Camille Wojtasiak ( solo, left, and with Kilee Cooper ) ._________
Camille Wojtasiak has danced her way to worldwide fame, but her roots are right here in the Midwest, including Chicago.
She was born in suburban Waukegan and grew up in Greenfield, Wis. She graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1985 and then worked in Chicago, installing voicemail systems while living part of the time in suburban Park Ridge and then on Irving Park Road in Chicago.
All the while, Wojtasiak never though she'd be a dancing sensation, let alone a same-sex dancing star. 'I didn't even know this stuff existed until about 2001,' she said.
That's when, while living in Sacramento, Calif., she got a gift certificate to an Arthur Murray Dance Studio. And that's where she met Kilee Cooper, an Arthur Murray dance instructor at the time.
And so was born a dynamic dancing duo.
The two have competed and performed around the world, from Germany to Australia, and from The Netherlands and the United Kingdom to Chicago—at Gay Games VII this past summer. In late October, they were in Budapest, Hungary, competing in the World Federation of Same-Sex Dancing, and they retained their Women's Latin World Championship crown, first won in 2005 in Sacramento.
'The 2006 World Championships were a lot of fun, very exciting. They put on a very glamorous event,' including overhead cameras shooting video, Wojtasiak said. 'There were no real surprise [ entrants ] in the competition.
'Due to the tension [ this past summer ] between the Outgames and the Gay Games, neither one of those competitions was particularly strong as a whole. A lot of Europeans, for instance, went to Montreal, while a lot of the Americans went to Chicago. So everyone was not in one place this year … until the World Championships.
'Ballroom is an expensive sport, and teams need quality coaching, which can make up for a lot of things. We're lucky; we have an excellent coach.'
Wojtasiak is now World Dance Council-certified in Latin and Standard ( teaching credential ) and a holder of a World Dance Council International judges' license.
'When we went to our first competition, we had no idea what to expect, whether it'd just be two people inside a high school gymnasium or what. But, there actually were about 50 or 60 people at our first competition. And there were more than 100 people in Budapest,' she said. 'It was very exciting winning at the Gay Games, but winning in Budapest was incredible. There was a great crowd. Truthfully, though, we weren't really focused on winning. Instead, we were just enjoying each other's dancing, the crowd, etc.'
Wojtasiak looks for her third straight World Championship in 2007, but will be dancing in The Netherlands with Cooper's sister, Jamie, as Kilee is returning to school.
'We already know the couple that we will compete against next year, so it will be interesting. We're very optimistic,' Wojtasiak said. 'I've danced with Kilee for four years, in a lot of different competitions and against a lot of couples. Jamie and I will be starting from scratch; our first competition will be in March.'
Wojtasiak placed fifth at the Gay Games in Sydney. She won two gold medals at the Games in Chicago.
'We had a fun time in Chicago, though I'll admit, I never envisioned while growing up in the area that one day I'd be back in Chicago, competing in same-sex dancing in the Gay Games. Never,' she said. 'Same-sex dancing is really growing. More and more people are getting involved with it, especially here in the United States, much like it is in Europe.'
The 3rd annual U.S. Championships of Same-Sex Dancing will be in Orlando in June, 2007, and there likely will be about 100 couples at the event, she said.