Strickly Ballroom -- Northwest Star Ball Revives A Former National Passion With Contrasts, Celebrations And All The Right Moves

In the end, it is about celebrating life, but in the beginning, ballroom dance is about contrasts. It is about the line between elegance and camp, passion and silliness, between the grace of art and the jolt of artifice.

Nowhere better to watch complexities of ballroom - which is enjoying a renaissance, especially since the Australian film, "Strictly Ballroom," opened - than at the annual Northwest Star Ball last weekend.

Enveloped by the soft glow of chandeliers and rose-colored walls of the Westin Hotel ballroom, dancers glided like butter across the glossy parquet floor, harking to a time when men aspired to be gentlemen and women ladies with no hint of irony.

The gowns, trimmed with ostrich feathers, yards of chiffon, lace, and cascades of sequins, pearls and rhinestones, filled the ballroom with creamy pastels and the glow of fiery sunsets.

Men donned tuxedos, and to the velvety tunes of Doris Day and Elvis, couples from around the nation competed for thousands of dollars in prizes. They did the waltz, foxtrot and tango, turning back time to the golden days of Fred and Ginger, to old-fashioned romance and seduction.

As lovely as ballroom is, when it becomes competitive, it can be ripe for mockery and low-brow campiness, making comedy-musical"Strictly Ballroom" not too far from the truth.

In truth, competition is something else.

It's about lots of women in one room with bright fake nails, synthetic eyelashes, caked blue eyeshadow. It is about more hair dyed the color of straw and snow than, perhaps, at a tractor pull.

Speaking of hair, the proper way for women to wear it in competition is to plaster it in the texture of concrete. Bangs are sprayed into a formidable wall. The hair is pulled into tall heaps and balls of little sausages, snakes and loops that would make Marge Simpson envious. But Marge's hair moves, and the key in competition is: No added movement but the sway of the skirt.

In competition, the dancing can be a study in contrasts - and rhythmic ritual.

The waltz, without a doubt, is a regal dance. When titles and money are on the line, it can also look incredibly silly. The professional way to waltz is to tilt the head away from the partner, cocked to the right and toward the ceiling. The overall effect is that dancers appear as if centrifugal force may cause them to fly apart at any minute.

And then there's the smile. The whole face should glow, sparkle, shine. One must convey: I'm waltzing! I'm beautiful! I have not a care in the world!

Nobody smiles, however, in the tango. The Argentine staccatoed dance is a restless prowl between the sexes: The heads snap back and forth, the steps are bold and athletic, dips full of whiplash, lips full of controlled passion.

Latin dances cha cha, samba and rumba, which are danced in a separate category from the waltz and foxtrot, oozed sizzle onto the floor.

Women wore tight, clingy, neon dresses you could stuff in an envelope. Men wore huge, billowy dress shirts open to the navel; the more chest hair exposed, the better.

The best of them danced with flair, arrogant struts, and an urgent, impassioned look of "I want you, and I'm serious."

Their bodies undulated, flesh vibrated, their hips rocked. They stomped the floor to the rhythm of castenets, eliciting squeals from the audience.

Doing Latin style a year

Seattle dancers Lisa Meade and Alex Samorano have been doing Latin style ballroom dance as a pair for more than a year. In a chartreuse dress, Meade expresses more sensuality with the flip of her fingers than most people do with their entire bodies.

"You get out there and you can do whatever you want to do," says 23-year-old Meade, a full-time dance instructor. "I can fulfill my dreams, I can be as flamboyant as I want to be."

Just as America escaped The Depression by watching the singing, dancing Hollywood musicals, many people find escape from day-to-day woes in dance. It offers freedom. A chance to forget that you're a clerk or accountant and pretend you're Chita Rivera or Gene Kelly.

When she's not dancing, 36-year-old Catherine Joy is a chiropractor. When she dances, she sheds her white lab coat and pirouettes in a satiny white gown with feathers.

"It makes you feel like you're back in the Forties," says Joy.

Between competitions, the Westin's ballroom floor was open to general public dancing. During a cha cha, 46-year-old substitute teacher Carolyn Johnson leapt from her chair, swayed her hips and scanned the room for an eligible partner. Forget the notions of junior high school dances, ballroom dance is no holds barred.

After spotting her man, Johnson made a beeline to him in her sparkly, silver T-strap pumps and dragged him to the floor.

"I'm all about having a good time," said Johnson, her short brown hair damp with sweat.

`In the now'

"When you're out there dancing, you can't be thinking about your work, or how your boyfriend or girlfriend dumped you, or how you just lost your job. You are in the now."

Dance instructors say younger people are flocking to the dance halls, especially teenagers who want to strut their stuff at proms. More men are dancing than before, and many singles say it's a fun, romantic way to meet someone.

"I have never seen as many young people doing it as in the last five years," says Ali Marashi, the 53-year-old owner of Pacific Dance Center and organizer of the Northwest Star Ball.

"Men's attitudes are changing, too," he added. "It's no longer a sissy thing. They are discovering that there is nothing more romantic than putting your hands around a woman."

Discovers ballroom

Last weekend found 18-year-old high-school graduate, Jennifer Morgan, competing in the cha cha and samba. Morgan has been dancing ballet and jazz for years, and more recently discovered ballroom.

It also found Marie Hord, a 65-year-old grandmother, competing in the waltzes. During World War II, Hord wore full skirts and bounced to the West Coast swing in dance halls as a teenager. She's kept with it since, saying it keeps her young. "My doctor says never stop dancing."

Above all else, a sweeping gaze across the vista left, among the other impressions, this: Ballroom dance is a great equalizer.

Young and old, fat and thin, athletes and couch potatoes: Unlike ballet and jazz, anyone can do ballroom.

All it takes is a few lessons, a hot-to-trot attitude, a classy outfit - and a pair of killer shoes.

-------------------------- A GUIDE TO BALLROOM DANCE: --------------------------

-- Waltz: A smooth, light dance to three-quarter time. Originated in Europe in the early 19th century.

-- Viennese waltz: Also called the quick waltz, because its tempo is faster than traditional waltz. It also has more quick turns.

-- Foxtrot: A dance with basic walking and quick, lively steps.

-- Tango: Argentine, dramatic dance with lots of posturing.

-- Jive: Also called the jitterbug, lindy and swing. Often danced to jazz. Emerged earlier this century in America.

-- Cha Cha: Fast Cuban rhythmic dance with three basic steps and a shuffle.

-- Bolero: Spanish dance with sharp turns and syncopated rhythm.

-- Rumba: Fast Cuban rhythmic dance with violent movements.

-- Paso Doble: Spanish dance of the bullfight. Lots of stomping.