Dance Champions "CHA CHA" With Billionnaire on CBC Newsworld's "Fortune Hunters"
- From: DanceScape Editor <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 12:16:36 -0800 (PST)
For Immediate Release
DANCE CHAMPIONS "CHA CHA" WITH A BILLIONNAIRE ON CBC NEWSWORLD'S
"FORTUNE HUNTERS"
New TV Show follows Burlington's Robert Tang & Beverley Cayton-Tang as
they pitch their company, danceScape, to Hotmail and Skype Venture
Capitalist, Tim Draper
Burlington, Ontario, March 6, 2008 - Never in their wildest dreams did
two Ballroom Dancers imagine that they would one day have the
opportunity to pitch their company, danceScape, to Tim Draper, the
same Billionnaire Venture Capitalist who invested in Hotmail and
Skype, and who guided their founders towards acquisition by Microsoft
and eBay.
Or that they would teach him to dance the Cha Cha.
Remarked Robert Tang, "The experience was nerve-wracking, to say the
least, and for the first time in a very long time, I experienced stage-
fright. We had to rely on our collective experiences as former World-
Class Dance Champions to try to pull ourselves together for this once-
in-a-lifetime meeting with one of the world's top business minds."
Dreaming big, taking risks, and overcoming challenges are nothing new
for Robert and his wife and business partner, Beverley Cayton-Tang,
who are former 3-time Canadian and 2-time North American Undefeated
Amateur Standard Ballroom DanceSport Champions from Burlington,
Ontario.
They defied odds when in they won their first Canadian Championships
in their early thirties, beating younger upstart teams who were in
their teens and twenties. Their jaws dropped when they won their first
North American Championships, taking the title away from other
younger, more-established American teams. They made history by
becoming the first and only "mixed race" team to ever become national
champions, representing Canada at 5 World Championships (Robert is
originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Beverley from Manchester,
England).
And they both gave up successful "Corporate" careers to follow their
passion and start their own dance studio and ecommerce-based dance
supply business, at a time before "Dancing with the Stars" and "So You
Think You Can Dance" made ballroom dancing popular in North America.
"Many people probably thought I was 'crazy', especially after
graduating with an MBA from a prestigious business school and on the
fast-track to a corporate career in marketing for a computer software
company headquartered in Boston," chuckled Robert. "You could say
that I was partly influenced by the Japanese movie, 'Shall We Dansu?'
which explored the journey of a person who felt that something was
missing in his work life, and discovered what it meant to live life
through competitive Ballroom Dancing. Perhaps ours is the
continuation of that journey!"
It was their unique story and risk-taking attitude that not only
attracted the interest of Billionnaire Tim Draper, but also the
producers of CBC Newsworld's new business show, "FORTUNE HUNTERS".
Created by Dianne Buckner, long-time host of Venture and current host
of Dragons' Den, along with award-winning Venture show producer and VJ
James Dunne, FORTUNE HUNTERS focuses on trends through the lens of
moneymaking - discovering how people eager for self-employment are
exploiting new opportunities or popular trends.
Two business experts are called in to assess the trend and odds of
success for the Fortune Hunters. Then experts also play HIT or MISS
with Dianne, a fun and fast quiz of trend news from around the world.
Plus, the program introduces a business brain who's made it big in a
success segment entitled, "My First Million."
Stated Beverley, "Our vision is that Dance or Dancing is more than
just a recreational hobby. It is a Lifestyle that provides
inspiration for people of all ages to overcome fears, to discover and
explore new life goals, to acquire social etiquette skills, and to
connect or reconnect with others in the spirit of learning and
friendship."
danceScape has achieved record enrollments in their "For Absolute
Beginners Only" Ballroom, Latin, Salsa, and Swing group workshops, as
well as their low-impact "danceTONE" dance-based fitness program. In
an effort to meet continuing demand, not only in Burlington but also
in other cities, they are launching a teacher training program to
certify instructors of all ages who want to join their growing
instructor team.
"The producers also wanted to focus on our attempts to obtain national
retail distribution of our instructional DVD," remarked Beverley. The
2-DVD set is entitled "danceScape For Absolute Beginners Ballroom
Dancing" and covers the basics of the Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango, Cha Cha,
Rumba, Salsa, and Jive/Swing. The Tangs secured a US distributor, and
their DVDs are now available through Amazon, Best Buy USA, Barnes &
Noble USA, and other -American retailers. The irony is that a
national retailer does not yet carry the DVDs in Canada. That may
soon change as Reader's Digest Video Club at www.readersdigest.ca has
just agreed to carry the product and make it available in its
catalogue later this year to millions of English and French members
throughout Canada.
"One of the key challenges, to which many entrepreneurs can attest,"
remarked Robert, "is to try to prioritize and focus on key aspects of
the business, especially when faced with so many opportunities. We
hope that the guest expert panel will provide us with constructive
feedback that may also help other entrepreneurs who are at the growth
stage of their business. We also hope that their critique won't be
too painful!"
The good news is that as a result of their participation in the show,
Queen's University School of Business in Kingston has offered the
Tangs a scholarship to their Executive Development Centre. Stated
Robert, "It has been a very long time since I have stepped foot into a
formal academic classroom setting, but I look forward to learning from
and networking with other entrepreneurs who are as passionate about
their business as we are with ours, and on the same quest to their
company to the next level." Robert will be sharing his experiences
and business tips with other entrepreneurs in his new blog, www.robert-tang.com.
Tune in to FORTUNE HUNTERS this Saturday, March 8th at 6:30 p.m. and
11:30 p.m. ET, and Sunday, March 9th at 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET to
find out if stage fright will ruin their pitch with Tim Draper, as
well as how he will do in his Cha Cha lesson. You can also catch
FORTUNE HUNTERS on CBC's News Express service at Pearson International
Airport in Toronto, Ottawa International Airport and Vancouver
International Airport, as well as in flight on Air Canada. A preview
video clip of the show is available at www.dancescape.com and www.dancescape.TV.
For more information about danceScape's adult and youth/teen programs,
instructional DVD, or instructor training/certification opportunities,
call (905) 633-8808 or e-mail info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----
About Robert Tang and Beverley Cayton-Tang
Beverley and Robert are former 3-time Canadian and 2-time North
American Undefeated Amateur Standard Ballroom Champions, having
represented Canada at five World Amateur Standard Championships. They
were consultants to the author of a book about competitive Ballroom
Dancing entitled, "Ballroom Dancing: The Rhythm, Romance and Style"
and were also featured in it. They have appeared on many television
shows on Slice, W-Network, HGTV and CH Television. Robert has a B.Sc.
from McMaster University in Hamilton, and an M.B.A. from the Schulich
School of Business in Toronto.
CONTACT:
Jessica Pym, c/o danceScape
Tel: (905) 633-8808, Fax: (905) 633-8813
E-mail: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Website: www.dancescape.com
.
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