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Where will you be tomorrow night? If you're not in LA at Nationals, and you're looking to dance, then your answer should be: "At Dance with Me Soho, for the NY USA Dance Spring Social!" And if you're hungry, we're going to have Popeye's fried chicken (plus rice and beans and cole slaw) at the party. You can dance away the calories after you've munched on the fried chicken.

We have a $3 discount off the price of admission (which is $15 for USA Dance members and students, $20 for all others) if you correctly answer a question randomly selected at the door. To make things a little easier for you, we've posted the questions on the event website so click here to see them.

Dance with Me Soho is the newest studio in town so if you haven't yet had a chance to check out the space, please join us tomorrow night for a night of fun, music, dancing and . . . fried chicken. Hope to see you there!

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SportsTravel, the sport world's event magazine, has an article in its April 2010 issue on the phenomenal growth of ballroom dancing in recent years. Read the on-line version here. Mention is made of USA Dance Nationals in LA, speaking of which . . . .

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At this writing, dancers from all across the United States are converging in Los Angeles for the USA Dance National DanceSport Championships. Some of the best DanceSport Athletes in the nation will be competing for the honor of representing the United States in more than a dozen IDSF world championships. Many more will be in the ballroom cheering them on. Carrie Ann Inaba will be reprising her role as a special celebrity judge to give out the Star Quality awards, which were first presented last year at Nationals in Baltimore. And because LA is the land of movies and tv, can we expect other stars -- perhaps some from Dancing with the Stars -- to make an appearance? The notion is not too far fetched since Maks Chmerkovskiy will be on the judging panel. Could that mean an appearance from his current partner on the show, ESPN commentator Erin Andrews? Hmmm? Those of you who are out there, be sure to let us know.

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Speaking of DWTS: Alas, the votes apparently were not there for our astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, who got eliminated Tuesday night after three weeks of competition. Buzz's dancing has not been stellar, as reflected in his low scores, and although he got by the first elimination last week, he proved not to be so fortunate this week. It looks like America did not want to see him be the first one out but it also was not keen on keeping him around. Bye-bye, Buzz; sorry to see you go.

As for the rest of the field, Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya put in a solid quickstep performance to start off Monday night's show, putting them at the top of the leaderboard. It was pretty much downhill from there, as the other performances, in waltz, quickstep and paso doble, went from merely okay to downright awful. And, yes, when I say "downright awful," I'm talking about Kate Gosselin and her stone-faced and rigid paso doble with Tony Dovolani. The best tribute to that performance came from late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon, who did his take on Kate's paso on his show. Jimmy nailed Kate's deadpan expression and stiff movements. Click here to see the clip.

And the Kate Hate doesn't end there. Bruno Tonioli appeared on George Lopez's late night talk show and shared what he really thought about Kate's dancing, calling it "pretty dreadful" and comparing it to a disaster movie. Click here for that clip.

Is it me or does Tony look like he wants out? If you see it too, maybe you'd like to buy one of these "Free Tony" t-shirts.

Are we being too harsh on Kate? One of our readers wrote in to express sympathy for her, noting that she has had no previous dance training and is up against an Olympic Gold medal figure skating champion and a pop singer with prior dance experience and training. Under those circumstance, this reader says, Kate's anxiety is understandable and Tony as the pro should have been more patient with her. In other words, Tony was the diva, not Kate. What do you think? Should we tone down the Kate Hate?

While you chew on that, remember that you can always join our DWTS@ACME group on Monday nights, at the bar in the back of ACME Bar & Grill. In case you haven't yet made the trip, here's what we look like. Last week, during the culmination of March Madness with the Butler-Duke game, more than a dozen of us swarmed the bar, edging out the regular sports fans. And a few of our group had one eye on DWTS and another on the game, so there's something for everybody. Hope you can join us there.

