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West Chicago Woman Two-Steps to World Dancing Title

Posted on: Friday, 11 March 2005, 21:00 CST

It takes a lot of fancy footwork to rise through the ranks in the world of country-western dancing, but Ruta Teismann of West Chicago and her partner have done just that, again and again, and just earlier this month, once again.

Last month Teismann and Richard Podbielski of Midlothian took first place in the Couples Silver I division for the third year in a row in the United Country Western Dance Council's World Championship in Nashville, Tenn.

The competition includes dancers from around the world.

"A lot of people think it's square dancing, which it's not," said Teismann, who lives in the Cornerstone Lakes subdivision next to Charlestowne Mall.

"There are line dances with individual dancers, and couples dances. My partner and I compete in our age level (for dancers in their 50s), called the Silver level. Three years ago we won novice, or Silver III, last year we won intermediate, or Silver II, and this year we won advanced - Silver I."

Teismann and Podbielski performed an eight-dance program at the recent World Championships. These included what she called a double two, a polka, a nightclub, a cha-cha, a waltz, a two-step, and two kinds of swing.

"The program is a combination of country-western, and swing, but there's also a little ballroom and Latin thrown in, too," she said. "The judges want to see how you do in a broad range, and how you show the character of each dance.

"We did it all in one day, within two to three hours. There are a lot of costume changes."

Teismann and Podbielski have been competing together for the last five years, since starting out at a small local event.

"We danced socially before then. And I danced when I was young," Teismann said. "We met at a social dance event at the Willowbrook Ballroom. There's a huge dance community in Chicago, and every kind of dance club. You can always go as a single, and people meet partners there. Anybody can go, and anybody can fit right in."

It undoubtedly helps to take lessons, which this couple does at two locations: A Rivers DanceSport in Villa Park, where they study Latin, ballroom, and country with studio owner Matt Rivers and his wife Ula; and at Ballroom City, also in Villa Park, where they study swing with Jimmy Mulligan.

Teismann also has joined an older adult dance company run by Ula Rivers, who designed a new dance style she calls "Passion."

During the year, dancers compete in nationals three to six times a year. These are held throughout the country, such as in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Dallas, and Louisville.

Any spectator who has watched professional dancing either live or on television may wonder if all the partners are couples, too. But Teismann, who did date Podbielski for a while in the past, said, "Sometimes the people you dance with the best are people you are not in a relationship with. Sometimes it's easier not to mix the two."

When she's not busy taking lessons or practicing, Teismann, who has a doctorate in educational psychology, works from home as a coach and educator.

Previously she was a family therapist, and then worked for Accenture for several years. Dancing has bookended her professional life. She started out as a child, danced through college, then stopped to raise her two children, after which she started up again.

"Dancing is a wonderful hobby for me. It gets me out of my seat," Teismann said.

She added, "A lot of research shows that dance is one of the (few) physical activities which is good for the body and the brain, because you have to be figuring out patterns. It's like learning a language. It's always a challenge."

Teismann was born in Lithuania and describes herself as "bilingual and very bicultural." She said Lithuania has a culture rich in dance and colorful costuming.

"Lithuanians are big dancers. They love music and dance. You would just go to a cafe and people would hear music and get up and dance."

But it was not until she moved to America that Teismann began to study ballet, at the age of 12, and then modern dance through college and graduate school. Teismann and her family left Lithuania and lived in a refugee camp in Germany after World War II, from 1945 to 1950.

Sponsored by a relative, they were able to come to the United States and settled in Michigan when Teismann was only 6 years old.

"We were incredibly poor. My mom had to save grocery money to send me to dance school," she said.

Starting from such limited circumstances, it is no wonder that Teismann said she is surprised at how far she has advanced in the dance world.

"Once I discovered how much is available, I set my sights higher and higher. I'm just one of those people who love a challenge," she said. "But I did not think I would ever get to this level."

Source: Daily Herald; Arlington Heights, Ill.

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