Article released in "Premier Dance & Entertainment" Magazine
September 2003 issue
"Portland's Dance Ambassadors to the World"
Sunnie Page and Jim Gray have become familiar
faces to the many regulars of the local dance community. During
the last couple of years they've become a favorite exhibition couple
not just in Portland, but also in Southern Oregon and New York City.
Watching their latest show at the USABDA New Year's Eve Dance, we
felt thrilled to have seen them develop into a mature, confident
and entertaining couple. We had to remind ourselves that this was
the same couple that just four years ago entered Ballroom Competition
as "Newcomers."
Sunnie and Jim have steadily risen through the ranks of amateur
ballroom competition. At the 2000 USABDA National Championships
they placed first in "Bronze" and "Silver" syllabus. They won "Novice"
the following year at the National Championships, they surprised
a lot of people with a first place in the "PreChampionship" Division,
and nearly made the semi-finals of the "Championship" Division.
They are currently ranked 7th in the Nation by the IDSF in the international
standard. A lot of people have been surprised by the almost mercurial
rise of this couple — coming from near obscurity and coming from
Portland, Oregon, of all places. Most of the top couples in the
United States come from former Soviet Republics, where they were
trained as children at government sponsored ballroom dance academies.
But "surprising" is what this couple has been all about from their
humble beginnings.
As you get to know Sunnie, you quickly find that she is full of
"surprises." Petite, neat, and always perfectly groomed, she does
not seem like the type of person who in High School volunteered
to be a foreign exchange student to Thailand, and, not in a big
city either, but a remote, primitive jungle village. Without electricity
or plumbing, he found herself living in a open air, 30 walled, family
hut. Daily breakfast consisted of alocal favorite: water beetles
with rice. Se admits to eating a lot of rice (without the beetles),
but she loved the experience and the people. Not realizing what
an unusual situation awaited for her in Thailand, Sunnie brought
along a festive, semi-formal gown with rhinestone buttons. The village
women cam up on it he first night there, and were fascinated by
it. After that, they gave her a special name, "Potchadapan," which
roughly means: clothes made of diamonds. If only they could see
her now.
Early interest in dance led Sunnie to participate in a jazz dance
quartet in High School. While studying abroad at this time, she
took lessons in traditional Thai and Japanese dance in Thailand
and Japan, respectively. Later during a Disneyland vacation, she
was captivated instantly and knew that was what she wanted to do.
Back in Portland, she signed up for group lessons at Tigard Dance
Studio with Ken Goin. Shyness kept her from dancing outside of the
classroom for over two years. When she saw the BYU ballroom dance
team perform in Portland, she realized she should compete to improve...and
wear those beautiful costumes!
At the first social dance she attended in Portland, she met Jim
Gray and discovered he was looking for a competition partner. They
enjoyed dancing together and got along well. Mutual friend Michael
Kurelowich (an amateur competitor who now teaches professionally
in Salem), took initiative and encouraged them to partner. After
talking, they agreed to practice together. Just two weeks later
they entered their first competition in Seattle beating out seven
other couples to place first in the Newcomer division of International
Standard. Interestingly, they'd only taken lessons together in International
Latin and Argentine Tango before that day! Their unexpected success
encouraged them to focus on standard.
Jim Gray loves to dance. His start came one evening when he followed
his father to a local square dance vent. He really enjoyed it and
found he had a knack for learning patterns quickly. Years later,
he looks back and says they were the happiest group of people he
ever met! Square dances also feature "round dancing." "Round dance
has a caller like square dance, but uses steps from the international
ballroom syllabus. Jim loved round dance and the challenge to learn
more and more figures. He danced with many partners throughout the
next five years and mastered one level after another. Eager to further
develop his skill, Jim turned to ballroom dance, and found his next
passion. After six years of social ballroom dance, Jim decided to
find a partner to achieve a higher level of skill through competition.
Four years later, Jim and Sunnie are easily the most successful
of Portland's amateur competitors and the most widely traveled.
During the last year they were in New York City six times for lessons
and competitions. Coaching and competitions also took them to Provo,
Utah; Vancouver, British Columbia, Kingston, Ontario; Las Vegas,
Nevada; Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Stamford, Connecticut;
Irvine, Palm Springs, Los Angeles and San Francisco, California;
Fairfield, New Jersey, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Seattle, Washington,
and more! To refine their skills they began competing and taking
coaching in England this year. In January they competed in two competitions
including the United Kindom Open, one of the largest competitions
in the world with 197 couples representing 42 countries in their
category. They returned to England this May for two more competitions
including "Blackpool — a "Mecca" for international ballroom competitors!
They placed 6th out of the American couples there, and look forward
to returning this November for the "International."
So what are their goals? Simply put: they want to rise as high in
competition as their resources will take. They admit to being as
surprised as anyone by their success to date! They never, ever imagined
when they started that they would be ranked where they are today.
They credit their success due to taking lessons with premier world-ranked
dancesport competitors, who provide them access to the most current
and accurate technique. They also credit Sunnie's parents, and the
flexibility of their coworkers, for supporting them in their dancesport
dreams. But they share a second goal as well; and that is to introduce
people in Portland to the beauty, grace, and excitement of competitive
ballroom dance. That is why they are so eager to take time out of
their very busy schedule to perform exhibitions.
Their commitment to DanceSport makes them the perfect cuople to
represent Portland wherever dance takes them, whether in the United
States, Canada, England, or the World. We will be eagerly following
their progress .