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Latin Dancers: Kristina Staykova will be giving a Latin Master Class in Samba next Saturday at Stepping Out, starting at 11:30 am. Kristina, a US National Professional Rising Star Champion and Blackpool semi-finalist, will cover fundamentals that you need to master the samba. The cost is just $30 per person. For more details, click here.

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Reminders:

• The 11th Annual Rutgers DanceSport Competition takes place on Saturday, April 17, at the College Avenue Gym on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus. Registration is now open and will close on April 9 -- that's TODAY. The cost is just $40 per competitor, so if you're looking to compete locally, without having to travel far, sign up! For more details, visit the competition website
• Dance Chelsea is offering a special promotion of an $85 unlimited practice card. For more details about this great deal, contact the studio or log on to their Facebook page.
• Manhattan Ballroom Dance studio has Standard rounds on Thursdays, from 9:30 to 10:30 pm. The floor is huge, with plenty of space to swing out, so if you're looking for a good place to run your standard routines, visit Manhattan Ballroom Dance studio on Thursday nights.
• Anyone needing practice space for any upcoming competitions should check out the special rates for USA Dance members at Basic Ballroom on West 35th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues.
• Dance with Me Soho will be hosting Practice Sessions, and they are offering both an unlimited option and a 10 practice session card. For the unlimited option, the cost is $100 per person, with a 15% discount to USA Dance members, so our members can get unlimited practice time at Dance with Me Soho for just $85 per person per month. If you would prefer to go for the 10 practice session card, the cost for that will be $100 per couple, with a 25% discount for USA Dance members, or $75 per couple. Questions? Please call the studio at (212) 840-Dance (3262).

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Looking to social dance? Here are some suggestions:

• Tonight, Hot Salsa Friday at the VIP Lounge at the Iguana. Doors open at 6 pm.
• Tonight, Friday Night with Abakuá at YSBD/Club 412, hosted by Frankie Martinez and Manny Blackett, featuring salsa/mambo and cha cha, starting at 9:00 pm.

• Tomorrow, April 10, the Rutgers DanceSport Alumni Club goes "Earthfullicious" at the College Avenue Gym on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus. It will be an evening of ballroom and latin dancing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. The Rutgers DanceSport Alumni Club will be selling CFL lights to help save the planet and to raise funds for their dance programming. For more details, click here
• Tomorrow, Millennium Dance Party at Club 412/YSBD, three DJs in three rooms, spinning hustle, salsa and ballroom. Lesson at 8 pm, dancing starts at 9 pm.
• Tomorrow, April 10: mixed ballroom dancing at Manhattan Ballroom Dance studio, starting at 7:30 pm with a free lesson. NOTE: The $10 discount for USA Dance members is no longer in effect; admission for all is now $15 per person.
• Sunday, April 11, Sunday Tea Party at Manhattan Ballroom Dance studio, mixed ballroom dancing starting at 3 pm.
• Monday, April 12, Salsa at Taj, with live band and special performances. Arrive before 7 pm and get in for $6 (admission price doubles after 7 pm).
• Tuesday, April 13, Hot Salsa, Hustle and West Coast Swing at Club 56 in Farmingdale, LI. Lesson in club style cha cha. Doors open at 7 pm.
• Thursday, April 15, Thursday Night Dance Club at Mirelle's, in Westbury, featuring Latin, Hustle and West Coast Swing. Lesson at 7:30 pm, dancing starts at 8:15 pm.

For more ideas, check Wayne's Dance Commentary or bailamosdance.com.

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Partner seekers: We have an advanced leader seeking an "open minded follower" who "has a passion and desire to shatter the boundaries of dance." Would that be you, perhaps? If so, visit the Partner Search page to answer the ad. Or feel free to post your own. It's free, it's easy, it's quick. Do it today!

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That does it for this week. See you at the Spring Social. And to those at Nationals: Dance well, enjoy, have a great time out there!

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Yang Chen
President
Greater NY
USA Dance
(NY USA Dance)