Monthly e-Newsletter | April 2021
Board of Directors Election
Election Committee
It's election time! 

Ballots will be sent out shortly, so please check your emails and return your votes by the specified date in May. NASSPDA is using 'Monkey Survey' to facilitate the voting process. 
Confirmation of election results and the election/confirmation of officers in the following Board Meeting will be published to all via the June eNewsletter, NASSPDA's website and Facebook.

If you have questions, please email: info@nasspda.org
Dance Workshops - Free and Online
“Take Pride in Your Dancing!”
Join Julianne Daniells, co-owner of DanceWise Dance Studio, active NASSPDA professional competitor & advocate, for a three (3) workshop series inApril.
April is typically Pride month in Phoenix, where the studio is located and which is when we celebrate diversity, inclusion, and equality. However, every single day we should celebrate and embrace Pride in all aspects of life! 
 
“Take Pride in Your Dancing” focuses on promoting diversity, inclusion, and equality, all the while teaching you how to improve your skills and confidence in your dancing! Even if you have never danced before, don’t worry – you can join in and take pride in the fact that you’re trying something new! 
 
This workshop series is covering three different dance style groups – American Smooth, American Rhythm & Club Style Dances. Each session provides exercises, techniques, and characterizations for the different dance genres to benefit ALL dancers, from beginning to advanced, and social to professional competitors. Workshops are one (1) hour long each and are sure to build your confidence, understanding and skills so you can really take pride in your dancing!  
The third and final workshop will be Club Style Dances on Sunday April 25th at 4pm Arizona time. 

Sign up here:
Announcements
Scholarships for 2021 Events
SIX scholarships are available to anyone that is planning to attend a NASSPDA sanctioned competition taking place in 2021, in support of covering expenses related to participating. 
Each one is in the amount of $400 plus a one-year NASSPDA Individual Membership.
K&E Lateral
Ambassador Program
In need of broader visibility, better promotion in the DanceSport world and advocating for same-sex competitive dancing, NASSPDA is looking to engage Ambassadors.
  As many North American DanceSport organizations have changed their definition of a dance couple, we are witnessing interest and participation of newly formed same-sex, reverse role, and gender-neutral couples at their events. Many of those couples haven't been introduced or exposed to NASSPDA as an organization; hence, they also do not know the benefits of being a member of NASSPDA.
Membership Directory
Have you checked out the NASSPDA Membership Directory? 
This is a resource to allow NASSPDA members to connect with others in the community. Please contact Horace Luong (hluong@nasspda.org) if you'd like to be added to the directory (being added is a privilege available to NASSPDA members only).
Donation
A Big Thank You!
The Board of Directors would like to sincerely thank all the individuals and businesses who have donated to NASSPDA in our recent fundraising drive. Through the generosity of our community, we’ve exceed the match offered by NASSPDA Vice-President Debbie Esparza and have raised a total of over $4,100 ! 
The funds will be used to support programming, scholarships, maintaining our presence in the dance community and beyond and to help further our mission to expand.
Competition Calendar
Competition Committee

NASSPDA non-sanctioned events:

Delaware Valley Invitational Equality Ball
August, 22 2021


NASSPDA sanctioned competitions in scheduled for 2021

New England Open - 2021 North American Same-Sex Championship
Boston - Needham, MA
In person, Fall of 2021

 
The XI Gay Games will be held in Hong Kong from November 9 to 22, 2022, and pre-registration has just opened. 
Please, visit: https://gghk2022.com/en/ for more information.
Connecting with Our Community
We aim to grow back from the pandemic with a stronger community. Therefore it's more important now than ever where we want to make sure our membership and community can freely communicate with the NASSPDA Board. 
Our next NASSPDA Board meeting is scheduled for June 6. If you have ideas to share, questions for us to address, or a concern to raise, please submit your thoughts to info@nasspda.org by June 1. We look forward to hearing from you.