American Dancer is thrilled with the continuation of this new series by the multi-talented Yanina Kisler. We would love to hear about your hobbies and projects outside of dance—what brought you to them and how you have pursued them. If you have a story to share, please contact Yanina.kisler@comcast.net or American Dancer at americandancer@usadance.org. You can write your own story or simply send us a summary, along with your contact information, so we can arrange an interview.
Continuing American Dancer’s effort to highlight the accomplishments of our dancers when they are off the dance floor, I talked with Jack Jaubert about his painting career. Jack and his wife, Suzanne, are Amateur dancers who have competed in all styles of ballroom dancing. Jack has been a significant presence at many competitions as a deck captain par excellence.
Jack was born in the Army hospital at Fort Lewis, Washington, where his father was stationed. They moved several times while Jack was in elementary school and ended up in Louisiana by the time his father retired in 1961. In high school, Jack was a Louisiana All-State football player and shot-put champion. He went to Louisiana State University (LSU) on a football scholarship and graduated in 1972 with a degree in construction technology, a minor in chemistry, and a commission as an Engineering Officer in the Army. He joined the Army Reserves four years later and served there for 14 years, first as a Combat Engineer and later as an Army paratrooper. His fondest Army memory is his two-year attachment to the British Parachute Regiment in London. Outside of the Army, Jack had a 25-year career in the oil and gas industry, including two years on offshore oil rigs. He also had a sales position with General Electric, which allowed him to travel worldwide.
Jack met Suzanne on the dance floor in 2001, and they got married in 2004. Both became involved in USABDA (the previous name of USA Dance) after Suzanne, who was a national officer at the time, introduced Jack to it. They have five children and ten grandchildren between the ages of one and 22.
Jack started dancing a few years before meeting Suzanne, but it was she who introduced him to serious competitive dancing, and they started preparing for it together. She was more knowledgeable, and he considers her to have been a major factor in his training. They attended dance camps, and when they traveled, they took advantage of coaching wherever they went. Jack was also a dance host on a USA Dance cruise in 2012. They have always been strong supporters of both social dance and competitive dance. They entered their first competition in Seattle in 2005 in all four styles. After several years of competing, they got to the Championship level in the Smooth and Standard styles and successfully competed at the Nationals in 2007 and 2009.
After retiring from competition, they continued to work with their chapter and participate in social dancing. Jack was on the Planning Committee for the Gumbo Dancesport Championships for several years and eventually served on the Board in its later years. He has served as the lead Deck Captain (often combining this role with being an entertaining floor sweeper) at multiple competitions and initiated an “After-Event Report” to review everything that happened during the competition. He also initiated the “Gold Tie” Deck Captain look of gold ties and armbands for the Deck Team volunteers. The Deck Captain is the competition official who has the most contact with the dancers and is often the first person to notice an issue on the floor, allowing it to be addressed before it becomes a problem. Jack checks to see if any of the dancers are in distress and looks for untied shoes and missing ties (he has saved several dancers before they could get on the floor) or missing numbers. He tries to make dancers feel more comfortable and has hidden coin tricks for young people to enjoy, which helps them relax. And from first-hand experience (this is Yanina speaking), Jack is always an elegant and commanding Deck Captain who runs a tight ship, with the on-deck area always functioning impeccably under his guidance.
But what makes him the subject of this article is his art, several examples of which are included here. Despite having no formal art training, Jack was always an artist, and he developed his interest in art into a good side business. He estimates that he has created hundreds of pieces, small and large, and has become especially known for large commemorative murals. Having been an athlete, he gravitated towards sports art. He did murals for organizations and schools to celebrate milestones in their histories. His clients have included the military, universities, hospitals, law enforcement organizations, college sports, and professional sports teams. Prints of his paintings have been sold as fundraisers. Several buildings at LSU have his paintings of portraits of the people for whom buildings were named, and he has painted portraits of each of the All-American football players in the school’s history. At one point, the State Archives of Louisiana did a month-long exhibition of his work.
Jack has also done artwork for several Gumbo DanceSport Championship program covers and has donated original paintings for multiple ballroom events and fundraisers.
When their church supported an orphanage in Romania, Jack and Suzanne went there to volunteer in 2016 and 2019, and Jack did paintings of biblical scenes on the walls of the orphanage. He has also done modern art paintings that Suzanne wanted for their home. He still has a studio in their house but now paints just for his own pleasure.
A few years before he retired in 2012, Suzanne turned Jack into a farmer. She is an attorney, but her passion is growing things, so she found a rundown farmhouse in Caldwell County, North Carolina, where they could start a hobby farm, which Jack defines as “growing things and losing money.” They grew vegetables for the local farmers’ markets, and also raised chickens for eggs. They eventually moved from Baton Rouge to near Charlotte to be closer to the farm.
Jack says that he has always enjoyed artwork involving action, such as sports, military themes, and dancing. Ballroom dancing is highly varied, with distinctive styles, colors, and a blend of athleticism, beauty, and art. There are restrictions in every style, but it is still very creative and has evolved over the years as styles borrow from one another.
Yanina Kisler is a Senior III and Senior IV Championship-level dancer. She has been competing together with her husband, Eric Austin, for the last seven years, both nationally and internationally. They were United States Champions in both Senior III and Senior IV Standard and World Championship Semifinalists twice. Yanina is an Electrical Engineer, now retired. She and Eric have two children and three grandchildren.
American Dancer is thrilled that Yanina Kisler is working on this series. To read more of her American Dancer articles, check out: Championship Dance is Published Author!, How to be a Good Spectator at a Ballroom Competition, and So, You Want to Compete in a European Ballroom Dance Competition?
