metro
*jcc nnaccabirt:
Zest For Life
GAMES®& ARTSFEST®
AUGUST 17-22, 2014
Sheri Mark finds new passion for ballroom dance
at national competition.
Atillft ■
Sheri Mark during the national ballroom dancing competition in Atlanta
Lynne Meredith Golodner
Special to the Jewish News
A
lthough she learned to jitterbug
and cha-cha when she was 5,
Sheri Mark had no idea she'd be
competing in a ballroom dance competi-
tion at age 60.
But that's exactly what the Bloomfield
Village resident, who is a nurse and attor-
ney, did last month. She's so energized
by gliding across the parquet that Mark
traveled to Atlanta to dance in her first
national competition, which was hosted
by Fred Astaire Dance Studios.
Locally, she is a student of the Fred
Astaire franchise in Bloomfield Township,
which offers Michigan's largest ballroom
dance floor.
Mark rediscovered ballroom dance
last fall when Molly MacDonald of the
Pink Fund asked her to participate in the
Dancing with the Survivors fundraiser at
Art Van headquarters. Mark, a seven-year
breast cancer survivor, was happy to help.
"Our family's always danced:' says
Mark, a Congregation Shir Tikvah mem-
ber with her husband, Dr. Abe Slaim. "My
husband and I have danced for 26 years
together and never taken lessons:'
She knew she'd have fun dancing for
such a great cause. What she didn't expect
was how much she'd love ballroom — to
the point of taking more than the eight
free lessons the studio provided for the
fundraiser.
And she couldn't have imagined that
she'd be whirling around the dance floor
14 May 22 • 2014
in Atlanta a year later in gorgeous gowns
designed by Randall Christensen, design-
er for Dancing with the Stars.
"After eight free lessons, I realized I
could do the dances, but I wasn't so great
at them:' she says. "I started paying for
lessons and had a wonderful time. Then
I decided to do a competition and see
what that was all about and, oh, it was
fabulous:'
Mission Accomplished
The competition was a "bucket list" item
for Mark. "It was like being in a movie,"
she says. "You get all dressed up, bling
in your hair, makeup done, your partner
takes your arm and takes you out onto
the floor; it was such a feel-good thing!'
While she didn't take home top prizes,
Mark held her own at the competition.
Judges gave her a lot of top marks in cou-
ples dancing as well as in her own skills
and steps. She can't wait to dance more
competitions.
And, Mark is looking forward to danc-
ing with her husband — after he takes
his own lessons, that is, so their talents
become well-matched.
"She's really put her heart and soul into
it; says Slaim, a family practice physi-
cian for 35 years. He is also chief of the
Department of Family Practice Medicine
at Oakwood Taylor Hospital.
"This is the most fun she's had in a
long time. A lot of our friends have been
saying, 'Boy, we wish we could dance:
Sheri says, 'Do it:"
Evan Mountain, owner of the local Fred
Astaire studio, said, "Sheri's doing fantas-
tic. She just wanted to do one compe-
tition, and now she's hooked on it and
confident about doing more. It's cool
to see how a big national competition,
and the camaraderie that comes from
it, really builds confidence:'
Thanks to Mark, Mountain is now
working with Mark's family business,
Weight Watchers Group, to bring
ballroom dance to several Weight
Watchers offices this summer.
"I feel so strongly that dance is
such a life-affirming endeavor; Mark
says. "It's so fun and it's exercise you
don't even realize is exercise:'
Mark's competition featured 99
heats of a minute and a half each.
She danced a variety of styles includ-
ing the waltz, tango, cha-cha, hustle,
merengue and more.
Mother to four and grandmother
to seven, Mark's family attended her
dress rehearsal before she left for
Atlanta.
Her 9-year-old granddaughter
watched her dance with her instructor-
partner, Jordan Cowan, and said, "Oh,
Nana, it's just like dancing with Prince
Charming. You have your own Prince
Charming to dance with:'
"I hope I continue dancing until the
day I die says Mark. "I want to be one of
those people dancing in their 90s."
When she's not on the parquet, Mark is
busy writing a book called Fire at My Feet
about her late father-in-law, a Holocaust
survivor who was hidden at the end
of the war by a German woman near
the Czech border. Their families have
remained close all these years; and Mark
and Slaim have nominated the woman
for a Yad Vashem designation "Righteous
Among the Nations:' and hope to travel
to Israel with her descendants to accept
the award.
"The German people, many of them
are wonderful; she says. "My husband
wouldn't be here if it wasn't for this
woman. I'm writing this book to honor
my father-in-law. The world should never
forget:'
Mark is actively involved in the Jewish
community; she sits on the board of
North Star Reach, an effort to build a
camp for children with serious health
challenges. ❑
The Dancing with the Survivors fund-
raiser will be held in October. For more,
contact Fred Astaire Dance Studio in
Bloomfield Township at (248) 454-1715.
Lynne Golodner is owner/chief creative
officer of Your People LLC. (www.yourppl.
com).
❑
Maccabi:
By The Numbers
I
Elizabeth Applebaum
T
Special to the Jewish News
kink it's daunting to feed your
teenage son and his ravenous
friends on a regular basis?
That pales in comparison to the con-
cept of feeding 260 million meals to
hungry teenagers. Yet, that is exactly
what volunteers for the JCC Maccabi
Games & ArtsFest have done since the
Games were founded just 31 years ago.
The Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit will host the
Games & ArtsFest Aug. 17-22 and, yes,
it's a big job. In addition to the 260
million meals (that's over the years –
not in one summer!), the event has
awarded 90,000 medals and hosted 140
unique delegations.
Here are a few more facts about the
Games, the world's largest gathering of
Jewish teens:
Some of the event's past partici-
pants have gone on to fame, including
these nine: Olympic champs Lenny
Krayzelburg and Jason Lezak, Survivor
Africa star Ethan Zohn, ESPN anchor
Steve Bunin, American Idol favorite
Brett Lowenstern, Jay Fiedler of the
Miami Dolphins, international soccer
star Sari Raber, Jason Segal of How
I Met Your Mother; and WNBA star
Rachel Friedman.
While the first North American JCC
Maccabi Games were held in 1982, the
Maccabi movement actually began in
1895, when the first all-Jewish sports
club was established in Constantinople.
According to JCC Maccabi Games
Director Ariella Monson, about 35,000
water bottles will be needed for this
summer's participants.
This year will mark the fifth time
Detroit has hosted the Games.
Eleven international delegations have
attended the event: Israel, Great Britain,
Venezuela, Argentina, Hungary, Poland,
South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Mexico
and Panama.
The first JCC Maccabi Games attract-
ed 300 participants.
It's customary to bring pins, showing
your home city, to trade at the Games.
Organizers estimate that some 50,000
of these pins have been created.
More than 77,000 men and women
have volunteered for the JCC Maccabi
Games & ArtsFest since they were start-
ed. Ready to join them? Call (248) 432-
5500 or visit www.2014detroit.org .
❑