Year: 2009

Media blitz!

Photos from the SouthernStar Midsummer Classic competition are now available here. We are in the American Smooth and American Rhythm divisions.

Also, last night a reporter/cameraman from WMAZ showed up at our First Friday dance at the Sports Hall of Fame. He took video of us dancing and recorded short interviews with Paula and with me. I don’t think the video made it on the air but they did put a story on their Web site (those are my feet in the photo slideshow!). If I can find the video somewhere I’ll post it.

I was not expecting to be interviewed or to stand up in front of the First Friday crowd and tell them about our competition results, as Paula asked me to do. Thank goodness I had changed clothes and put extra make-up on! We had come to the dance straight from a lesson in Atlanta with Eddie Ares. Eddie is a fantastic instructor but he works your tail off. We worked on waltz and foxtrot and now we have “homework” to practice before our next lesson on Sunday the 16th. It takes a good teacher to say “You must re-learn the basics” without demoralizing the students. But in the end, the only demoralizing aspect was Friday afternoon traffic leaving Atlanta.

behind the curtain lessons

It all depends on your definition of “fun”

Post author By lauraet
Post date August 2, 2009
No Comments on It all depends on your definition of “fun”

Just realized that I have spent the weekend with two of my favorite sadists: Eddie Ares and Jillian Michaels.

Yesterday, Daniel and I attended Eddie’s “Creating Impact” workshop at Academy Ballroom. It was a fast & furious 90 minutes of rumba and cha-cha exercises focused on making our dancing stronger, sharper, and faster. Very little partnering, very few breaks: just dance, dance, dance. At the end when we were chatting with Eddie, I said “Thanks for the butt-kicking!” He chuckled but then said “Well, conditioning is really important.” Best of all, all the exercises are compact enough patterns that we can practice them at home–provided I can remember them!

He is right about the conditioning, of course. My cardio endurance is better than it used to be, but it could be better still, and my muscles could be stronger too. So today I did Jillian’s “No More Trouble Zones” workout. She describes it as a circuit training workout: it is all toning exercises, no cardio, but fast-paced enough that it gets your heart rate going too. Do a few of her “Surrenders”* and see if your heart doesn’t beat faster.

Eddie’s class was fun. Jillian’s workout…not so much. But because her workouts are so challenging, I always feel like I’ve accomplished something after I finish one. And that’s fun, at least.

*If you don’t know, don’t ask. Trust me.

competitions

SouthernStar Midsummer Classic 2009

Post author By lauraet
Post date July 28, 2009
4 Comments on SouthernStar Midsummer Classic 2009

Every competition we participate in brings new pleasures. At this year’s SouthernStar Midsummer Classic in Tampa, FL we got to see a couple we met last year as spectators, John and Theresa, “graduate” to the next level and become competitors. They are such nice, fun people–last year, despite our being strangers to them, they agreed to take video for us with Daniel’s digital camera. Now they are obviously on their way to becoming great dancers: they got two 1st places and two 2nd places out of the 8 events they entered! Yaaay, John & Theresa!

With our former photographers now sharing the competition floor with us, we needed someone new on video duty. Our extremely obliging friend Jeff, who teaches with me at Macon State, made the trip to Tampa with us and spent the whole day Saturday in the folding chairs of the spectator area, wielding the camera. We are so glad to have videos of nearly all our heats. Thanks, Jeff!

Considering how little we’ve been able to dance and practice since we went to Raleigh back in February, we went into this competition with minimal expectations. We were rewarded with excellent results! Our goals were to place better than we did last year and to make one callback in each of the Challenge events we entered. We achieved all of those goals except for one Challenge where we didn’t get a callback. So we are very happy with our results and with the positive comments we got from other dancers. It’s pretty exciting when a Championship-level dancer looks you right in the eye and says “You guys are really good!”

Here are our results:

SouthernStar Rhythm Challenge (Cha-cha/Rumba/Swing): did not advance from semifinal
Bronze American Rhythm (C/R/S): 2nd place out of 8
Bronze American Smooth (Waltz/Tango/Foxtrot): 2nd place out of 7
SouthernStar Smooth Challenge (W/T/F): advanced from quarterfinal to semifinal
Silver American Rhythm (C/R/S): FIRST place out of 4; this event was a $50 scholarship from the Dayton chapter of USA Dance.

