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competitions

Royal Palm Winter Frolic competition report

We’re back from the Royal Palm Dancesport “Winter Frolic” competition as of yesterday evening. It was a great return to the world of competitive dance after an absence that was much too long! From the beginning we decided that we just wanted to have fun and get back into competition without putting too much pressure about ourselves about results. We totally succeeded at that goal and we got some good placements to boot.

Days in the ballroom are fast-paced and exciting but long: the American Rhythm heats started at 9:30 in the morning and the last of the American Smooth heats didn’t end till 6:30 p.m., with the International events in the middle. We danced in bronze and silver level in Smooth and Rhythm in both the Senior 1 and Senior 2 age categories, plus in a “Challenge” event in both Smooth and Rhythm that was open to all ages and levels. The Challenge events were the only ones where we weren’t competitive, but that was not too surprising since we were dancing syllabus material alongside open-level dancers. I think we still did well being out on a crowded floor; the Challenge quarterfinals had 10-12 couples on the floor at the same time. Daniel did great with the floorcraft.

We ended up with 2 third places, 3 second places, and 3 first places, including–to our surprise–a $50 scholarship heat! We also met some nice new people and got reacquainted with some competitors we had met before. It was a fantastic experience and we are so happy and proud to be back in competition at last. The walk out on to the floor for the first heat always whets the appetite for more. Now we’re just asking ourselves: when can we do it again?

Until then, who would like to see some pictures?