Tag: dance at home

Is My Dance Journey Over?

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As we reach the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., I know many dancers have one question on their mind: Is my dance journey over?

Some have been extremely lucky and privileged to be able to continue dancing and even compete through this pandemic. They experienced a couple months’ break in their dance schedule, which used to seem like a lot but in our current reality, hardly anything. I’ve been lucky to be able to take one in-person private lesson almost every week since July. I even got to perform in a virtual showcase.

Others have not danced in a year or longer. No lessons, no showcases, no competitions. Through an extremely stressful period of our lives, they have lost their primary source of mental and emotional relief. And after a year, they can’t help but wonder – is this it? Am I done dancing?

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A 2020-Style Dance Showcase

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I have an actual dance event experience to share with you today! The last one was California Open in February, a.k.a. a lifetime ago. This dance event was…different. And not just by the fact that it was a showcase, not a competition. It was different by the fact that I have already shared the dance experience with you. This is the viewing part of the experience. It was different by the fact that I attended opening night from my couch at home.

Of course, different doesn’t mean better or worse. Just…different.

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Pivoting to the Ballroom Box – An Interview with the Owner of Dance Dress Couture

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Please welcome to the blog Duffy Betterton! She and her mother Debi Camp are the co-founders and co-owners of Dance Dress Couture (DDC). Duffy and I connected last year and through our partnership, The Girl with the Tree Tattoo was introduced to the country western dance world. DDC was forced to shut down like so many other businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Duffy isn’t one to sit back and wait though. She pivoted by bringing a whole new product to the dance community! I invited her here to share the story behind this new product.

Without further ado…

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Making the Dance Your Own

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After waiting to post until after we filmed our showcase routine in the park, so that I could share that experience with you, I admit I was staring at a blinking cursor for quite awhile this weekend. Not much else happened this past week! At least nothing that you’d be interested in reading. The day job was plenty busy. I went to the physical therapist for an adjustment (pretty sure dancing like a scarecrow on uneven, grassy ground left my body crooked).

So we’re keeping it short this weekend with a fun idea for you to explore your dancing at home.

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Dancing With Just Me

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Week 7 of staying home has passed, and we’ve entered a new month. Some areas of the country have given up the quarantine life and made attempts to resume some sort of “normal.” The state I live in maintains its stay-at-home order with no specific expiration date. A ballroom competition just a couple states over announced it will proceed as planned in June. At the same time, a week-long dance camp scheduled for the same month in a neighboring state announced it was cancelling its in-person events and pivoting to an online platform.

Our current reality is full of discontinuity. For every argument, there is another to counter it and a third to counter both. It can be difficult to know who or what to believe or trust. Not to mention there is still a virus spreading and mutating around the world with widely varying effects and side effects.

What’s a ballroom dancer to do?

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Giving Your Best Performance (in Your Living Room)

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Week 6 is in the books! It seemed to be a tough one for people, judging by the protests in different areas of the country and a few states deciding to allow businesses to reopen, despite warnings that it’s too soon to be relaxing our guard.

As for me, I’m proud to say I was more on point with my fitness intentions this week! I worked out three days, including a Zumba class. I also got two grocery deliveries and jumped on the quarantine baking bandwagon with homemade apple crisp. I had actual work to do for the day job, so overall it was a pretty productive week.

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