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dance events social dancing

Inaugural Sunday Night Dance Party: Success!

Daniel’s first Sunday night dance (March 29) went even better than we hoped it would.  About 40 people turned out and everyone danced and had a good time:sdc10401sdc10398sdc10397sdc10396

Several people brought requests and Daniel enjoyed playing them all, in addition to the music he brought with him.  One of our main goals in hosting this dance was to branch out and diversify the music we dance to, and that goal was achieved!  We got a lot of positive feedback from the people who attended.  It was wonderful to see everyone come and dance in a casual and relaxed setting–perfect for squeezing in a last bit of enjoyment before heading back to work on Monday morning!

If you attended the dance on Sunday night, please leave a comment and give us your impressions.  What did you think?  In particular, we are considering moving to earlier start  & end times–possibly 6:30 to 9:30 instead of 7:30 to 10:30.  We’d appreciate your thoughts on that idea or anything else you’d like to comment on.  Also, please mark your calendars for the next Sunday Night Dance Party, April 26.  We’ll be sure to finalize and confirm the time beforehand.

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Thank you for attending and making our dance a success!

Categories
dance events social dancing

Gearing up for tomorrow night’s dance

Daniel is excitedly preparing for his first Sunday Night Dance Party tomorrow night.  We have sodas and bottled water and ice and plenty of change and a guestbook for collecting people’s emails and about 1,000,000 MP3s.  This dance will be a great novelty compared to my usual Sunday night spent folding the laundry and watching 60 Minutes!  If you, too, would rather dance than fold laundry (or whatever your standard Sunday evening gig is), please come and join us at the Howard Community Club from 7:30 to 10:30.  Admission is $5 per person. Dress casually and get ready to dance to some great new music!

This dance will be a monthly event, typically the 4th Sunday of each month, so if you can’t make it tomorrow night, please mark your calendar for April 26.  Daniel has big plans for future dances, including contests, giveaways, and reacquainting us all with the Macarena.  (Hey, we can’t dance ballroom all the time, can we?)

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dancing in the media USA Dance

USA Dance president on the radio

Via Angela Prince, USA Dance PR Director:  In the coming weeks, Dr. Kay Picart will conduct 2 interviews on her radio show with Peter Pover, USA Dance’s president.  They will discuss the upcoming National DanceSport Championships, the future of ballroom dancing, and USA Dance. 

The first interview segment will air Sunday, March 29 from 12:30-1:00 p.m. EDT and the second will air Sunday, April 5 from 12:30-1:00 p.m. EDT.  The interviews will be carried on WJZT–click the link and then click on “Listen Live.”

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dance events social dancing

Cherry Blossom Gala Ball

In a “casual Friday” world, dressing up and attending an elegant ball is a rare treat.  Before I started ballroom dancing, I had never been to anything called a “ball!”  Now I attend at least one a year, usually more.  Even in a small city such as Macon, dance opportunities (with and without dress codes) are more plentiful than one might imagine. 

For dancers, the Gala Ball is the highlight of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival.  It is held in the beautiful Macon City Auditorium, with two live bands, a big dance floor, drinks, hors d’oeuvres, remarks by local dignitaries, and the presentation of the Cherry Blossom Festival royalty.  If you are not a dancer, it’s worth attending just to watch–my parents, who attended with Daniel and me this year, can attest to that.  If you are a dancers, then it’s an opportunity to look your best and dance your best in a really lovely atmosphere.  Here are a couple of pictures:

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dancing in the media USA Dance

DWTS cancels juniors competition

As a USA Dance member I received an email this afternoon from the organization announcing that Dancing with the Stars “will not be able to hold the Juniors Competition this season.”  The message says that the producers love the juniors comp. and hope to do it again in the future, but it doesn’t explain why it was dropped this season.  Mysterious!  I feel bad for the kids who tried out–and for my own part, I’m sorry I don’t get to see them dance on the show.  They are amazingly talented and accomplished.

On a happier note, Paula sent me two photos this afternoon from the exhibition that Daniel and I performed in a few months ago.  Her Webmaster, Rick, took and edited the pictures.  You can see them on the Photo Gallery page in the “Exhibitions” album.

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behind the curtain

Pushing the baby bird out of the nest

2 weeks after starting to build it, I am finally making our Web site public.  Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

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competitions

Our Next Competition

In 2009 we will be going to Louisiana twice: once to New Orleans for the PCA/ACA annual conference (not dance related at all, though there are some conference sessions about dance) and once to Baton Rouge for the Gumbo DanceSport Championships, June 26 and 27, 2009.  “Gumbo DanceSport Championships” is funny enough, but this event used to be called “Gumbo of Ballroom” until USA Dance decided that all National Qualifying Events had to be called the “[Something] DanceSport Championships.”

Just looking at the entry form puts a smile on my face–and, to be honest, makes my palms sweat slightly.  In addition to the syllabus events we’d normally enter they have an “Open Six-Dance” event for all competitors below Gold level, plus “Cabaret” and “Theatre Arts” events.  I’m not actually sure what those last two are, but I’d like to find out, because I’m all about lots of dancing.  USA Dance comps are so great because they charge a flat entry fee for as many dances as you can enter (as opposed to charging per heat).

The only challenge will be getting out of town in time to get ourselves there for the competition.  According to the tentative schedule we’ll be dancing on Friday afternoon, which means leaving here Thursday so we can get a good night’s sleep in before we compete.  I am supposed to teach till 12:30 on Thursday but I suppose we could leave after that.  I don’t like to drive at night, but Daniel does, which is one of the many things that make us such a good team.

Gumbo, here we come!