I first met Pierre in person during the Dutch Open Festival in the early nineties in Slagharen. He and his partner, Yvonne Marceau, were leading performers in Theatrical-style dancing for decades, with Yvonne soaring through the air with a lightness that seemed magical. I recall watching 8 mm films of their performances, marveling at how such feats were even possible.
In Slagharen, we exchanged contacts, and soon after, my husband, son and I traveled to New York, where Pierre lived, to spend time together. He graciously showed us around the city, and our friendship was born. It was also the first time we experienced 'high tea,' which we enjoyed at a beautiful hotel near Central Park.
I was so impressed by Pierre's skills that I decided to bring two couples I was coaching at the time - Matej Krajcer and Janja Lesar (Slovenian Amateur champions) and Andrius Kandelis and Egle Visockaite (Lithuanian Amateur champions) - to New York to study the basic techniques of simple lifts with Pierre.
We had no prior knowledge in this field, so everything felt incredibly exciting. Pierre then came to Slovenia, continuing to teach our couples and choreographing a beautiful routine for the four best couples in our country. This routine was later presented at the German Open Team Match in Meinheim, where the audience adored it.
Although we stayed in touch, we seldom saw each other until 2017. In October of that year, I took my mom, her sister and her husband on a trip to Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Eilat, Petra, the Dead Sea and Amman, where Pierre still has a beautiful apartment. Fortunately, he was there at the time. Together with his sister Amanda, Pierre prepared a delicious Palestinian dinner for us, and we spent a wonderful time with them and their friends.
Pierre's Early Years
Pierre Dulaine (born Peter Gordon Heney) was born on April 23, 1944, in Jaffa, Palestine. His Irish Protestant father, Eric Alexander Heney, married his Palestinian Catholic mother, Georgette Gloria Safadi, while serving in the British army in Jaffa.
In 1948, when Pierre was four years old, the family moved to Amman, Jordan, where he grew up. Later, when he was a teenager, they moved to the UK.
It was in Birmingham, at the age of 14, that Pierre began to dance at Jean Johnson’s School of Dancing. He passed his first Medal exams and started teaching by the age of sixteen. Unfortunately, his father passed away during this time and by the age of eighteen, Pierre had become a full-time dance teacher.
His inspirations at the time were Bobby Short and Peggy Davies, the Midland Professional Ballroom Championship winners. Pierre was captivated by their performances.
At twenty, he moved to London and worked as a full-time teacher for Arthur Murray. Shortly after, he began competing in Old Time with his first partner, Marilyn Colyer. A new door opened when Pierre met Rita Pover, who was fifteen years his senior. Rita asked Pierre to take lessons with her from the famous John Del Roy. They both loved working with John, and within a few months, they had prepared all five Latin routines for competition at the International Championships in Royal Albert Hall. It was a great success, finishing in 7th place in Professional Latin. Pierre was only 22 years old.
John Del Roy, an excellent choreographer and Theatrical-style performer, also guided Pierre and Rita into the world of Exhibition dancing. In 1967, they won the Duel of the Giants at Royal Albert Hall for the first time.
After Pierre and Rita concluded their partnership, Pierre continued with his third dance partner, the much younger Janet Anderson. They performed on cruise ships to earn money and continued to work with John Del Roy, preparing a new routine for the 1969 Duel of the Giants, which he won for the second time.
Pierre felt the need to explore further and auditioned as a solo dancer for the show "Talk of the Town" in the West End. Soon after, he received an offer to work with the famous "Bluebell Troupe" and went off to Nairobi, Kenya, where he performed for eleven months.
He returned to London and received an interesting offer to be a cruise director on Atlantis, a ship that cruised in and out of New York Harbor. In November 1971, Pierre decided to stay in New York for a few weeks, just to explore the city, but ended up staying for good.
Moving to New York
In 1972, Pierre began working as a teacher at Arthur Murray in Manhattan. However, he still wanted to perform, so he started dancing with his fourth partner, Kathy Inman. They did some great work with Bobby Medeiros, the US Professional Latin Champion at the time. Unfortunately, the partnership was short-lived as Kathy got engaged and moved out of New York.
It seems that destiny wanted Pierre to find his life partner, and that happened on August 11, 1974, when he met Otto Cappel, the love of his life to this day.
The following year, Pierre invited his teacher and coach from London, John Del Roy and his wife Christine, to teach and perform in New York. When Yvonne Marceau, a beautiful dancer from the world of ballet and a teacher at the same studio where Pierre worked, saw John and Christine dance, she decided to pursue that style of dancing, partnering with Pierre.
At the beginning of 1976, they traveled to London for three months to continue working with John and Christine and both loved it. At the same time, they felt that they didn't want to compete in Latin but rather perform in Exhibition style, incorporating lifts and elements from other dance forms into their routines.
