Monthly Archives: June 2011

• Gumbo of Visual Media

  Posted on June 28, 2011 by lauraet in competitions.

  Tweet I know, I know: I am a fascinating writer, but you really come here for the videos, right?  You can admit it.  My feelings won’t be hurt. (*snif*) We seem to have taken video of all of our Rhythm heats and no Smooth heats, but considering our inevitable mistakes in Smooth (I’m looking at […]

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• Comp Diary: Total Recall

  Posted on June 24, 2011 by lauraet in comp diary, competitions.

  Tweet We got back to the ballroom way too early on Saturday for the Open American 6-Dance.  This is becoming a pattern: I am paranoid and I like to be early, plus I tend to round our scheduled time down to the hour in my mind, so if our heat is at 1:40, I remember […]

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• Comp diary: May you have an interesting weekend

  Posted on June 20, 2011 by lauraet in comp diary.

  Tweet The idea that “May you lead an interesting life” is a “Chinese curse” is probably apocryphal, but one can see the relevance of the connection between “interesting” and “curse.”   Our weekend in Baton Rouge, although enjoyable and successful, was…interesting. We got away Thursday afternoon around 1 p.m. after settling a GPS rivalry in […]

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• Comp diary: Gumbo departure eve

  Posted on June 15, 2011 by lauraet in comp diary.

  Tweet We leave for Gumbo tomorrow in the early afternoon after I finish teaching, with one last practice session on deck for this evening. This will be the great driving-to-competition experiment: is the wear and tear of a 9-hour drive worth the financial savings and the freedom to haul along as much stuff as we […]

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• Comp Diary: Round and round and round

  Posted on June 7, 2011 by lauraet in comp diary, lessons.

  Tweet Yesterday was our last lesson with Eddie before we go to Gumbo the weekend after next.  We spent our entire lesson (90 minutes) doing “rounds,” which means running through our competition routines over and over again with only a small break between repetitions.  Waltz waltz waltz.  Tango tango.  Waltz-tango. Foxtrot foxtrot foxtrot foxtrot. Waltz-tango-foxtrot. […]

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• Madison Studio Recital 2011–Videotastic!

  Posted on June 5, 2011 by lauraet in Ballerina Corner, exhibitions & performances, teaching.

  Tweet We had an amazing time at the Madison Studio’s annual recital yesterday.  Nobody threw up or passed out, everyone remembered to throw away their gum before going onstage, and we all danced GREAT.  (Okay, I may have kicked someone in the contemporary ballet number, but we don’t need to talk about that.) We had […]

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• The “Merde” Thing, or Why Dancers are Full of S***

  Posted on June 4, 2011 by lauraet in behind the curtain.

  Tweet This question has come up 3-4 times in the past 24 hours or less, so I figure it needs its own post.  [Warning: contains a Rude Word!] Dancers–specifically those who come out of a performing tradition such as ballet, jazz, tap, etc.–are a subset of theatre people.  And theatre people are very superstitious, right […]

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• Dance as protest

  Posted on June 4, 2011 by lauraet in in other news.

  Tweet NPR’s Scott Simon presented a commentary this morning about a planned meet-up/protest today at the Jefferson Memorial.  Today’s event follows an appeals court ruling in May that upheld the National Park Service’s arrest of a woman and her friends in 2008.  They were arrested for silently dancing at the Jefferson Memorial in celebration of […]

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• Dress Rehearsal

  Posted on June 3, 2011 by lauraet in Ballerina Corner, dance events, exhibitions & performances, teaching.

  Tweet This afternoon is dress rehearsal for the Madison Studio recital.  Daniel and I are dancing 3 times: once on our own, once with our class, and once in the production finale.  I am dancing 2 additional times: in my contemporary ballet class’s number (to Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose”) and then in that class’s […]

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