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Health & Fitness

If you love Dancing for the Stars and fighting cancer!

Dazzling ‘Dance for the Cure’ by the Chevy Chase Ballroom and DanceSport Center Waltzed In with $21,000 for the American Cancer Society on Oct. 13. Here's the story of the event's founding.  There will be one next year too!

 

Irina Sarukhanyan studied ballroom ballet in her native Armenia starting at age five and by the time she was 17, had her own dance studio and gave lessons.  Little did she know that her destiny would be to co-own the very successful Chevy Chase Dance Ballroom and DanceSport Center on busy Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C., and that one of her passions would become fundraising to fight cancer in her mother’s memory with a spectacular event called Dance for the Cure.   

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Devastated after her mother passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2008, Irina told her husband Harry that she wanted to become a doctor to cure cancer.  But Harry, a lawyer, had a better idea - why not dance for a cure?  After all, Irina is a world-class dancer who has represented the U.S. in competitions and has a faithful following of students, friends and champion dancing friends whom she could involve…and so she did!

Together with Dance for the Cure creative director Leah McCloskey, an artist and dancer from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Irina put on the 4th Annual Dance for the Cure Charity Ball at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C., on October 13, 2013, featuring world champion dancers who dazzled a crowd of 260 with styles such as Argentine Tango, International Standard, American Rhythm, Cabaret and tap.  The evening included 20 dance performances, a four-course dinner and a silent auction, raising $21,000 that went to the American Cancer Society to fight cancer through research, services and programs for patients and advocacy. 

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“I created Dance for the Cure not just for my mom, but because it’s a cause that’s close to everyone’s heart,” says Irina.  Her Chevy Chase Ballroom business partner Garry Gekhman has also been affected – his mother died of breast cancer, and Leah’s father died of prostate cancer. 

Leah and Irina teamed up after they met at a dance competition, where Leah was displaying her dynamic, original portraits of dancers.  Since then, Leah has been a creative force behind Dance for the Cure, including using her professional graphic skills to design the beautiful purple and pink logo of a couple dancing. 

“We decided to give to the American Cancer Society because it fights all cancers, and our fundraising will go to the best use to find a cure for them all one day,” says Irina.

Plans for the 5th Annual Dance for the Cure are underway.  In addition, Irina, Garry and Ron Bennett, previous owner of the Chevy Chase Dance Ballroom, are holding the 26th Annual Yuletide Ball Championships and New Year’s Eve Gala on December 31 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott, which includes a Dance for the Cure Championship competition.  All of the entry fees paid by competitors for the Dance for the Cure Championship division go to the American Cancer Society.  For more information and tickets for both events, see www.dance4thecure.com or call 202-363-8344. 

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