Coming to you midweek to share something exciting! Back in the beginning of November, I had the chance to sit down with Wayne Eng and chat about The Solo Practice Guide for Ballroom Dancing. If you don’t recognize the name, Wayne is the owner of DanceVision, the largest producer of ballroom dance educational materials including the DVIDA syllabus and a huge library of training videos. He’s also the owner of Emerald Ball Dancesport Championships and one of the organizers of the United States Dance Championships. Needless to say, Wayne’s a busy man, so just the fact that we could find a date and time when we were both available was exciting!
Continue readingTag: solo practice
Small Business Saturday Update
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Happy Small Business Saturday, dancers! Did you shop til you dropped on Black Friday, or stay home eating Thanksgiving leftovers?
Continue readingGetting Back on Track
In the last two weeks, I’ve had two back-to-back conferences (two days and three days) plus a one-on-one meetup about business, I’ve been interviewed twice about the books and journals I’ve published, and I consulted on interviews with other dancers. And I still managed to feed myself and my dogs and get to the day job on time. For an introvert like me, it was a LOT! While I’m grateful for all of these opportunities, I’m also grateful to be able to stay home for most of the weekend and do quieter things like write this blog post and go to the studio tomorrow for solo practice.
Continue readingA Review of Embassy Ball 2019: Back to the Beginning
I’ve officially made it back to the competition floor after an entire year and debuted at the Open level in Smooth! It was quite a day at Embassy Ball, full of emotions high and low.
Countdown to Embassy Ball 2019: 4 Days -Final Preparations
Seeing “4 days” written out feels a lot sooner than just thinking “Thursday” in my head. It’s so close! After a year of financial roadblocks, physical injuries, and training at a more advanced level all at the same time, I’m finally returning to the competition floor. My last competition was Embassy Ball 2018, where I took the World title at the Closed Silver level. Now I return to try my hand at the Open level.
Countdown to Embassy Ball 2019: 10 Days – Solo Practice and Stress
I’ll just tell you upfront that this isn’t one of those “do this because it works” posts. This is one of those “I’m freaking out and writing about it helps me process” posts.
I’m officially in the high anxiety part of my pre-competition journey. Less than two weeks to go!
Countdown to Embassy Ball 2019: 18 Days – Highs and Lows
18 days until Embassy Ball, and the emotional rollercoaster ride is in full swing. Confidence comes and goes depending on how my solo practice or lesson went. I know it’s all part of the process, but geez, can’t I just skip to the end when I’m super confident and balanced in my routines?
Countdown to Embassy Ball 2019: 33 Days – Let’s Do This Thing
Countdown to Desert Classic 2019: 4 Days – Trust Yourself to Do What You Love
This countdown series certainly took a different turn from my other competition countdown series. Although, it isn’t the first one in which I ended up not competing. That’s part of the fun of blogging about my journey as it happens instead of telling a story that’s already over; not even I know what’s going to happen next!
Countdown to Desert Classic 2019: 26 Days – How To Tell If You’re “Ready”
Are you ready?
This question can have very simple implications or very deep ones. If I asked you one morning if you were ready for work, you’d run a simple checklist through your head and be able to quickly respond yes or no. But if I asked you if you were ready for the big presentation at work that took you months of preparation, you might hesitate as you processed last minute jitters and considered more than just a checklist to determine your readiness.
Same can be applied to ballroom (and really, what can’t?). Are you ready for your lesson? Simple yes or no. Are you ready for your last lesson before your competition? You might need a little more time to consider.