Because of some scheduling conflicts we’ve decided against competing at the Derby City Dancesport Championship in August and are instead aiming for the High Point Classic Dancesport Championship in October in High Point, NC. After this past weekend we are very excited to keep improving our dancing and to do even better at our next comp.

SouthernStar Midsummer Classic 2009

lessons

Better Than Chipotle

We had our first lesson today with Wayne Brockman at Academy Ballroom Cumberland. Wayne is a certified adjudicator with 3 decades of competitive experience. A year ago, he left his successful studio in Colorado in his daughter’s hands and came to Georgia to teach with his sister. We are glad he’s here! The lesson was outstanding. We worked on waltz and tango, focusing on body flight and volume, correcting our posture and footwork. I had no idea it was possible to learn so much in one hour. I’m eager to practice what we learned today and already excited for next Friday’s lesson.

During the lesson, Wayne was correcting my position in closed hold. As I shifted in order to “dance it to the left,” my concentration momentarily broke, captured by a sight nearby. “Hey!” I exclaimed. “There’s a Chipotle right across the street!” Wayne burst out laughing. I tried in vain to reassure him that I would, in fact, choose a lesson with him over a burrito from Chipotle. I would! Really!

competitions lessons

Preparing for SouthernStar Midsummer Classic

Post author By lauraet
Post date July 10, 2009
No Comments on Preparing for SouthernStar Midsummer Classic

Our registration form for this year’s SouthernStar Midsummer Classic in Tampa went out in the mail today, so it’s official–we are going! By the end of the month we also expect to register for the Derby City DanceSport Championship in Louisville, KY. It’s going to be a busy few weeks but we’re looking forward to making up for the last couple of months during which we didn’t get to do much dancing. Daniel’s knee is all healed up and he is ready to get busy!

We are especially looking forward to Tampa because at least one of our friends will be making the trip with us to serve as photographer, videographer, and cheerleader. Since we are the only dancers in our chapter who travel to competitions we are always on our own–that’s why we never come back with any pictures to share! This time will be different, so stay tuned for pics at the end of this month.

On Sunday we head up to Atlanta for our first lesson with a new instructor. I don’t want to identify him without his permission, so for now I’ll just say he comes highly recommended and has a long and distinguished dance career. We are looking forward to getting to know him and working with him to improve our dancing.

behind the curtain lessons

Chicken arms, beach balls, and a sharp poke in the knee

Post author By lauraet
Post date June 28, 2009
2 Comments on Chicken arms, beach balls, and a sharp poke in the knee

I spent 2 hours yesterday at a workshop at Academy Ballroom in Atlanta learning tango technique from Eddie Ares & Nancy Senner and spins/turns technique for Latin & Rhythm from Jorge Morales. It was lots of hard work for brain and body but so worth it. Watching experts like Eddie, Nancy, and Jorge break down the basics of solid dance technique serves as a reminder of how important those basics are. Improving the basics like posture and frame makes even the most simple steps look more “advanced” because the dancer looks so much more polished and in control when doing the steps. Plus, correct posture and a solid frame are essentials for good leading and following.

Chicken arms and beach balls are two images that Eddie used in his part of the workshop to illustrate points about proper dance position. One of the advantages to taking workshops from different instructors is hearing ideas expressed in different ways. In two hours yesterday I learned only one thing that totally was new to me (and it was a biggie), but I heard a lot of things I already thought I knew explained and broken down in ways that will help me remember and practice them. We are planning to start taking some private lessons with Eddie and I can’t wait to be exposed to more of his teaching style.

Hopefully we’ll start lessons with Eddie in about two weeks. Daniel saw his orthopedist again on Friday after an MRI on Monday. The orthopedist said he had a muscle sprain in his knee that had caused the joint to become inflamed. He had to have an injection into the joint which is supposed to coat the joint and allow the inflammation to heal; he is also taking anti-inflammatories every day for two weeks. Once the two weeks is up, he should be healed up and ready to dance again. Hooray!

Tonight is our monthly Sunday Night Dance Party at the Howard Community Club, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Hope to see you there!