If you’ve been a member of Aria Ballroom for any length of time, then you will probably recognize Don Isenor and Fannia Xu. They are regulars for daytime practice, have competed often on the local competition scene, and are known for their fun and enthusiastic solo shows. Don and Fannia just recently competed at the USA Dance Amateur National Dance Championships, where they finished 2nd in the Senior 4 Championship Latin and the Senior 4 Championship Standard! So we thought, given their great recent achievements, we should take a moment to highlight this delightful couple.
Don and Fannia met on Match.com, before they started dancing together and before online dating was really a thing. You might say they were on the cutting edge of the online dating trend, and obviously it worked out for them! At the beginning, ballroom dancing was not a huge part of their lives. Fannia had always loved dancing as a child. Although she didn’t have the chance to take any lessons, she always danced whenever she heard music playing. When she was in elementary school, she joined a folk dance club and they performed at holiday festivals several times a year. As an adult, Fannia always looked for dance events to join, and that’s how she stumbled upon the world of Ballroom Dancing. She discovered that ballroom dance parties and events were very popular and the social aspect of it made it very fun for her, so she just slipped right into the ballroom dance scene.
Once things got serious between them, Don and Fannia started to go to local dance parties together. Don had never danced before, and Fannia was a social dancer without any formal training, just casually learning things as she went. At one particular party, Fannia was asked to danced by a French man. He was very energetic, had flashy movements and was constantly changing positions through lunges, spins, etc. Fannia and the French man drew a lot of attention from the other party-goers, and Don found himself feeling jealous. What did Don decide to do? Learn how to be an even better dancer! Fannia said, “Yes, that’s great!” and supported his new determination whole-heartedly. Don the Dancer was born!
In 2007, while living in Vancouver, Don and Fannia started taking group classes together in order to improve their social dancing skills. Then one day, in 2013, they attended a local dance competition as spectators and were surprised to see many of their social dancing acquaintances were participating in the competition!
“Well,” said Fannia, “if they can do it, we can do it too!”
In 2014, they began taking private lessons in preparation for their first competition.
We asked Fannia what they enjoy most about competing. She replied,
“We enjoy competition and the challenge of reaching for the next level up. Competing is a good way to know where you’re at and to measure your progress.”
She did admit, though, that competing has its own unique set of challenges. For instance, Fannia says that keeping a consistent practice schedule is difficult for them, and especially for Don.
“He enjoys competing but hates practicing,” she told us. “I found that if we set a target, then it’s easier to motivate him to practice. So we have two main targets to work toward all year round: one is competition and other one is showcase/performance. I like to showcase in different situations (like summer gala, holiday gala, NYE party, birthday party, international culture celebration events; and “guests got talent” in several cruise trips) and bring enjoyment to other people through our dancing. So far we have done over 50 showcases since 2013 June. Some of our dance friends have said our dancing improved very much, and even told us ‘You are our inspiration’!”
We asked what their favorite dances were.
“I generally like Latin dances,” Fannia said, “especially Cha Cha & Rumba. Cha Cha is very fun and full of energy, while Rumba is very sexy & emotional. Don likes the Waltz,” she added. “It makes him feel like he is inside the music.
“We have had lessons in Swing and Salsa and Argentine Tango but we found it a bit boring at the social events to dance in that one same style all night long. We also tried American style ballroom, accidentally, before we even knew there was a difference between American and International. We prefer International style, can’t really say why, it just fits us.
“We almost don’t do social dancing any more, because we are concentrating our energy and time to improve our dance skills by taking private lessons and practices,” she confessed. But for Fannia, it doesn’t really matter whether the dancing she is doing is social, competitive, or a showcase. “I just love the feeling of moving with music,” she said. “When I’m dancing I feel happy; I forget any negative thoughts. Dancing is also good exercise for the body and mind.”
Next we wanted to know what their goals were.
“Our short term goal is always the same: to improve the quality of all the Latin and Standard dances. Long term, we want to look like professionals dancing!” Then Fannia added with a laugh, “We’ll probably never reach it.”
One thing is for sure, Don and Fannia truly feel like Aria Ballroom would be the place that could help them achieve that goal.
“The instructors at Aria have very high skill levels; we compete and at Aria many of the teachers and students also compete and there are lots of amateur couples like us there too, so it’s a close community, almost like a second home for us.
“Seeing the kids start dancing and improving so fast is inspiring for us!” Fannia effused. “And the floor is almost always available, which is great since we often decide on the spur of the moment to go practice.”
Competing can give dancers a huge wealthy of fun and inspiring experiences, even if they’re not competing at a high or ultra-serious level. In fact, one of Don and Fannia’s most memorable experiences was only their second competition!
“The second time we ever competed,” Fannia explained, “we were living in Pittsburgh and we went to a competition in Toronto. It was quite a formal event, they even had a parade of athletes led by a Canadian flag bearer. We were only competing at Bronze level but the organizers were so excited to have an American couple attend that they gave us a big American flag and we marched at the head of the parade to represent the USA. They were so pleased to have us there, we didn’t have the heart to tell them that we were both actually Canadians ourselves!”
We at Aria Ballroom have really enjoyed having Don and Fannia as a part of our studio. They are so much fun to work with, their shows are entertaining and cute, and their dedication is inspiring. We hope that they will remain a part of #Team Aria for many years to come!
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