Alumni

We love our Alumni! If you are one and would like us to have updates on what you’re up to, please email Matthew, the President of External Affairs. Also let him know if you would like to receive periodic emails on club happenings and events.

Updates

From Stephanie Doupnik, President 2005

Dear Dancers,

As one of the more recent alumni, I don’t have quite as much exciting
news as some of my peers.  My adventures since graduating in May of
2007 have not taken me on any trans-atlantic or continental moves, nor
have I taken any steps towards settling or starting a family.  Many,
many congratulations, though, to all of you with exciting life news!

Instead, I have spent the past year and a half living in Philadelphia,
studying medicine at Drexel University.  It’s been a whirlwind of
information so far, and I’ve learned more than I thought there was to
know.  Other than studying a lot, I’ve been able to do some
interesting work at Salvation Army free clinic where students give
medical care to adults and read with kids.  Unfortunately, all that
has left me with very little time to do any serious dancing.  Living
in the city, though, I’ve been able to go to a few salsa clubs with
friends, and I do have the occasional solo dance party in my room to
blow off steam.  And, of course, it was great to see those of you who
came to the competition at UPenn last spring!

I wish you all the best, and one of these days, I’ll be able to take a
weekend off to come visit!  Keep dancing!

Much Ballroom Love,

Stephanie

From Erin Palmer (formerly Golub), Secretary 2005:

Since I graduated in 2006, I started grad school at Stony Brook
University in Long Island, near New York City in Computer Science. I
am currently working on my PhD, which I am hoping to finish in about
3-4 years. In October 2007, I got married to Chris Palmer (also a
former club member). Though unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to
do much ballroom dancing since graduating (since Stony Brook’s club
was simply not up to par with UVA’s), our wedding was attended by a
few former members of the club, so of course there was a lot of
ballroom dancing at the wedding!

Now I am taking a short detour from graduate school, dancing and
everything to start our family. In fact, on September 29th, I gave
birth to the two most beautiful baby girls, who will for sure be
future ballroom dancers: Anya and Alyssa Palmer. So I am taking some
time off of school to take care of them and going back to school in
February of 2009.

We live very close to New York City (which is where Chris works), so
we hope to be able to participate more in the city’s ballroom dancing
scene once the girls are older, for now we will just be rocking them
to sleep to some waltz tunes, just to get the acclimated and ready for
their own ballroom careers.

I miss all of you in the club, and attending all the events! I hope we
will be able to visit some of the club events some time in not too
distant future!

Much Ballroom Love,
Erin (and family)

From Melissa Kahn, President and Club Founder:

I quit my job at Sotheby’s New York in December to return back home to Los Angeles.  The quarter-life crisis has been liberating!  New York was wonderful, but LA is where I hope to see myself for the long term.  Happily, I had my lovely childhood bedroom waiting for me here.

I’m taking some time off to reinvent myself and hope to start doing some personal management work in LA (taking on private clients who need help to manage their homes, plan parties and social events, assistance with building or liquidating an art collection, etc.).  Basically an endeavor that would let me do the lifestyle things that I enjoy doing for myself, but for other people.

Since I had the time to do it, I just returned from a vacation to South America, where I enjoyed Tango in Buenos Aires (sooo different from our Ballroom tangos!) and Samba in Rio.  I also danced in several country bars at the tip of the world, in Argentine Patagonia.  Aside from the songs being in Spanish, one could have mistaken these places for the a local watering hole in Texas where everyone danced until 4am, then headed out to the Glaciers!

Back in LA, I have found a great old studio in an Elk’s Club building in Koreatown.  It’s called Westmor Ballroom and has some very reasonable lessons on Sunday afternoons.  I took several years off from dancing when I was in NY, since it always seemed to require more money or time than I had available.  It feels great to get back in my heels and be on the dance floor again!

I am always jealous when I see the wonderful club updates you keep coming our way.  Your dance and social events look amazing, and I’m so proud of what you continue to accomplish at UVA.  These are skills and friendships you will carry with you for life!  Please know that you will always have a friend and dance partner in Los Angeles, and I hope to visit you all in Virginia soon!  Class of ’03 Alums–you’ll definitely see me at Reunions in June!

Much Ballroom Love,

Melissa

From Andrea Ker, Co-President 2003:
I recently had dinner with Sara Lewis (Co-President 2003) and Alexis Brewer (President 2004) at the Melting Pot! It was a lot of fun and we had a good time catching up with each other. I have not danced much since graduating in 2004, but I did get married and bought a house in Woodbridge, VA in June 2005. My husband, Kevin Ker, and I both work as Software Testers for American Systems in Rosslyn, VA. I also bartend part-time at a local country club. We are enjoying family and friends and making plans to do more traveling in the next few years.

From Ganesh Pai (’02, ’07)
Greetings from Germany and the Rhineland! It has been almost an year since I moved here for work. Germany, and Europe in general, is a fascinating and exciting place to live; there’s lots of places to travel to, things to see and do. Although I’ve had a chance to dance a little bit here, it’s not been the same as it was with UVA Ballroom. Indeed, I miss having my Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday evenings (AND sometimes Sundays) scheduled for ballroom. Looking back, I dare say that some of my fondest  memories at UVA and many of my best friends are from the UVA Ballroom Dance Club. I’m so pleased to see that the club, and the camaraderie of its members, is continuing as strongly as it did when I was a member. As they say here, viel Glück und viel Spaß! (good luck and have fun!)

PS. The Rhine river cruise-boats are a killer place to have a ballroom bump ‘n grind party!

Honor Roll for Donations 2008

We would like to express thanks and our deepest gratitude to:
Andrea Ker
Melissa Kahn
Kate Rothrock & the Rhapsody Ballet Ensemble
Richard Peng
Richard & Susan Rothenberg