Tag: dance

Why You Should Try Social Ballroom

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At the same time my competition money was being rerouted to pay other expenses, new opportunities appeared for me to get more involved in social dancing. I’ve mentioned the new Sunday socials, hosted by Teacher’s friend. I’ve also started taking private lessons with Teacher’s friend to work on my social dancing and he plans to take his team out to other studios and dance venues to patronize those establishments as well as spread the word about his events. I have a lot of social dancing and potential dance adventures in my future!

If you haven’t added ballroom dance to your social calendar, here’s why you should:

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Back to the Daily Grind…For Now

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Tomorrow is the last day of my vacation! That exclamation point is not for excitement, mind you.  More for exasperation. Does it really have to end?

I have been hampered by a stubborn headache since Thursday. Teacher even cancelled my lesson on Friday 5 minutes in because I couldn’t focus and he didn’t want me to waste a lesson if I wasn’t feeling well. I was mad at myself later for not insisting that we continue the lesson. I can be as stubborn as my headaches. I plan on feeling well enough to make it to the social dance tomorrow.  Anyone else coming?

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Ask the Girl!

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Ask the Girl

As I pondered the next nugget of my journey to share with you, I thought I’d open the floor up for questions or topics that you want me to discuss here.

So I’m starting a new series called Ask the Girl!  You can ask me about ballroom, writing, dealing with demons, pursuing a passion…anything really, the floor is yours! If there is something that’s been bugging you, chances are it’s bugging someone else too. Let’s start a dialogue and help each other out!

Comment below or send me a message. Depending on the response, I’ll dedicate at least one post per week to addressing your questions, comments, concerns, etc.

I Perform Better in the Dark

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Before I get started, I just want to share that I’m on vacation for an entire week! Obviously, I really needed it because my mood improved more and more on Friday as it got closer to quitting time. I’m looking forward to this week of sleeping in, spending time with my puppies, writing, and dancing!

Which brings me to today’s topic:

For the last few weeks, I’ve been going to these Sunday social dances. They are hosted by a friend of Teacher’s, owner/creator of freeballroomlessons.com.

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Reblogged: Instead of Perfect, Ask What is Good About Your Dancing

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Love the idea of individual color palettes!

Sheri's avatarReflections in Sequins and Satin

“The best is the enemy of the good.” This profound statement by the French writer and philosopher Voltaire was a favorite saying of a great dance mentor and friend. It means, she said, that striving for perfection is not necessarily the path to improvement.

I have learned through personal experience that dancers are very hard on themselves. Sometimes in their attempt to become better dancers students overlook the amazing things they can already do. They bemoan what they see as their physical shortcomings and scrutinize every square inch of themselves with heavy judgment. I know that I have.

With ballet in particular, dancers get sucked into the myth that what they do has to be perfect to be any good. Many students walk away from ballet because of this misconception. Although they understand that it will help their overall dancing, they feel less than perfect in ballet and therefore give…

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Travels of the Girl with the Tree Tattoo

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This week I was lucky to be welcomed into not one, but two online homes of other dancers!

Ballroom Bombshell honored me with a “spotlight” post and even dubbed me her ballroom “big sister!” I cannot wait to read how her first competition goes in December!

https://ballroombombshell.wordpress.com/2015/11/03/spotlight-the-girl-with-the-tree-tattoo/

Stance on Dance allowed me to share my experiences in learning ballroom with her wider dance audience. I love the opportunity to share ballroom with the broader dance world.

Hello. My Name is Katie, and I’m Addicted to Ballroom

I don’t think it comes as a surprise that I love connecting with other dancers/writers! Sometimes that means I travel away from my “home” blog for the chance of reaching a different group of people.

I want to show my gratitude for others welcoming me into their “homes” by opening up my own! If you have a story about your passion that you would like to share here, please let me know!

The View From the Other Side of the Ballroom

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It has felt strange to not be obligated to write every day. November 1 was probably the strangest day. I went to town scrubbing the kitchen around midday because I had hours to kill before a social dance and I was set on taking a break from writing, but I didn’t know what else to do with myself!

Now I’m ready to get back into it. Time will tell if October’s writing challenge left a lasting impact on me, and if I end up posting more frequently. First thing’s first though:  would you like to know what it’s like on the “other side” of the ballroom at a competition?
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Trust and Ballroom Part 2: Trusting Yourself (Write31Days Day 30)

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After getting a bit of a mental smackdown courtesy of my demons last night, I considered letting them write today’s post. But I’m going to pull myself together and focus on the productive and the positive.

We all fall apart sometimes

Another lesson and another repeated mantra from Teacher yesterday led to this extension of yesterday’s post on Trust and Ballroom.

You have to trust your partner in order to dance ballroom. But you also have to trust yourself.

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