Daniel and I are heading to Savannah for a wedding this weekend, and we’ll be missing not one but TWO great dance events:

Friday night is the First Friday dance at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.  The dance starts at 7:30; admission is $5.00 per person.  Paula just sent me a note that there is a special event on Cherry Street that night; the street will be blocked off and the event organizers are charging to attend the party.  She recommends entering Cherry Street from the Music Hall of Fame and Terminal Station and letting the organizers know that you are going to the Sports Hall of Fame.

Saturday night is USA Dance Greater Macon Chapter 6059’s monthly dance.  Admission is $7 for USA Dance members or $10 for non-members.  The evening gets started at 7:30 with a dance lesson–this month, Kim & Vic Oteghem are teaching West Coast Swing!  The lesson will be followed by general dancing from 8:00 to 10:30.  Light snacks are furnished and soft drinks and water are available for a donation.

If you are Daniel & Laura fans (or, better yet, fans of dancing in general), please turn out for these dances and represent on our behalf!  Both are sure to be a lot of fun.

Looking backward, last night’s USA Dance monthly social was big fun.  Excited as always to see some new faces.  Our chapter is hoping to grow to 100 members this year–if last night was any indication, I bet we’ll get there.

Looking forward, next Friday is this year’s Cherry Blossom Ball!  It’s one of my favorite dance events of the year.  First, I love a black-tie do at any time, for any reason.  Second, it’s held at the Macon City Auditorium, which is such a pretty venue.  Third, I found out last night that the Georgia Big Band is playing.  They are always fun to dance to.  As a bonus, this year’s event is being called the “Diamond Ball” because a local jewelry store is donating a one-carat diamond which someone at the ball will win.  I’m not saying I expect to win–in fact, I hadn’t really thought about it–but if I did, I know exactly what I’d do with that diamond…

Flashy prizes aside, the real fun of an event like this is that it feels like a reward for the hard work and discipline of going to lessons and practicing every week.  Elegance, grace, beauty, and romance are the qualities that draw people to ballroom dancing.  Dancing to a live band in a gorgeous auditorium while wearing the perfect dress or tuxedo embodies all those qualities.

Plus there are always a lot of desserts and you might win a diamond! (^_^)  Buy tickets here or call (478) 301-5470.

How hard is it to count to 4 while walking in a circle?  Just ask everyone who learned a new line dance from Dianne Kent at our USA Dance chapter’s Valentine’s Day dance last month:

A lot of ballroom dancers who consider themselves “serious” won’t go anywhere near a line dance.  We are serious about ballroom but don’t believe in taking dancing, or ourselves, too seriously!

Yesterday afternoon we met up with our friends Kelly & Steve (known to Kelly’s toddler niece as Kecky and Teeb) to help them work on their wedding dance. They are getting married at the beginning of May. Kelly started ballroom at the same time I did, but didn’t stick with it seriously for want of a steady partner. Maybe this wedding dance will be the gateway drug that turns the newlyweds into dedicated dancers!

They already had a song picked out and we agreed that they should dance a rumba.  They are quick studies and worked up a routine in less than an hour.  I can’t wait to see them dance it at their wedding.

Surprisingly, they had not had enough dancing in the afternoon and agreed to have dinner with us and then go to the USA Dance chapter’s monthly dance in the evening.  Paula taught some waltz basics at the lesson before the dance, which was very well attended.  Everyone was decked out in their Valentine’s Day red.  Daniel got to be one of several “dance hosts”: women paid $1 for a ticket to dance with a dance host, with the money going to our chapter.  He collected ten tickets!  He also took a bunch of videos during the evening, including the debut of a new line dance/mixer that Dianne taught us.  I’ll post that to our YouTube channel as soon as Daniel figures out how to get the videos off his camera–it’s brand new.

Last weekend, we celebrated Halloween at the Macon Mall with the opening of the mall’s new ArtSpace.  Along with dancers from Philips Performing Arts’ studio, USA Dance Greater Macon Chapter 6059 presented a dance exhibition for shoppers and trick-or-treaters at the mall.  An enthusiastic crowd was on hand to watch and participate in the dancing.  Jim & JoyDawn danced a swing and a tango; Daniel and I danced a cha-cha and a foxtrot; Charles & Leneta danced a samba; and Paula’s entire Thursday night class danced a rumba formation.  Chester, our DJ-in-residence, announced the dancers and played the music.  Jorge took a video, which I will post here as soon as I get it uploaded.  The night was great fun and generated lots of interest in ballroom dancing.  Hooray!

