Avant Garde Studio Opening July 2012

In July we attended the opening of Avant Garde Dance studio, in Rockville, MD. The new studio is directed by Michaela "Pinky" Puno, Slava Sergeiv, and Nick Short. Nick has coached Roxi and I for several years now, and we were very happy to see his dream of studio ownership come full circle.

Attendance at the professional "soft" opening was by invitation only. Those attending were a who's who of the local dance scene. I was impressed that many local studio owners attended this event, including Michael Rye from Dance Bethesda along with Irina and Ron Bennett, from Chevy Chase Ballroom.

Several leading Pro/am's attended as well: Marcy Garson, Sophia D'Angelo, Simone Done, Miguel Ramos, Danielle Roeber, Alice Williams, David and Amy Pollinger, and Bill Zeisel.

Among the many guest attending were several of the DC area judges, Including Dan Calloway, Beverly Donahue, and Pat Traymore. Pat looked vibrant and took the time to catch up with Roxi. They always chat about their favorite Nail salons. It was nice to see her again.

My coworkers from Arlington were noticeably absent from the opening night: Daria Zotova, Kirill Gorjatsev and Dmitiri Dolgopolov. They were all invited but declined their invitations. I was both saddened and surprised by that, especially when nearly every local studio was represented at this event.

The evening gala was an elegant affair, with a formal catering and an open bar. Music and general dancing followed, along with a video tour of the facility and its' construction. Roxi and I got to join in for the Samba line Dance with Chris Thompson before heading home that night. It was the perfect way to end the evening. Meeting up with old friends and mending fences.