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Workshop With Eddie!

At last year’s Stars over Macon Ball, Eddie Ares generously offered to come to Macon to give a free dance workshop.  It’s taken almost a year but the workshop date has finally been scheduled: Sunday, September 26, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the Howard Community Club.  After the workshop, our dance will start at 7 p.m. as usual.

If you plan to attend the workshop, please email me (laura at dldancers dot com), leave a comment on this post, or respond to the “Dance Workshop with Eddie Ares” event page on Facebook.  That way, we’ll know how many people to expect.  The workshop is free; we are asking only for the usual $5 admission to cover the cost of renting the facility.  No partner is needed and the workshop is suitable for beginner to advanced dancers.

In addition, a limited number of private lessons with Eddie will be available for $77 per 45-minute lesson.  Please contact Laura to schedule a private lesson.

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competitions

Latest videos

Got video from Greenville uploaded a couple of nights ago; video from the Carlyle Place exhibition on August 9 is still waiting on permission from one of the participants.  Enjoy some views of us and our fellow dancers already fully dressed, made up, and competing before 10 a.m.  Competition days are loooooooooong sometimes!

Categories
competitions

Dance-On

We are back from the Greenville Newcomers Challenge, where we had an excellent time and danced a lot. No, seriously: A LOT.  See, pro-am competitions are different from all-amateur events in that there are a lot more categories and combinations of dances at a pro-am.  We have traveled to USA Dance comps and danced only a half-dozen times, but yesterday we danced about 58 heats, mostly single dances, all in one day.  It was a total marathon and by the end we were both exhausted.  Happy, but exhausted.  We started dancing at 8:30 a.m., got away for about 90 minutes for lunch, finagled a 4-hour break for an early dinner and a nap, and finished our last heat after 11 p.m.  The awards for the evening session took place at the end of the session so we were actually in the ballroom till close to 1 a.m.  We might not ever register for quite so many heats again, but the experience was worth it.  We won a $100 scholarship (always exciting) and we got to do some things we’d never done before:

  • I had my picture taken with some sorority girls–members of Kappa Delta at Clemson University–who were attending a conference at the comp hotel and came in to watch the dancing.
  • We scratched some heats: this is not, practically speaking, a big deal, but we’d never done it before.  Around 3 p.m. we realized that if we danced everything we were signed up for, we might not even have time to eat dinner.  So we asked the deck captain to scratch us from the rest of the afternoon and came back for the evening session in scholarship-worthy shape.  Good call.
  • We each threw away a pair of dance shoes.  Daniel bought a new pair at the comp and started wearing them immediately.  I wore my old, grotty, too-tight Smooth shoes for the millionth time because I keep swearing I’ll get rid of them and then I don’t.  By the end of the night I was practically limping and threatening to throw them away before we left Greenville.  Daniel hid them from me for the rest of the night so I could think about it.  Just before we left the comp hotel, he said “Are you sure about your shoes?” and pointed to where he’d concealed them under the registration table.  I said yes and left them there.  Also a good call.
  • Most interesting of all, we got to do what’s called a “dance-on.”  I’d seen this done at Hotlanta but it’s never done at amateur comps.  Instead of entering en masse through the on-deck area, each couple is introduced by name, enters through the curtain behind the podium, and then does a 30-second solo.  It’s not judged so it’s just a chance to show off in the spotlight (literally, in this case).  We were a little nervous because we’d never done one before and because we weren’t sure what music we’d get.  But we found out it would be a tango, so we went out there and did the first 30 sec. of our tango routine–which happens to be pretty good and pretty interesting to watch.  It was fun!

We definitely did not dance perfectly but we danced well at least some of the time and got a lot of compliments.  We were also glad that Eddie was there (he and the Academy Ballroom crew were running the comp) as he’d not seen us compete before.  I think it gave him a better idea of what we need to work on in lessons.  We have a lesson Friday and then I’m doing workshops at the studio all day Saturday.  I hope my blisters heal by then, but if not, I’ll just tape ’em up and go for it!

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Uncategorized

Upcoming Shenanigans

On Monday, August 9 we return to the stage at Carlyle Place to present a dance exhibition for their “Dinner Theatre” series.  We are dancing a cha-cha and a swing; Jim Riley and Dianne Kent are dancing a waltz; Jim (who will be busy) is dancing a tango with Paula East; and Cameron Pyle from Madison Studio of Dance Education is doing a classical ballet number and a contemporary/lyrical routine.  It’s going to be spectacular (“We’ll call it ‘Spectacular Spectacular!'”), particularly if I can figure out what to wear for our swing dance.

Then, after a week of meetings and more meetings at my job, we run away to Greenville, SC for the Greenville Newcomers’ Challenge.  Our own Eddie Ares is running the competition and his studio manager entered us in a staggering 54 heats–all in one day!  She has assured me that it’s okay if we get tired and have to scratch some.

And then!  Starting August 16, Daniel and I will be teaching “Ballroom for Kids” and “Ballroom for Big Kids” (i.e., adults) at Madison Studio.  As amateurs, we are allowed by USA Dance to teach as long as we don’t compete or “promote ourselves” as professionals.  We are very excited about the opportunity and hope we get a good turnout.  I have been taking ballet at Madison since January; it’s a great facility with an excellent faculty (if I do say so myself) and a very positive atmosphere.  It’s an honor to be joining their team.  Please check Madison Studio’s Web site for details about the class, pricing, etc.

Updates to follow soon!

Categories
dance events USA Dance

Dancing for our Heroes 2010

Behold, I bring you photos and video from last weekend’s “Dancing for our Heroes” charity ball, hosted by Dance Houston County to benefit Hearts to Heroes and the Wounded Warrior Project. Each organization was presented with a check for $1000, and Dance Houston Country received an American flag presented by Daughters of the American Revolution. We also got to see great exhibitions by little kids (Eldad Albalak’s nieces & nephews) and big kids (JoyDawn and Philip). Woohoo! Click through for goodies, and thank you for disregarding the camerawoman’s small talk.