Weekend Excitement, part 1: Paula East’s dancers, including yours truly, will be performing at the opening of Macon Mall’s new Art Space on Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31 at 7:00 p.m. Paula’s Thursday night advanced class is presenting a rumba formation (group dance), then individual couples will be dancing some exhibitions. A salsa lesson will follow the exhibition performances. Come check it out!

Weekend Excitement, part 2: Saturday, November 7 is the second annual Stars over Macon Ball at the Wellness Center, 3797 Northside Drive in Macon. Doors open at 7:00 with music starting at 8:00; dress is black tie optional. This event is a fundraiser for Hospice of Central Georgia, co-sponsored by the USA Dance Greater Macon Chapter and the Medical Center of Central Georgia. The ball will feature music by the Celebration Band and performances by Eddie Ares Productions. Call 478-633-7396 for tickets, but don’t wait. October 29 is the deadline for reservations.

See you soon on the dancefloor!

A few weeks ago, Daniel and I attended the “Get Involved” fair, an event showcasing student organizations and community groups, at Macon State College.  We helped represent USA Dance Greater Macon #6059 in hopes of attracting students to our classes and events.  It was so much fun to dance in the lobby of the Jones Building as many students I know and have worked with passed by.  Several students took part in a mini-lesson on East Coast Swing, and even more students picked up information and joined our mailing list.  It was a very successful event and we’re so glad we could take part.

My former student and newspaper advisee Walter Perry took some photos and a video at the event:

Last night, USA Dance Greater Macon Chapter #6059 had the honor to be invited to the annual Les Still Big Band Night at the Warner Robins Civic Center. The event is a fundraiser for the Houston County Certified Literate Community Program, an organization promoting adult literacy, and this year’s event was the 9th annual celebration. The Les Still Big Band, Still Swinging, was tons of fun to listen to and dance to. We had a great time dancing, and the organizers and spectators really seemed to appreciate our presence there, adding a little “floor show” element to the evening.  Click each thumbnail to see the full-sized photo.

At last night’s “Dancing For Our Heroes” charity dance at the Aviation Museum in Warner Robins, USA Dance #6059 Greater Macon  and USA Dance #6100 Houston County raised just over $2,000 for each of two organizations supporting our military and our veterans.  Hearts to Heroes and the Wounded Warrior Project each received a check for (if memory serves) $2,085.  Hooray!

It was an excellent event, too.  Our two chapters did an amazing job and thought of everything from table decorations to door prizes.  The turnout was great, the hors d’oeuvres were delicious, and the dancefloor was packed.  A few couples even came from Atlanta to attend.  We met one couple, Bob and Vanessa, who will be competing alongside us (and possibly against us!) at the High Point Classic in October.  They are awesome dancers and very friendly people.  Bob helped me fake my way through a West Coast Swing, which was big fun!  Later, Jim Riley allowed me to step all over him in a quickstep–I got up expecting a foxtrot and learned a whole new dance instead.  SSQQ, SSQQ, SS, lockstep, rinse and repeat!  The quickstep is just one more reason to keep up one’s cardio endurance, let me tell you.

Daniel took some good pictures last night–here are a few of them. Click each thumbnail to open the full image.

The Macon Telegraph was on hand last night taking photographs and interviewing dancers, but I haven’t found an article online yet.  If I do, I’ll post it.

I am late in posting this but I wanted to give a shout out to 2 new dancers, Gary & Kelly, whom we met at USA Dance 6059’s monthly social this past Saturday.  About 6 of us joined together to teach them some steps that night–I hope their heads weren’t spinning too much by the time they left.

This kind of welcome is my first and fondest memory of coming to a USA Dance event.  I was by myself and didn’t know anything, but everyone greeted me, helped me, taught me steps, and asked me to dance even though I was new and clueless.  The dancing itself is great, of course, but I also think dancers are some of the nicest people around.  We are always happy to welcome newcomers.

The turnout Saturday night was excellent and a good time was had by all.  Daniel even defied his doctor’s orders and danced a half-dozen or so dances.  He is not supposed to be dancing till after his knee pain is diagnosed and treated, but really, where’s the fun in that?