Back in New York, they met John Roudis, an old Greek gentleman who had been an adagio dancer in the 1930s. This encounter was 'a match made in heaven,' as Roudis became a crucial link in their vision. They didn't want to compete in ballroom; they wanted to be major theatrical entertainers.
The rest is history. Pierre and Yvonne won four World Exhibition Championship titles in 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1982, performing and lecturing around the globe.
They also performed in Tommy Tune’s “Grand Hotel” on Broadway for over two years, from 1989 to 1992, followed by a five-month run at the Dominion Theatre in London’s West End. Pierre was in his late forties at the time, marking an incredibly long career!
American Ballroom Theatre
In 1984, Pierre founded the American Ballroom Theatre with Yvonne and Otto Cappel, Pierre's life partner. Their sole purpose was to bring ballroom dancing to a wider audience through full-length stage performances.
The company debuted at the Dance Theatre Workshop in New York City, followed by performances at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Joyce Theater, The Kennedy Center, The Herbst Theater in San Francisco, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the Akademie der Kunst in Germany, Maison de la Dance, the Aix en Provence Dance Festival in France, Saddler’s Wells Theatre in London and many more.
Pierre and Yvonne danced in the American Ballroom Theatre company until the end of 1995, concluding their last season at the Joyce Theatre. They danced together for twenty years.
Dancing Classrooms
In 1994, Pierre and Yvonne founded Dancing Classrooms, a Social and Emotional Development Arts in Education Program designed to cultivate essential life skills like social awareness, confidence, and self-esteem in children through social dance.
It took time and effort, but primary schools in New York eventually embraced the idea, incorporating Dancing Classrooms into their curriculum. Over the decades, hundreds of thousands of eleven and twelve-year-old children have participated in this program in several US cities and abroad.
The traditional year-end competition among different schools is called the “Colours of the Rainbow Team Match,” attracting young dancers, their parents and promoting the beauty of Ballroom Dancing.
The Dulaine Method
Pierre has successfully taught thousands of youngsters and adults around the globe, developing a teaching foundation that serves as an inspiration to dance instructors everywhere. The main principles of the Dulaine Method are:
1. Respect and compassion towards every student
2. Being present, truly there for the students
3. Creating a safe space where everyone is equal
4. Command and control of group dynamics
5. Using body and verbal language that promotes openness, warmth and genuine affection for students
6. Incorporating humor, joy and playfulness into teaching
Pierre says: "Being in such a safe place, where the boundaries are clear, the teacher is fully present and where respect and compassion reign - these are the elements that bring joy into the lives of our students."
Documentaries and Film
As seen in the 2005 documentary film "Mad Hot Ballroom," what began as an introduction to ballroom dance for 5th graders in NYC has grown into a world-renowned organization with ten national affiliate sites, bringing the joy of social dancing to many.
Dancing Classrooms inspired Hollywood producers to create a film capturing the importance of ballroom dancing for youngsters. Antonio Banderas portrayed Pierre in the movie “Take the Lead,” which premiered in April 2006 in New York.
Pierre's autobiography, “Taking the Lead,” was published in 2016, beautifully capturing his life and legacy.
Perhaps Pierre's most important challenge came in 2011 when he decided to return to Jaffa, where he was born, to teach Jewish and Palestinian Israeli children how to “dance with the enemy.” This journey was chronicled in the documentary film “Dancing in Jaffa,” which premiered in 2013 in New York.
Dancing as Healing
Pierre's work extended even further into the realm of healing. He worked with children with Autism and Down syndrome in the USA and with adults in psychiatric clinics in Geneva, where doctors and caregivers danced alongside their patients.
Pierre also taught dance in an adult homeless shelter in Arizona. Through the social graces inherent in ballroom dancing, both patients and the homeless began to feel "normal" again. A significant percentage regained their self-esteem and dignity, all because they were treated with love and respect.
Awards
Pierre has received numerous awards as a dancer, teacher and promoter of ballroom dancing worldwide. Some of these include:
- Fred Astaire Award for Best Dancing on Broadway (1989/1990 season)
- Dance Educators of America Award (1990)
- Dance Magazine Award (1993)
- Americans for the Arts Award (2005)
- Legends of Dance Award (2006)
- National Dance Council of America Award (2007)
- School of American Ballet Award (2009)
- Concerned Citizens Award (2010)
- Carl Alan Award (2014)
- Ballroom Dancers Federation Award (2014)
- Gene Kelly Legacy Award (2014)
- Can-Am Special Achievement Award (2015)
After living in New York for fifty years, Pierre’s and Otto's hearts eventually led them back to Europe. With Otto being German, they now divide their time between Germany and England, where Pierre’s sister Amanda and her family live.
To learn more about Pierre, you are welcome to listen to our podcast on Spotify, *Barbara's Dance Room*.
