January 2006. Greetings from the new Chapter President.

Hello fellow dance enthusiasts. I am Jeffrey the Barak. It will be my pleasure to take on the responsibilities of the office of President of our chapter for 2006 and 2007.

USA Dance means different things to different people around the country. For some it's just a source of excellent social dancing, and in Los Angeles, with our largely older and less competitive membership, this has been the main function so far.

But no two chapters are alike, and we don't have to look too far to find other chapters that are bursting with Dancesport competitors, and amateur performers. This makes our chapter no less important to the national organization of USA Dance. We few dedicated dance fans have the honor of representing Los Angeles in the world of amateur dance. Yes, the one and only Los Angeles is ours to represent. We have a great responsibility to make our famous city at least equal to some of the more humble towns that do such a great job of holding the torch for USA Dance.

As I begin my tenure in this esteemed position, one of the first things I feel I should do is to remind everyone once again of the heroic efforts of those who created this chapter. Sure, many of us were at those first meetings, but most of us had never even heard of U.S.A.B.D.A., as it was then called, until Alexandra Caluen introduced the idea of starting a chapter in West Los Angeles, where none existed at the time.

And then there were Felix Ray and Priscilla Dean, who did so much for us, right until the end when they moved to the Phoenix/Scottsdale area in Arizona and created even bigger things for the dance community out there.

This year we say thank you, but not goodbye, to Michael Caan, outgoing President, into whose position I now step, and Kim Knode who did so much good work for Outreach that a big challenge awaits new Outreach Directors Michele and Martine for the next two years.

So as President, I should first remind all members that this is your chapter as much as it is mine. The idea is not to just pay your annual dues and then wait for the board to do things to entertain you. It's up to every member to contribute, so that our dance world becomes better for all members.

So what can you do? Yes you! It can be something small, like picking up a few plastic cups at a dance and putting them in the trash. Or it can be something wonderful like bringing your Salsa dancing neighbor to a ballroom event and perhaps encouraging them afterwards to enroll in a beginning ballroom class somewhere. Just a few things like that and the next thing you know, we have a few dozen new and enthusiastic members living the life and burning up the hardwood.

As many of you know, I can be a silly kind of guy at times, but I seriously understand how important this organization can be to all of us who love dance. Perhaps I will ask some of you to help in some way, or perhaps some of you will offer helpful ideas or acts on your own. Something we haven't even thought of yet. In fact all members should feel welcome to send me their ideas or questions any time. My email address is the barak @ the-vu.com.

To survive and to thrive, our organization needs new people, it needs new dancers aged nine, and new dancers aged ninety, and it needs a good attitude from all of us.

We will most likely continue to have social dance events both in our Culver City venue and hopefully also in interesting new places. But we will also try to be more like some of the other national chapters and support our members as they compete here and there, and perform here and there. USA Dance can be your family, your union, your club, your pit crew, your buddy, your guiding hand and your inspiration. Or it can just be somewhere to dance four or five times a year. What this chapter becomes depends on all of us.

Hopefully we will interact more with the huge chapter in neighboring Orange County and with the Inland Empire chapter, and hopefully more South Bay and East Side ballroom enthusiasts will begin to understand the benefits of joining the Los Angeles chapter.

And in two years, when it's time to let others take over as board members, I hope to see many enthusiastic volunteers just dying to give us a break. Some may be reading this today, and maybe some will be as yet unknown to us all.

Any member may contact me at any time with questions, suggestions and concerns. My email address is President@USAdance-LA.org