration for the film "Take the Lead," "would be for every child to have a positive dance experience in public school. If it could be ballroom dance ballroom dance European and American social dancing performed by couples. It includes standard dances such as the fox-trot, waltz, polka, tango, Charleston, jitterbug, and merengue. , that would be even better." And the dream of any self-respecting would-be ballroom dancer, according to those who have done so, would be to fall into step with Dulaine. "As a person, he's just an experience. You have to meet him," says Yaya DaCosta, who plays one of Dulaine's teenage students in "Take the Lead." "I would say the same about dancing. You have to dance with him. The men, too, because he teaches men the same way." "He moves with so much grace and so much control. He's so strong, but at the same time, he's so soft," continues DaCosta. "It's just so comfortable to dance with him." Dulaine has garnered dance titles throughout Europe and is a four-time winner of the World Exhibition Cup. He also captured the All England Professional Latin American Championship. He and partner Yvonne Marceu run the American Ballet Theater in New York There are many famous theaters in New York, most notably the Broadway theatres in New York City.
Dulaine learned young, when, at age 14 in Birmingham, England, he was sent to dance school with friends, and found his shyness slipping away as his posture was straightening. "It did a lot for me. It made me a lot more confident, walking nice and straight and learning how to shake hands to perform the customary act of civility by clasping and moving hands, as an expression of greeting, farewell, good will, agreement, etc. See also: Shake ," says Dulaine. "I had wonderful parents who taught me good manners. I was lucky. This was a structured situation, and I adapted to it quite well." Ballroom etiquette, including all of the formal courtesies exchanged between young ladies and gentlemen, is part of what Dulaine's classes try to impart. The fourth- and fifth-graders of the New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. Public School's Dancing Classrooms program don't always know what to make of the impeccably dressed, ever-polite man, but Dulaine and his teachers quickly win them over. When they partner up, by the way, the 10-year-olds are referred to as "dance teams" rather than "couples" to avoid the preadolescent pre·ad·o·les·cence n. The period of childhood just before the onset of puberty, often designated as between the ages of 10 and 12 in girls and 11 and 13 in boys. pre ick factor. "I'll say this in a nice way, not a big-headed way: I am an incredible teacher," says Dulaine. "I have a wonderful way with children. Children are like animals. They smell whether you're going to like them or not. And I'm so weird to them. I'm always dressed just I am now, teaching them ballroom dancing, being funny with them and joking. Somehow, we get it." According to "Take the Lead" director Liz Friedlander, a dance with Dulaine is also enough to temporarily make a lady delight in being treated as such, no matter how outdated the custom may seem. "I'm very much a strong woman. I'm working, I'm in control," recalls Friedlander. "I danced the tango with Pierre and he lifted me, and I was just, like, (gasp). You get this girl thing rushing to you. It puts you in touch with things that you almost intellectualize in·tel·lec·tu·al·ize v. 1. To furnish a rational structure or meaning for. 2. To engage in intellectualization. out of yourself, and it's just fun." CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Pierre Dulaine is the inspiration for the new movie ``Take the Lead.'' Evan Yee/Staff Photographer |
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