It all began so innocently six years ago when Deborah Hammond and Fran Charbeneau were enlisted to participate in the Lakewood Elementary School PTA Spring Carnival.
“We decided to lip-sync the popular ’60s tune “Be My Baby”, says Hammond, Lakewood mother of three, “and had so much fun, we found ourselves performing in the show for the next three years.”
“Then one day, during the Carnival rehearsals,” says Charbeneau, Lakewood mother of two, “Deborah looked at me and said, ‘Why don’t we become professional disk jockeys?’”
Hence the Dancin’ City Djs, Dallas’ only female disk jockey/dance instruction duo, now into their third year.
Hammond, a psychotherapist, and Charbeneau, a fragrance specialist at Neiman Marcus, have found the time, between homemaking, mothering, careers and volunteer activities, to fulfill their subconscious fantasies – to perform, teach dance, and make your party or wedding the hit it was meant to be.
Stockpiling compact disk libraries for country, pop, rock, big band and the standards, and investing in state-of-the-art audio equipment allows the DCDJs to specialize in all areas of musical entertainment. In addition to their party facilitation, they also teach various dances.
“Line dances are so popular, because, in general, women like to dance more than men, with notable exceptions,” Hammond explains. “This gives ladies a way to get out on the dance floor without partners.”
The DCDJs, who perform in tandem and separately, have costumes for every occasion, from country to cocktail. Unlike most party disk jockies, they wear mini lapel microphones, which enable them to get out of the musical booth and onto the dance floor for instruction.
So, what do the husbands of the DCDJs think about their wives’ nighttime careers?
“They were bewildered in the beginning,” said Charbeneau, “but once they realized the venture is a moneymaker, they began to take us seriously.”
Bill Hammond is owner of Dallas Tent and Awning, and Peter Charbeneau is a commercial artist. Both are very supportive, say the ladies.
To book the Dancin’ City Djs, call 823-1725 or 824-8850.
