Happy May dancers! I am feeling mentally rejuvenated after a full day of American Smooth workshops at Emerald Ball. Physically…that’s another story, but first I wanted to share my insights and takeaways from the day.
Tag: american smooth
Feeling the Burn! Final Results
You know those days when you have all these great plans to get a lot of productive work done, and then you get nothing done? That was me last weekend. It started off in good shape. I did a 6-hour group training/working session with my business coaches on Saturday. After that, I can’t even tell you where things went wrong. In any case, obviously, I did not get this blog post written, so we’re doing it now!
Last weekend also marked the first post-Burn weekend! Our last class and final fit test was on February 14. Before I go into my final results, please allow me to paint you a picture of the previous six weeks.
5 Reasons You Should Attend Dance Camps
This past Saturday, I spent pretty much my entire day at the studio to attend an American Smooth dance camp. My studio holds these all-day camps at least once a quarter, and usually two in a row – one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Both amateur and professional ballroom dancers attend the classes, sometimes sharing classes and sometimes splitting into separate groups. All have their heads filled with dance knowledge from top-level coaches.
Have you had the opportunity to attend workshops like these but wondered if it would be too much for you or you weren’t “good enough” yet?
Even at the risk of being overwhelmed, you should definitely include these kind of workshops or dance camps in your dance training, in my humble opinion. Here’s why:
Patience and Persistence
I don’t know what to write this week, so we’re just going to start writing and see what comes out. Usually I have an idea by midweek, but this week – nada. My brain’s been a bit scattered and preoccupied, and with three months left in the year, I have this weird sense of “I’ve still got plenty of time” and “I’m running out of time.”
How about some dance-related stuff?
Countdown to Millennium: 4 Days – Ready or Not!
I’ll confess, I always feel a small palpitation in my chest when I see heat lists have been posted. It’s like a sign that this is really happening! It’s the anticipation of entering the ballroom in all its splendor and walking out on the floor covered in rhinestones and hair spray, waiting to hear “And music, please.”
Countdown to Millennium: 11 Days – What is “Ready”?
How do you know if you’re “ready”? It’s less than two weeks until I’m on a plane to New Orleans, and this question has been dancing around my brain. Sounds strange, right? Millennium will be my fourth competition of the year, and I’m wondering how you know if you’re ready.
A Review of Emerald Ball 2018 – So Good It Took My Breath Away
I have to say I’m not looking forward to the day coming soon when my tax refund will run out. I’ve done three competitions in as many months and it has been AMAZING. I don’t want it to end.
The Dress Project
For those waiting patiently to hear the story behind the new dress I sported for American Smooth at Beach Bash, here it is! For everyone else who doesn’t know what I’m talking about, keep reading anyways. It’s a good story.
A Review of Ballroom Beach Bash – a Smooth Redemption and a Standard Debut
I had a lot of reasons to feel stressed leading up to Ballroom Beach Bash. We had worked on our Standard routines for only a couple weeks at most. Tango was basically self-taught because we got the choreography the week before the comp, and then I was at a conference for 5 days. Because of that, my last lesson with Teacher was an entire week before the competition. When I went to the studio after returning from my conference for one last solo practice, I could barely remember any of the Standard choreography I had worked on so hard every evening after my meetings were over. And Smooth? We hadn’t touched that style since we competed at The Royal Ball. I felt unprepared and I felt disconnected from Teacher after being away.
It turned out that the fears causing my stress were unfounded, mainly because I acted on them.
A Review of The Royal Ball – #CantStopWontStop
Hellooo lovely dancers! I am so sorry I’ve been a little absent on the blog. Things have been crazy! Nothing slowed down after I finished dancing at The Royal Ball. I didn’t even have time to jump on here to update you on how the competition went. Please allow me to remedy that now.
The Girl with the Tree Tattoo 