Author: lauraet

In 2009 we will be going to Louisiana twice: once to New Orleans for the PCA/ACA annual conference (not dance related at all, though there are some conference sessions about dance) and once to Baton Rouge for the Gumbo DanceSport Championships, June 26 and 27, 2009.  “Gumbo DanceSport Championships” is funny enough, but this event used to be called “Gumbo of Ballroom” until USA Dance decided that all National Qualifying Events had to be called the “[Something] DanceSport Championships.”

Just looking at the entry form puts a smile on my face–and, to be honest, makes my palms sweat slightly.  In addition to the syllabus events we’d normally enter they have an “Open Six-Dance” event for all competitors below Gold level, plus “Cabaret” and “Theatre Arts” events.  I’m not actually sure what those last two are, but I’d like to find out, because I’m all about lots of dancing.  USA Dance comps are so great because they charge a flat entry fee for as many dances as you can enter (as opposed to charging per heat).

The only challenge will be getting out of town in time to get ourselves there for the competition.  According to the tentative schedule we’ll be dancing on Friday afternoon, which means leaving here Thursday so we can get a good night’s sleep in before we compete.  I am supposed to teach till 12:30 on Thursday but I suppose we could leave after that.  I don’t like to drive at night, but Daniel does, which is one of the many things that make us such a good team.

Gumbo, here we come!

On Saturday, February 21, 2009, we competed in our first USA Dance-sanctioned competition, the Triangle Open Dancesport Championship.  Since the summer we’d been working hard to improve our dancing and were rewarded with 5 first-place results!  Although we are still just beginners compared to a lot of the dancers we saw, we had no shortage of events to enter or company on the floor.  More importantly, we met lots of very friendly people and had a wonderful time.  We enjoyed seeing our fellow Georgians Rick & Cindy Pellin again after meeting them in Tampa in July–it’s easy to see that after a few more competitions, every time we compete will feel like traveling to see a big group of friends.  Even when you don’t know anyone, the atmosphere is very welcoming: we heard strangers yelling our number to encourage us as we danced.  Daniel always tells people that he wants to “share his passion” for dancing, and that’s what this competition was all about.  I wish I could tell you something about how we danced, but I remember so few details. We just got out there and…did it. I remember almost stepping on someone in Senior I waltz; I remember the gentleman from a Gold-level couple that we know smiling at me as we danced and then nodding approvingly when I smiled back; I remember making flirty eyes at the judges while doing a grapevine in the foxtrot; I remember trying to slow my heartbeat between cha-cha and swing; I remember lining up on deck over and over, and curtsying over and over. I remember thinking how much I love dancing. It was such a great, fun day, and it gave us both so much motivation to keep working and keep competing.

Here are the events we entered and our placements:
+ Adult Bronze Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot: made the cut from first round to quarterfinal in all of these
+ Senior I Bronze Waltz: 4th of 4
+ Senior I Bronze Tango: 2nd of 3
+ Senior I Bronze Foxtrot: 1st of 3
+ Adult Bronze Cha-Cha: did not make the first cut
+ Adult Bronze Rumba: made the cut from first round to quarterfinal
+ Adult Bronze Swing: made 2 cuts, from first to quarter and from quarter to semi
+ Senior I Bronze Cha-Cha: 1st of 3
+ Senior I Bronze Rumba: 1st of 4
+ Senior I Bronze Swing: 1st of 3
+ Senior I Silver Rhythm (cha-cha & rumba): 1st of 5