Categories
dancing in the media

Internationally Famous

Back at the beginning of the year I did an email interview with Rachel Holland, a freelance writer who regularly contributes to the UK’s Dance Today magazine as well as a dozen or so other publications.  I had kind of forgotten about the interview until she emailed me the PDF from the May 2011 issue.  Whee!  Now we are renowned far and wide–and renowned far and wide for being nice people, no less.  Hooray!

Categories
Ballerina Corner competitions exhibitions & performances social dancing

Back to school/Back to getting schooled

Well, sports fans, it’s been a long, hot summer.  Not much to report…or is there?

At the end of July I went to Austria for an academic conference and also found out about the Vienna ball season.  The Viennese waltz is called that for a reason, y’know!  My dream is to attend the New Year’s Eve Kaiserball at Hofburg Palace, but I would also settle for a lesser ball such as the Coffeehouse Owners’ Ball.  The challenges are considerable (airfare, ball ticket prices, transcontinental ballgown transport), but wouldn’t it be an amazing experience?

A week after my return from Austria, we performed our rumba exhibition at the third annual Dancing for our Heroes charity ball at the Museum of Aviation.  It went REALLY well, probably the best we’ve ever danced it even though we had to put water on our shoes because the floor was so slick.  Somehow (absent-mindedness) we did not get any video of our routine, but I think I have video of Jim and JoyDawn’s gorgeous waltz as well as Derrek and Wendy’s très avant-garde cha-cha to Rammstein’s “Du Hast” on my phone.  It was a great night for everybody!

That was the last time Daniel and I danced before he went to Canada for two weeks to see his family.  He returns early next week and we are going to jump into preparation for Carolina Fall Classic, Atlanta Dance Classic, and maybe Christmas in Dixie if we have any money left.

We are also starting to work with a new wedding couple (Hi Tiffany & Tyler!), looking forward to seeing Stacey & JT dance at their wedding over Labor Day weekend (thanks for the invite, guys!), and getting excited about jumping back into ballroom class on Wednesday nights.  I am practically counting the HOURS until my first ballet class–either Tuesday night or Thursday night depending on exactly when Daniel rolls back into town (relevant because he went to Canada in MY car).

Meanwhile, I went to Academy Ballroom last weekend with JoyDawn and Beth for their monthly party and the next installment of the Jack & Jill competition (read up on the J&J here and here).  This month’s dance was the cha-cha.  My standard line re: the cha-cha is that I love it, but it doesn’t love me back.  I am slowly getting better at it, but doing that characteristic Latin hip motion at cha-cha tempo continues to be a challenge.  Plus, I am really out of shape right now and the cha-cha requires some stamina.  I had NO expectations whatsoever.  Well, check that: I expected to make it through the first round and into the final, which I duly did, dancing with a cool gentleman named Phil.  For the final I drew another cool gentleman, Martin, who seemed (unlike me) not to be wheezing even though the song went on for a while (it’s possible that I’ve been spoiled by 90-second competition rounds).  When Rachel announced the placements and I was not 5th, 4th, 3rd, or 2nd, I thought “Oh, I didn’t place, minor bummer.”  Then she said that the first-place couple was “possibly the oddest pairing ever in the Jack and Jill” and it turned out that Martin and I had won!  We were an “odd couple” because with dance shoes on, I am a good bit taller than he is.  So now I am tied for the top of the J&J leaderboard.  Can you believe it?

I’ve now ended the majority of the paragraphs in this post with questions.  Can I keep it up?

As soon as I hit “post” I’m going over to the Local Dance Opportunities page to post some updates.  Will you please look at them?

Categories
short takes

Short Take #6: Tradecraft

“Coordinated covert offensives involving two teams are a lot like ballroom dancing: you have to synchronize your steps, time your moves, and always put your partner first.”
–Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) of USA Network’s Burn Notice