This morning we finished out our participation in the Carolina Fall Classic by failing to be recalled in Senior I Silver Rhythm, failing to be recalled in Adult Silver Rhythm, and scratching our two gold events. Daniel was not feeling well, so we decided to cut our losses and start for home early. Given our lack of preparation, we were not surprised at our performance in Smooth. But we have our Rhythm routines solidly under our belts and we think we do them well, so today’s results were discouraging.
While it’s easy enough to say that we’re just going to dance and have fun with no expectations, I in particular have difficulty accepting it when we don’t make that cut from semifinal to final. In my mind, rightly or wrongly, not getting a recall is the judges’ way of saying that we don’t actually belong at the level in which we are dancing. That probably isn’t true, but that’s the way I read it. It’s disappointing for both of us and it detracts from the enjoyment of the event. Plus, every recall we don’t make is at least one heat we don’t get to dance. Obviously, we want to fare better next time. We have decided to do two things: (1) set a practice schedule and do our best to stick to it and (2) talk to Eddie about when we should compete next and have him help us set goals. So although we did not place well (or, in nearly every case, at all), I still feel like we learned something and the trip was worth it.
It should be said, also, that we had fun even though our results were not much fun. The DJ played a surprising number of French songs (we foxtrotted to “Je ne veux pas travailler”) and other good stuff (it turns out that U2’s “Vertigo” is a swing!); we had a very informative chat with Mr. Crowder about possibly hosting a competition in Macon someday; and we competed Viennese waltz for the first time on virtually NO preparation. The first time, we sort of stumbled through it; the second time, I started yelling out steps to Daniel with reckless abandon (“Runaround! Now go! Explode! Collect! Basic!”) and it went a lot better. I would say of VW as I’ve heard said of swing: it’s like a plane crash: any one you can walk away from is a good one.
We also saw lots of people we knew from other comps, watched lots of good dancing (Andrzej Lelewer & Mary Beth Beasley, we want to be you when we grow up), had some nice meals, and got to go to the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, which commemorates the beginning of the lunch counter sit-in movement at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in downtown Greensboro. That was a cool experience, as is downtown G’boro in general. It was good to get out and flâner a bit rather than spending the whole weekend camped out in the ballroom as is our usual practice.
So: by no means a total loss; lots to work on; and I do have a few photos and some video to share. Give me 10 minutes to work on the laundry and I’ll be back with a photo post.