DIVERSIFIED ASSETS:
FROM PLAYBOY PLAYMATE CENTERFOLD TO BALLROOM DANCER,
ACTRESS AND DANCESPORT CHAMPION BARBARA MOORE IS MORE
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Queen of the ballroom dancers sweeps 55 th win in less than four years with
first United States ProAm Open Standard title and prepares return to film and TV

Less is sometimes more. But where film and TV actress, Playboy Playmate centerfold and ballroom dance champion Barbara Moore is concerned, Moore is definitely more. It takes most athletes years to reach the top of their sport, but for this sultry Austin Powers costar ("Fembot"), she has ruled the precision world of dancesport for her entire three years and eight months as a ballroom dancer, and recently procured yet another medal for her collection when she took her first United States ProAm Open Standard ballroom championship title. This top honor was her 55 th win overall, including the competition styles of American Smooth and International Latin.

"It's the first time I ever entered this particular competition," Moore says proudly of her United States ProAm Open Standard victory, though in just her first nine months of dancing she swept 18 competitions. In order to qualify for Open status, Moore had to dance her way through Bronze, Silver and Gold levels, and typically it takes three years to move through each of them.

"I didn't have nine years," she laughs, looking back on her whirlwind ascension of the ranks. "I always knew I had the talent, so it goes to show that if you set a goal and put your mind to something, you can achieve it. This is the story I would really like to tell."

And what a story it is. With trophies, medals and ribbons festooning her Los Angeles home, Moore is the enthusiastic and remarkable result of an inspiring theory proved.

So how did the Baywatch guest star babe and star of such films as Beach House and Fox Hunt become queen of the ballroom dancers? It really is true that if you tell a kid she can't have something, then she wants it even more. Because dancing was verboten in the strict Christian household where Moore was growing up, her passion for this

performing art was like a fire under her feet. With an equally hot acting career borne of that one-in-a-million junction of right place / right time when she was "discovered" as a 19-year-old flight attendant, she was stepping in front of the camera, rather than onto the dance floor.

When she landed in Nashville, she was snapped up for appearances in music videos for Reba McEntire, Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams, Jr. he then became a video goddess in Aerosmith and Phil Collins clips, which led to many guest star turns, including Married...With Children and Silk Stalkings .

"To be really good at something, you have to focus on it 100 percent. That was why I stopped modeling when I was acting," says Moore, who has intently studied her craft with extensive formal training.

Applying the focus principle to Dancesport, her feet and her heart have carried her from the dream to the reality of its intricate movement, where she meets its physical and emotional demands with hours of daily practice, working with world champion dancer Igor Suvorov, with whom she also partners in competitions. Moore trains like an athlete and looks exactly like one would expect, as she commands the camera much in the same way that she dominates the dance floor. Though remaining the undefeated U.S. champion is a full-time job, Moore is fielding film and TV scripts, and envisions her next role to be comedic in nature, owing to her light sense of humor and impeccable timing. In addition, she continues to model for her premiere Internet destination, BarbarasPlayhouse.com.

As for her calm cool on the audition circuit, Moore says, "I've been dancing in front of thousands of people, so when I meet with a room full of producers, I am completely together. It used to be intimidating, all of those people staring at me, but now I‘m used to it because of my dancing. It has given me so much more confidence for situations like that, and I think I can go further now in acting, because of my dance background.

"I told my family when I first started training that I was going to become the U.S. champion in three years," Moore recalls of her fledgling days. And with her talent and drive, an Emmy or Golden Globe is well within reach.
And with a closet full of elegant, handmade ball gowns to choose from, she already has a custom wardrobe
for those red carpet walks.

"What I have achieved in ballroom dancing has made me want to set goals in my acting career. I know I could incorporate dancing into my acting and modeling now. Why not ?"

Why not, indeed. Moore certainly has all the right moves…