For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting Ron and Rebecca Kellen, they teach ballroom dancing here at the Adult Center on Friday nights.

Ron and Rebecca began dancing at a Community Center in San Jose in 1987 after attending IBM (they both worked for IBM) dinner dances and getting tired of just sitting. It didn't take long to realize that the best way to learn to dance was to take private lessons. They visited every dance studio in the area and chose the California Dance Center because they were friendly and had the philosophy of teaching that Ron and Rebecca perferred.

After taking lessons for a while, they decided that it would be fun to try a few dance competitions. They trained for the Southwest Regional Dance Tournament in San Diego, April 1991 and won first places in their solo dances. They then headed for the International Grand Ball in San Francisco where they once againwon t first place.

In the same year, Ron decided he would look at earlier retirement from IBM and so he began to think of a second career. The owner of the dance studio offered him a job teaching so he began teacher training in 1991 and became an instructor in 1992. He also received certification from Terpsichore (International Ballroom Dance Organization) in American Style Ballroom Dancing in August, 1992.

The Kellens primarily teach American Style Ballroom dancing: Ballroom Two Step, Bolero, Cha Cha, East Coast Swing, Foxtrot, Rumba, Samba, Tango and Waltz; with a couple of International Style; Quickstep and Viennese Waltz; thrown in for good measure.

The Kellen's philosphies is to teach fewer patterns with more hands on so that the students feel comfortable dancing that particular dance when the class is completed. There is nothing more frustrating than taking dance classes and learning 200 patterns and not being able to do any of them.

The Kellens believe ballroom dancing is for everybody. "There is no wrong in dancing, only better. As long as nobody gets hurt and you have fun, that's the whole goal." For a wonderful evening of great music and dancing, ttop by on a Friday night and meet Ron, Rebecca, and their group of dancers.