Albany High School Student Wins at Ohio Star Ball

From Albany Times Union

Niskayuna teen has all the right moves

By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer

First published: Thursday, December 4, 2008

SCHENECTADY — Don't dare tell Rebecca ''Becca'' Tishler ballroom dancing isn't a sport.

For eight nonstop minutes, the Niskayuna high schooler sweated it out on a dance floor in Ohio with her partner, performing the waltz, tango, foxtrot and quick step, before winning the juniors in the world's largest ballroom dance competition.

"I was so happy and so surprised," she said recently recalling her victory in the World Pro/Am Championships Junior International Standard Four-Dance event at the Ohio Star Ball Championships in Columbus, Ohio, last month.

Tishler fought off wobbly legs and survived a few bumps into other contestants during her winning routine with Ruslan Meshkov, her teacher at Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Latham.

The 16-year-old Tishler ended up tied for first place but won because she received more first place votes from among the seven judges in each of the four ballroom disciplines.

It was a giant step for the teen who has been dancing since the tender age of 5. The Niskayuna High School junior has followed in the footsteps of her older sister, Sarah, and along the way gained experience and a greater appreciation from Christian Wormslev, a foreign exchange student from Denmark and world class ballroom dancer who lived with the Tishlers.