Nerd In Heels

2-a-day

2008-07-01T21:24:35Z

After deciding on Saturday that we'd compete Smooth in Tampa, worked on waltz, foxtrot, and tango in our lesson with Francesca today. Tango is good, waltz is close to good, foxtrot sucks mightily. We know foxtrot sucks, so we never dance it, so it keeps on sucking: vicious cycle. In all 3 dances we have to concentrate on staying down in our knees and pushing off the floor from the standing leg, and on making our toplines big. In a weird way it's like marching band and how you "hunker down" to take really long steps. It also makes Smooth a lot more strenuous than I ever imagined it could be, but strenuous is good. We need to work on stamina and I need to work on making my body stronger. dancer1957 is a little overweight but he's also really strong. I'm slim and trim but I couldn't eat pesto on my pasta at lunch today because I couldn't get the %$#@! jar open. Same scenario for my arms, legs, and core--building strength is bound to make me a better dancer.

I wore my new shoes and they hurt, but after another couple hours' wear I think they'll be perfect. Thank goodness for my Yoga Toes. It had been a while since I'd worn a really pointy shoe and my big toe joints were traumatized. USA Dance should organize a program for members to have bunion surgery at a discount, because I'll probably need it someday.

Going to Pauline's beginner class tonight, ostensibly to practice but really to debrief about the comp. with Pauline. I don't think dancer1957 is coming, so I will ask if I can be a man during class. Leading is very interesting.

I Can Has First Place? A "Learn Along with Nerd" Ballroom Vocabulary Lesson

2008-06-29T19:19:05Z

Okay, so we only got first place because neither of our events was contested. We don't have to admit that right away, do we?

We arrived at the competition around 10:30 yesterday morning while the American Smooth¹ events were going on. Originally we'd intended to arrive at 8:00 to catch the morning practice session, but that would have entailed a 6:00 a.m. departure from the U.L. Neither of us slept well Friday night so we opted for a couple extra hours of sleep and a later arrival. The competition took place at a dance studio, with the dancing going on in the main studio space. Another large studio was split into vendor space and curtained-off men's and women's dressing rooms. In the smallest studio they had breakfast, and then lunch and snacks, available for a little bit of money. Everything ran pretty close to on time with a minimum of goofy mistakes on the part of the MC and deck captain.² I have no basis for comparison but I thought the whole thing was very well run.

All we had to do in the morning was watch and see what we could learn. This competition was dominated by pro-am³ couples, so we saw the same instructors dancing repeatedly with different students. I was surprised to notice that even the Newcomer⁴ competitors were wearing costumes. Different competitions have different rules about costumes: sometimes they aren't allowed in lower divisions or younger age groups, but this comp. had no restrictions. As it turned out, besides dancer1957 and me, only a few youth competitors were not wearing costumes, because youth aren't allowed costumes in most USA Dance comps. The best revelation from the morning was finding that we really do know enough waltz, tango, and foxtrot to compete in Bronze American Smooth next time around. We will have to do a lot of polishing, but at least we know the steps.

After a while we went to the back room to check out what the vendors had to offer. Knowing that I didn't want to buy a costume for Tampa, I barely glanced through the dress vendor's offerings, mostly to look at the prices. My current theory is that I can do better on price by buying a dress plain and stoning it myself. After a look at the dresses, I moved on to the shoes. Initially I picked out these sandals--I need a new pair of Latin sandals and it appears that my Bloch Nicolas are not going to show up and I will end up cancelling the order. But after deciding we'd do Smooth in Tampa, I jettisoned the sandals and bought a pair of smooth shoes instead, because I don't have any at all. For some reason I am not in love with the look of these but they fit well, they are flattering, and they're appropriate for what I'm doing. dancer1957 had the opposite problem--he only had smooth shoes--so he bought some Latins, and a shoe brush because I always forget mine.

We ate lunch during the break between the American Smooth and International Standard rounds and then during International Standard watched some creative combining of heats to accommodate scratched entries and keep some of the pros from falling over dead of exhaustion. After International Standard it was time to get ready and hit the floor for practice. dancer1957 was getting nervous, so I threw on my outfit and slapped on make-up as quickly as I could and we went out to warm up. I wore a black halter-neck leotard, black practice skirt, fishnets, and black shoes. The black shoes are kind of a no-no--people say they cut off your leg line--but they are the most comfortable ones I have right now and I decided that was preferable. I also wore 8 pounds of eyeshadow, lipstick, and bronzer, and a rhinestone "dog collar" that was my grandma's. dancer1957 wore black pants and a black UnderArmour type fitted turtleneck. It's not at all breathable but it does look cool on the dance floor. He also wore a number on his back: 106.
Our outfits (and those of others), let me show you them:

