4.8 When and where does Championship Ballroom Dancing air?
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This article is from the Dance FAQ, by eijkhout@jacobi.math.ucla.edu (Victor Eijkhout) with numerous contributions by others.
4.8 When and where does Championship Ballroom Dancing air?
Short answer: on PBS, probably a Wednesday in May. Check your local
listings.
"Championship Ballroom Dancing" is the only regularly scheduled
national broadcast of ballroom dancing in the U.S. It's an annual
televising of the Ohio Star Ball, a ballroom competition held each
November in Columbus, Ohio. Think of it as the unofficial North
American championship. The show consists of the professional int'l
style standard and Latin finals (see below for an explanation of
international style versus American), and typically also includes
cabaret events, and sometimes competitor interviews and/or American
style demos. Lately, it's been hosted by dancer/actress Juliet Prowse
and seven time U.S. int'l Latin champ Ron Montez.
The show is broadcast on the Public Broadcast Service (PBS) during the
May "sweeps" period and apparently enjoys excellent ratings. Contrary
to a persistent rumor, "CBD" is not generally broadcast during "pledge"
periods. This information comes directly from Aida Moreno, producer of
"CBD," who posted it in February of 1994 and confirmed it privately to
Eileen Bauer a year later.
However, because PBS stations have a lot more freedom to set their
schedules than do their commercial counterparts, some markets may show
"CBD" during pledge periods. It's not common, but it probably happens.
In any case, although many markets show it on the default broadcast
date -- typically the first or second Wednesday of the month -- not all
do. So you'll want to contact your local PBS station to find out the
date and time of broadcast in your viewing area.
For overseas folks: PBS is a broadcast television network in the U.S.,
supported by public funds (read: taxes) and contributions from viewers.
"Sweeps" months -- November, February and May -- are months when tv
advertisers look very closely at tv "ratings" (viewership
measurements), so all the networks, broadcast and cable -- including
PBS, oddly enough -- put on their best stuff; the number of shows with
sex and violence skyrockets (8-). "Pledge periods" are when PBS
stations interrupt programs to beg their viewers for donations; PBS
gets something like a third of its funding this way. [Henry Neeman
hneeman@ncsa.uiuc.edu ]
Juliet Prowse, who for years presented Championship Ballroom Dancing,
died on September 15, 1996.
Juliet Prowse was only 59. Was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two
years ago and the chemotherapy ruined her kidneys. She died at home in
California. I filed a newsspot for NPR for tonight's five o'clock
newscast so some of you may have heard that. She was trained as a
ballerina, but became a big movie star with her debut in Can Can
opposite Frank Sinatra. Hermes Pan discovered her in South Africa,
where she was a dancer in the Johannesburg ballet. She had the most
gorgeous legs I've ever seen and her smile was unforgettable. She was
romantically linked with Sinatra and later with Elvis Presley, with
whom she starred in GI Blues. She never stopped working, continuing to
adjust to the times, becoming a commentator for Ballroom competitions.
Juliet Prowse was gracious and kind and very much loved in show
business. She leaves a son, her mother and a longtime companion. [
tendu@access.digex.net ]
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