Ballroom Dancing Taking Steps Forward

It's never easy introducing something new; and with more traditional sports like baseball, soccer and football already established as popular recreational activities, bringing a new sport to town could certainly be an uphill climb.

But Viktoria Kharkina thinks there's room in town for at least one more competitive sport—ballroom dancing.

"It's something new for the community," said Kharkina. "I truly believe it benefits, it's not just dancing it's social skills, social interaction."

Harrison's new ballroom dancing program is currently being offered in the downtown and will soon expand into West Harrison. Current classes are mostly introductory and for fun, but Kharkina has bigger plans. She is bringing in talented instructors hoping that ballroom dancing will become a competitive sport in town sometime soon.

"I want to plant the seed to get people interested," she said.

There are currently about 25 students in Harrison's dance classes, which are offered through the recreatio department. Most of the students are children, but several adults have signed up as well. Classes run every Tuesday afternoon and students are split into age groups. Registration is on going and each class costs $10 for students and $18 for adults.

Kharkina, who is also a teacher at , said she is bringing in top-notch instructors because she sees a niche for ballroom dancing in Harrison.

"We bring very, very talented and experienced dancers and instructors to Harrison to work with our community," Kharkina said.

Experienced dancer and instructor Alex Tchassov is leading the way as instructor after spending years as an award-winning professional instructor in New York City and Russia.

Although getting children and parents interested in the sport is a good start, Kharkina said she has lofty goals for the program in the future. Down the road, Kharkina said she hopes to have a competitive Harrison ballroom dancing team as a club or high school sport.

"That's my true dream that I want to work toward," she said.

Ballroom dancing is more sophisticated than just memorizing steps and bringing them to the dance floor. Tahassov said the sport offers lessons in balance, coordination, memory, social skills and etiquette, among other things.

And isn't that what most sports are all about? Tahassov said competitive ballroom dancing offers many of the same lessons learned in other sports, just in a different venue.

"It's not just about dancing, it's about much more," he said before leading a class of about 10 students this week. "Basically we are teaching kids and adults to be good sharers, to be good ladies and gentlemen."