Teaching Piano Lessons for 80 years. At 95-years old, Elba Ruilova still teaches piano lessons four afternoons a week from her west Tampa home. She began teaching when she was 15.
By
Alexandra Zayas, Times Staff Writer
In print: Thursday, May 22, 2008
Lynn Crosby, right, takes a break and watches her fellow Florida Mavericks line dancing members, from left, John Reyes, Adam Sakowski, Roger Bell, Jesse Rivera, and Chris Kilburn as they practice Monday at Lounge 714 in the GaYbor district.
TAMPA — If you happen to be in Ybor City this weekend, expect to see cowboy hats. Expect to hear music involving trucks and hound dogs. And expect the unexpected.
Pink fringes. A line dance step reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz. A man doing a cartwheel off another man's leg.
"In the gay circuit, you dance with a man, you dance with a woman, it doesn't matter," Roger Bell said. "Nobody turns their head twice."
"Unless," Chris Kilburn added, "they think you're hot."
Through Sunday, hundreds of gay cowboys and cowgirls will compete at the Tampa Marriott Waterside for the Tampa Bay Yo Ho Hoedown, the annual convention of the International Association of Gay and Lesbian Country Western Dance Clubs.
The convention almost went to Orlando. But Roger Bell, who founded the Ybor-based Florida Mavericks line dance team, offered the organization Tampa and its growing GaYbor district.
The high concentration of new gay businesses in the surrounding blocks on Ybor's west end are putting Tampa on the map as a gay-friendly tourist destination. Of the more than 1,000 people coming in for the competition, an estimated 75 percent have never visited Tampa.
The Mavericks scored the competition. Now, they want to win it.
• • •
It's Monday night at Lounge 714 in Ybor City. Eight men and three women stand in silent formation, heads bowed, hands on their cowboy hats. Kilburn, the team choreographer, regulates.
"Hold it … Hold it …"
Then, the sound of a horse clopping. The hats come off in unison. And on, and off, and on again. If anyone drops theirs, it could cost the team precious points.
But this is their trademark, Bell says. "Our hats probably leave our heads more than anyone would chance."
The amateur team placed second in last year's Atlanta competition. It was their first. Bell, 37, competed in a gay Virginia team in the 1990s. When he moved to Tampa, he formed his own.
The Florida Mavericks are amateurs, ages 23 to 52. They incorporate a gay "Dorothy step," which involves a tap and a skip, but mostly stick to the traditional.
"We're trying to keep it as much country western as we can without doing jazz hands, spirit fingers, swan leaps," Kilburn said. "But there are lots of teams that do."
There isn't much crossover between the gay and straight dance worlds. Mainstream groups like the United Country Western Dance Council don't permit same-sex couple dancing.
But there's also no animosity.
"It was just more of a venue where you could feel more open with people and be yourself," Bell said. "We feel comfortable, they feel comfortable."
Jesse Rivera was 18 years old and 100 pounds overweight, just out of the closet and searching for an identity. He liked the personal space line dancing offered.
He could dance by himself, and not feel pressure. Wear whatever he wanted, and not feel judged. Be a gay man, and not a sissy.
Now 24, he's a Maverick. And 100 pounds lighter.
Alexandra Zayas can be reached at azayas@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3354.
.IF YOU GO
Tampa Bay Yo Ho Hoedown
The convention kicks off with a "Pillage the Village" pub crawl in Ybor City tonight at 6 p.m., starting at Lounge 714, 1395 E Seventh Ave.
Registration is $120, and starts at 8 a.m. Friday at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina, 700 S Florida Ave. For full schedule and day pass information, visit hoedown2008.com.
[Last modified: May 25, 2008 12:37 PM]
Comments on this article
by Phil
May 25, 2008 12:37 PM
'Gay line dancing'? Thats like saying 'hot fire' or 'short midget'. Its line dancing. By definition, it already is gay.
by Bill
May 25, 2008 12:37 PM
..and this is newsworthy why? To condone an abnormal lifestyle? This is why families will stay away from Ybor City and it will be the eventual ruin of what was a nice night spot.
by Bruce
May 25, 2008 12:37 PM
It's fastly becoming GaYbor City
by Paul
May 25, 2008 12:37 PM
Does this mean Rhonda Storms will have a mental breakdown and try to outlaw Ybor? haha! The gay cowboys should send her a personal invite.
by Dave
May 25, 2008 12:37 PM
I hope the gay district in this town takes off. I am a 34 y/o MWM in Valrico and I used to love going to the Castro in San Francisco. The nicest people, cleanest neighborhoods, and hardest partying crowd I have ever met.
by Willy
May 25, 2008 12:37 PM
Is this a close contact sport?
by Manavis
May 25, 2008 12:37 PM
The Tampa 2 Step!
by Bill
May 25, 2008 12:37 PM
Round 'em up -- RAWHIDE! Say, are those chaps you're wearing cowboy? By the way, that crowbar isn't needed to open minds, you'll need it to pry these dancers apart.
by Curt
May 25, 2008 12:36 PM
The real abomination is country line dancing. The gays must have taken Broke Back Mountain a little too seriously.
by Greg
May 24, 2008 2:04 PM
Looks like a great hobby, seeing friends, great exersize, and such diversity. Line dancing and two-step are a blast!! Hope more discover the comraderie. Enjoy the Ho down boys and girls....
And all the social commentary, its a riot !.. LOL
by Tee
May 24, 2008 1:57 PM
Save a horse...ride a cowboy. All them north county blue shirts are home prepping their chaps. I ain't never danced with a man before, but oh how I love his two-steppin; all that bristly muscleness!!!
by Lee
May 23, 2008 8:55 PM
You close minded people making sude comments need to open your minds. that may recquire a crow bar for a few of you. And letting children see this is a good thing--maybe they won't grow up to be close minded jerks. Live an dlet live!!
by DAVID
May 23, 2008 4:22 PM
face it. Tampa is FULL of gay people. Just hope they all spend money..Ybor needs it.
by bdiddy
May 23, 2008 4:21 PM
Did someone say "SKIP"- I just LOVE to SKIP!
by Vince
May 23, 2008 4:21 PM
Just what our kids need to be reading about. Way to go, St. Pete Times!
by Rex
May 23, 2008 4:16 PM
I wonder if the Indian, the Cop, et al are invited to the Gay Cowboy Dance Off? C'mon - What about the rest of the Village People??
by Carlos
May 23, 2008 3:15 PM
I thinks this it great! It shows homosexuals really yearn to be like other people, and therein lies the seed of their eventual social integration. The rest of us could look forward to the recovery of that wonderful word "gay" for general use.
by Ken
May 23, 2008 3:11 PM
This is reporting garbage. By the way, you new format that replaced the "Floridian" section stinks. Among other things, need a microscope to read the comics.
by wazzamattaU
May 23, 2008 3:10 PM
More sympathetic press for this abomination. Just call it what it is: sexual confusion, deviant behavior, perversion.
by Kelly
May 23, 2008 2:58 PM
I think this is GREAT! I have been to straight and gay country bars throughout the South. I am awestruck by the talent and masculine beauty of gay men dancing together. Also, as a petite woman, it is a nice to dance with gentle, talented women.
by whoa
May 23, 2008 2:53 PM
wow, this is the gayest thing i have ever heard, literally. count me out.
by Garbanzo
May 23, 2008 2:48 PM
WELCOME TO TAMPA!! YEE HAW!!
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