I had a great Friday! It actually started on Thursday.
I was at home after work. I had finished my pilates workout, courtesy of Blogilates, and was chilling on the couch watching some crime show (I think it was Castle). Then my phone rang. It was Teacher.
This past week, I had my two regular lessons, one working on rhythm and the other working on smooth. During the rhythm lesson, we danced the cha cha routine to music and I NAILED that stupid spin TWICE! Then we worked on rumba and I “upgraded” my hip movement, according to Teacher. During the smooth lesson, we revisited tango. Teacher wanted me to focus on keeping my right arm forward (I tended to let it pull back, especially when the movement required me to put my left side forward). We worked on these tiny adjustments I could make to be able to take my left side forward without affecting the right.
You know how your teacher will tell you to do something and keep telling you you’re not doing it and then all of a sudden, after making the tiniest adjustment that you may or may not be aware that you made, they exclaim “yes, that’s it!”? Usually, in that situation, I have no idea what adjustment I made. But during this week’s smooth lesson, I actually started to feel it. I consciously made a tiny correction while we were dancing and Teacher felt it and confirmed it was correct!
Sounds like an awesome week, right? Well, it was!
So what’s the catch? There must be something, it can’t all be good.
During lunch yesterday, I was going through videos and pictures stored on my phone, deleting stuff I didn’t want or need to free up space. I came across a video of Teacher and me dancing a round of bronze smooth, and I realized that it was recorded just a couple weeks before we were supposed to leave for the United States Dance Championships, a.k.a. Nationals. A couple weeks before Teacher broke his wrist.
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Teacher does an excellent job of figuring out different ways to explain ballroom concepts, based on what his students can relate to. Recently, he has focused on my love of hip hop dancing to help me come to a better understanding of…wait for it…
No new questions this week, but I did ask myself a big one while watching videos from my last lesson. So we’ll set “Ask the Girl” aside for now and just explore the deep dark forest that is my brain!
For awhile at least!
The Dancers United for Saving Lives event was a success! There was a LOT of last minute and last second changes and cancellations to the performance line-up, and the organizer worked her butt off to keep the show running smoothly.
In the end, it was a successful event and I think everyone that came had a great time. And my waltz? Well, that’s what I really want to write about.
I have a new answer for “what’s next for you”!
I’m performing a waltz demonstration with Teacher at an event this evening! Latin club dancers and ballroom dancers are coming together to dance and support two charities: the Pet Adoption Center of Orange County and the CBZ Foundation. If you’re in the area, you should check it out:
https://www.facebook.com/events/509351932572990/
The event includes workshops, social dancing and performances. Originally, a couple months ago, Teacher and I were talking about doing a choreographed showcase dance. But then Life happened, and I didn’t have the money to pay for a new choreographed number. One more performance passing me by.
Then Teacher mentioned last week that he was thinking about asking the organizer if she wanted/needed additional numbers for the show. He thought we could just dance our waltz routine that we use for competition. It sounded great to me! But then I didn’t hear anything more all week. So I asked about it on Wednesday, and we confirmed that yes, the organizer would love to have us do a waltz demonstration!
It’s not going to be anything flashy or fancy. I’m not even wearing a costume, just my practice skirt. Which is actually kind of nice. We’re just going to dance.
I’m a little nervous, of course, but mostly I’m just happy to have the chance to perform with Teacher. Who knows how long it will be before I’ll have another chance?
Stay tuned to hear how it goes!
I’ve been inspired by Breast Cancer Ballroom Dancer and her keyword posts (jive was her latest). Throughout the rest of the challenge, I thought I would share what goes through my head when I think of each of the dances I compete in: waltz, tango, foxtrot, and Viennese waltz.
Today’s dance is waltz.
I feel like I should lighten the mood a bit for Monday. It’s easy to get wrapped up in everything I struggle with on my ballroom journey and forget my accomplishments!
So I went through some videos and forced myself to find things I liked about my dancing!
Studio Team Match, August 2015:
Here is my bronze waltz routine. I like the smoothness of my dancing here and the extension of my arms in the beginning and in the open sections of the routine.
I also debuted my silver routines at the team match! Here is my foxtrot; I’m proud of myself for making it through the routine and looking like I knew what I was doing, even though I was having the worst time remembering the steps!
Emerald Ball, April 2015:
This video is of my bronze tango routine, and is also on my Videos page. It’s one of my favorites because you can see the judges in the foreground debating about my tattoo. They didn’t agree about whether the silhouette on the tree was of Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire! I think I did a decent job at conveying the intense tango character too.
And just to round out the set, here is my Viennese waltz from Emerald. Despite a split second misread on Teacher’s lead at one point, I feel like my dancing was very solid and I love how our arm styling matches almost perfectly. I even smiled!
Happy Monday!
Don’t forget to check out other posts from the 31 Day Writing Challenge!
The blog posts from the Write31Days Challenge have been compiled into my first Dance Diaries book, Learning Ballroom Dance. I’ve left some of the links active so you can get a preview of the information available in the book. Click here for more information on the Dance Diaries series!
As I slowly find my way down a new path on my ballroom journey, I’ve decided to put more effort into my journey as a writer. I learned about this 31 day writing challenge this morning and signed up! It’s simple enough – pick up a topic and write about it every day for the month of October.
Naturally, my chosen topic is ballroom dance!
Those that have been on this journey with me for awhile know that I typically post every 2 to 3 days. So I’ll have to kick it up a notch to make myself write EVERY day! I plan on updating this post with links to each day’s post, so you don’t have to scroll through my blog page to find ones you miss. Just come back here, or click on the category 31 Days.
And let me know in the comments if any other bloggers out there decide to take on the challenge too!
The Girl with the Tree Tattoo 