Article in the Province newspaper, April 10, 1994
By Steve Berry
It’s strictly ballroom for Wendy and Andy Wong. They met 18 years ago at a UBC dance class and have been tripping the light fantastic ever since. The pair, married for 13 years, twirled and swirled their way to 13 B.C. Amateur Dance Championships in a row before turning professional last year. And how have they managed to samba so long and stay married? “Very carefully,” says Wendy with an easy laugh.
Now they’re taking their dancing dream one step further by opening what they call “Canada’s finest ballroom centre” in Richmond tonight. “We have dreamed about this for 10 years,” said Wendy, 38, who studied microbiology but ended up making dance costumes. “We’re trying to bring back the glamour of the ’30s and ’40s with a ’90s style,” she said.
But give up any ideas of alcohol-fuelled dancers fox-trotting their way through a haze of cigarette smoke. This is not the low-class dance hall your mother warned you against. This is pure dance heaven — no sinning here. The $500,000 hall, at 13720 Mayfield Pl., will handle 250 people and not one of them will smoke or drink as they cha-cha the night away. “Most of the dancers we know don’t tend to have the need to drink,” said Wendy, with just a trace of primness.
The teetotalling toe-tappers will have a 3,700-square-foot “custom-built sprung maple wood” floor to rumba over seven days a week. And if you feel your Charleston isn’t a knee-knocking knockout you can take lessons.
Andy, 38, a pharmacist, said tonight’s opening party sold out in three days two weeks ago as soon as the news spread through the thriving dance community. They are hoping for 1,000 members and already have 200 at $65 a year.
The public can dance the night away Thursday through Sunday for $10 to $12.
