By Sally Pollak
Free Press Staff Writer

November 15, 2007
Warren Kimble said he learned to dance by osmosis. His late brother, Bob Kimble, was a choreographer of children's dances and a Broadway dancer, specializing in tap and jazz.

When Kimble was a child, the family lived for a time above his older brother's dance studio, which was in the basement of the family home in Belleville, N.J.

''I'm a stomper,'' said Kimble, who is better known for his work as an artist. Kimble, 73, of Brandon paints works in an Americana folk style of pastoral scenes and images.

He is participating in Saturday night's fundraiser for the Vermont Arts Council, ''Stompin' with the Stars,'' an event that takes after the popular ABC show, ''Dancing with the Stars.''

Kimble is teamed with dancer/choreographer Karen Amirault in the event that pairs a Vermont celebrity with a pro dancer/dance coach. The two will perform a tap dance-jitterbug combination to the Fred Astaire tune, ''Steppin' Out.'' Audience members will vote on the evening's top dancing duo.

For Kimble, a board member of the Vermont Arts Council, the night is about having fun for a worthwhile cause.

''When they see an old guy dancing, they'll like it,'' Kimble said. ''Karen's very good. She's wonderful. We just hit it off, and I think we're going to have a lot of fun.''

Taking a different approach to the dance event is first-time Argentinian-tangoer Melinda Moulton of Huntington, a Burlington businesswoman and developer.

Moulton, 57, is taking seriously the 2 1/2 minutes she'll be performing on the dance floor at the University of Vermont's Davis Center.

''I am wearing a beautiful fire engine-red tango dress, with fish net stockings with a beautiful black seam down the back and little dance shoes,'' she said. ''I'm going to have my hair done. I'm going to be looking like a tango woman.''

All this from a participant who had never danced the tango until a few weeks ago. And who has no formal dance training.

''I grew up between New York and Philadelphia so I'm a real bebopper,'' Moulton said. ''I can do James Brown. I'm a real good get-out-on-the-dance-floor and get down.''

She chose the tango when she was asked what dance she wanted to performing, blurting out the name of the dance without fully considering the difficulty of the form.

''I'm right now a student of the tango, and I'm devoted to this,'' Moulton said. ''Argentinian tango is very different: It's very sultry, and very sexy and very provocative. It's very, very dramatic. ...

''All the effort Gerd and I put into it, it's for this beautiful fund-raiser. All the dancers dancing in this event are going to be spectacular. It's going to be a very showy evening.''