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Making it a family dance night in 1986 are Steve Jasgur, Harriet Jasgur,
Rebecca Schlussel and Robert Jasgur.
A Little Bit of New York
Right Here in Bloomfield Hills
Joe Cornell on page 29
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"I worked as athletic director, dance
instructor and square dance caller," said
Joe, who now lives in California.
Back home, the combination of these
families and the ones he met while
teaching social graces and dancing
at the former Detroit JCC and in area
grade schools, gar-
nered him Jewish
friends, Jewish cli-
entele and his own
studio.
While the first
parties were held in
the Joe Cornell stu-
dio, Steve said, "By
the '70s, Joe became
the first mobile DJ
in town, driving
around with a trunk
Alana and Laurie
full of trophies."
In addition to
continuing to teach dance, Joe said,
"Suddenly, I was also a party director,
holding the mike at bar mitzvahs"
Well known around the country, Joe
continued through the years to study
dance, teach at large conventions and
run big communal dance parties. But
he always came back to working with
the kids and making sure that dance
was a way to lead them to good man-
ners and social skills.
Thrilled with how Steve and
Rebecca have carried on his work, Joe
said, "They are very industrious, very
sharp. I didn't want someone who
wouldn't last:' he said. "They had the
knowledge, and I knew they could take
it and run with it and make it bigger
than I ever did."
Steve and Rebecca get a kick out of
the students whose connections go
back to the days when Joe taught the
classes. "At parent orientation, Steve
always asks the kids: 'How many of you
have brothers or sisters who took Joe
Cornell?'" Rebecca said. "And three-
quarters of them raise their hands.
Then he asks how many have parents
who took our classes
and more than half raise
their hands. Then when
he asks for those whose
grandparents did Joe
Cornell, more than 25
percent keep their hands
up. It's just amazing:'
While Steve and
Rebecca's nieces used
to accompany them
to classes when they
were small, one is now
Nedelman
a graduate and one is
registered for an upcom-
ing class. So Rebecca brings her own
sons, who are 6 and 3, to special events.
In addition to being accompanied to
parties by the next generation, Rebecca
had a longstanding date with her dad at
the Joe Cornell annual VIP date night,
where students invite a parent, grand-
parent or special person to join them
in dance for the evening. "Even as an
adult, when I was the teacher, my dad
always came and danced with me she
said.
She knows other pre-teen dance
programs come and go, but Rebecca
maintains, "We are the local originators
of the pre-teen dance concept."
And with 30,000 graduates and hav-
ing hosted 5,000 parties, Steve added,
"It shows how our experience has
allowed us to change and continue on
from generation to generation." L