North American Same-Sex Partner Dance Association

Embracing and Welcoming ALL Dance Couples and Dancers

The NASSPDA Board of Directors

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As a not-for-profit, operations are managed by a Board of Directors who follow the NASSPDA Board of Governance Policies.

 

If you would like information on the election process, or would like to be on the Board, please read more here. Election Process

 

     Current Board Members

      Benjamin Soencksen, President

      Benjamin is originally from Germany, and comes from a family of competitors and judges in the world of Dancesport. He competed successfully for about 30 years in International Style Latin and Standard throughout the world in mainstream and same-sex dance competitions. For about 25 years, he has managed several different dance studios and departments within dance studios in New York and New Jersey (19 years at Stepping Out Studios, NYC). As part of his decades of experience as a dancer, he studied all styles of partnership dancing and its history. In 2007, he started DAGE (Dancesport Alliance for Gender Equality), a network of social and competitive same-sex dancers in the Tri-State area with each other via a Yahoo group, now defunct. Since 2009, he has been serving on the Board of Directors of the North American Same-Sex Partner Dance Association (www.nasspda.org) first as Secretary and currently as President, and had been instrumental in writing NASSPDA’s and IFSSDA’s Competition Rules. He has been invited as an adjudicator to many queer events and functioned often as the head judge, including the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Gay Games. At the 2018 April Follies, the prestigious Richard Lamberty Community Service Trophy was awarded to him for many years of volunteer work in the same-sex dance community. As the delegate from NASSPDA to the Federation of Gay Games, he is a member of the FGG’s Sports Committee and has been elected as the Sport Coordinator for Dancesport. He lives since 1982 in New York City and is now fully retired. With his last position held as Business & Finance Director at Dixon Place, a non-profit theater presenting performing arts of all genres in development, he was able to add to his experience within the non-profit sector, having served previously on the Board of an organization promoting contemporary dance and as President of a Co-op of apartments. He continues serving the queer dance community and enjoys the arts with his life partner of almost a quarter of a century within the Tri-State area.

      Lee Fox, Treasurer

      Lee Fox is originally from Georgia but now calls Ft. Lauderdale, Florida his home. He has been teaching Ballroom, Latin, and Disco since 1978, and Country/Western since 1991. He has obtained licentiate degrees in the International Standard, International Latin, American Rhythm, and Theater Arts Styles with the Imperial Society of the Teachers of Dance (ISTD); master degrees in the American Smooth and American Rhythm Styles with the National Dance Teachers Association (NDTA); and a member degree in the American style with North American Dance Teachers Association (NADTA). He is the Competition Director for the International Association of Gay/Lesbian Country Western Dance Clubs (IAGLCWDC) and the treasurer of the North American Same Sex Partner Dance Association (NASSPDA). He is also the vice-president and Examinations Chair of the National Dance Teachers Association of America (NDTA). He is registered to adjudicate with USA Dance and North American Same Sex Partner Dance Association (NASSPDA) and has served as Chair of Judges for several mainstream and same sex competitions in the USA, Canada, and abroad. A former ballroom competitor, he has judged several competitions in the United States including the United States Dancesport Championships (USDC). He and his ballroom partner, Scott, competed in ballroom at the Gay Games in Amsterdam in 1998 and the Gay Games in Australia in 2002 making the class A finals both times. He and his country partner, Chris, were the first Championship winners in the IAGLCWDC Couples Competition in 1998 and have performed at many hoedowns and fund¬raisers. He has served as the choreographer/instructor for several dance teams including the Southern Country South Florida Dream Team, the SunDancers, Heels On Fire, and Team Scandalous. He is also one of the original members of Crossfire, an all male dance team, winners of the 2005 international country-western dance teams competition.

      Erik Jaeger, Secretary

      Erik Jaeger and his husband were active competitive same-sex International Standard ballroom dances from 2011 to 2019, when they retired from dancing. Through their career, they competed in two Gay Games, several US and North American Championships, European Championships, as well as many competitions in Germany, the UK, Switzerland and the USA. Erik is semi-retired and has his own marketing consulting firm. He and his husband reside in Palm Springs, California. Besides his work with NASSPDA, Erik is also active in the USA Dance Gender-Neutral committee.

      Kalin Mitov

      Same-sex ballroom dancing has been an important part of my life. I started with competing in 2004. I then moved on to promoting same-sex dancing as a fun and creative activity for the LGBT community. The community introduced dancers to create couples and of course organizes same-sex ballroom dance events and competitions. I believe that uniting and connecting all partner same-sex dance groups will make the dance community more visible and that this will place us on the map.

      I have organized same-sex ballroom dance competitions since 2013 as well us some workshops, fundraisers, social dance nights and performances. My goals are to introduce, encourage, and advocate same-sex ballroom dancing and, in this way, to celebrate and give back to the LGBT community.

      Emma DiFrancesco

      Emma started competing as a college freshman at Tufts University in 2012, though her love for partner dancing started at age nine. Her first NASSPDA competition, and first competition as a leader, was the inaugural Boston Open in 2013.

      She continues to compete in open Latin on the New England collegiate circuit, as well as at competitions hosted by the NDCA and, of course, NASSPDA. In that time, she has become a trailblazer for post-collegiate same-sex dancesport in New England, and strives to create a sense of unity among the same-sex and LGBTQ+ collegiate dancers in her network, encouraging younger dancers to reach their potential and take pride in their presence at competitions. She was featured in the Dance for Pride 2020 speakers’ panel.

      Her Facebook group, “Disregard Gender, Acquire Ballroom,” aims not only to encourage this sense of community among collegiate dancers, but also connect them with dancers from all over who are not only affiliated with colleges, but also with NASSPDA and other circuits.

      Emma has a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Psychology and specializes in accessibility, but also has experience in graphic and web design and designed the logo for the Gateway DanceSport Festival.

      Eddie Alba

      I am a former Same Sex competitor and a California State Same Sex Latin Champion. I am currently a NASSPDA member and Adjudicator. I’m also currently working on developing and enlarging the same sex ballroom dancing community in Southern California.

      I have been in the Ballroom dancing business for 20 years as an instructor, a competitor, choreographer, studio owner and judge. My leadership skills were developed by managing a very large studio for nine years and now I am the managing co-owner of one of the largest studios in Southern California. For the last 5 years, I have been involved with the Assistance League of Newport Mesa, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children in need in the Orange County area organizing a yearly fundraising event modeled after the TV show Dancing with the Stars.