We danced enough during the warm-up time to raise our body temperatures above "popsicle" (ballroom was FREEZING) and remind dancer1957 about a couple of tricky steps. As the American Rhythm heats got started, 3 fellow dancers (and one dancer's 9-year-old daughter) from the U.L. showed up to be our cheering section. Yay! We knew they were coming but didn't know when to expect them, so we had gotten worried that they might miss our events. That worry was misplaced. We were heats number 108 and 109; American Rhythm started with heat number 69. We had lots of time to sit with them, explain things, and coo over the other dancers' technique. One of our group even tried on some dresses. Another new convert sucked in! Muah hahahahaha!

Heat number 105 started and it was our turn to report to the deck captain to line up 3 heats ahead of our turn as required. I took off my trusty hoodie and my saints bracelet and we queued with the other couples dancing in our heat: a pro-am couple, a youth couple, and a junior couple. Each of us was a separate "event" even though we were all grouped in one heat. This kind of organization is pretty common and keeps the competition from having 1,000 heats with 1 couple on the floor during each heat. Our event was a multi-dance event so we danced cha-cha, rumba, and swing right in a row. I felt only a little nervous before we got out there, and even while dancing I didn't feel anxious, but I got a big adrenaline rush that made it very hard to concentrate. My hands were shaking, my mouth got extremely dry, and I must have been working too hard at smiling because my face muscles got twitchy by the end of the cha-cha. As a result, I hardly smiled at all during the rumba. Catching one's breath in the 30 seconds or so between dances is incredibly hard. Apart from controlling my adrenaline, I need to work on my stamina. We also need to practice dancing the rumba at the "official" tempo. Most of the rumbas we practice to and dance to socially are slower and I was not ready for how fast the rumba would be. It didn't cause us problems, exactly, but it was unexpected, and unexpectedness on the competition floor is not your friend. At least the music was good. We danced swing in this heat to "Just a Gigolo," which made dancer1957 grin, and he was having so much fun that I finally got a grip on my fight-or-flight response.

We danced in 2 consecutive heats; the first was "Closed" and the second was "Open,"⁵ so in the second one we tried to throw in some more esoteric steps. Unfortunately I may not have told my dear partner beforehand that we were dancing 2 heats, so we didn't work out what to do differently in Open until the warm-up period on the day. Oops. Still, we muddled through well enough and I even heard one of the pros cheer for us ballroom-style by yelling out our number: "Go, 106!" I'd been feeling dispirited because none of our friends was cheering for us, but we had failed to brief them on the number-yelling tradition. Oops again. The second cha-cha was a mashup of "Oye Como Va" and something else (80s hip-hop?) that I recognized but couldn't name. Since we've performed to "Oye Como Va" before, I was pleased to hear it. Our second rumba was probably a bit better technically than our first, but dancer1957 dorked up a lead at one point and we had to cover. Our friends said they couldn't see that we'd made a mistake but it looks glaringly obvious on the video to me. The second swing was serviceable, I suppose. I don't quite remember it--by then I was ready to stop dancing. The music ended, we took our bows, and left the floor so we could rush straight to the water cooler in the on-deck area. By the time we sucked down 2 cups of water each and did a little postmortem, the round was nearly over. When it ended, everyone went out and danced just for fun for a few minutes while the judges sorted themselves out, then they presented the awards. Cleverly, but disappointingly for me, the organizers didn't do trophies or ribbons but gave prizes in the form of little cards saying "1st," "2nd," or "3rd." The cards were $2.00 credit vouchers toward the entry fees for next year's competition. I like to save a buck, I can appreciate the organizers' desire to do likewise, and I'm sure that the pro-am couples who entered a million heats would have needed wheelbarrows if they'd done trophies, but...well...I wanted a trophy, dang it!

Overall, I know we didn't dance spectacularly well, and I wish I'd had my nerves under better control, but I still had an amazing time and I can tell we've improved just in the last couple of months. I'm already looking forward to Tampa and mentally cataloguing everything I learned, even down to small stuff like organizing my bag better so I don't spend half my dressing room time digging for whatever has fallen to the bottom of the bag. So this competition did exactly what it was supposed to: gave us a chance to get our feet wet and learn how things work before our first sanctioned comp. in...

...27 days.

Also? dancer1957 and I had a really good time and didn't kill each other even a little bit. Yay! Here we are with our awards.

Now for the videos: each is about 1:30.
Closed cha-cha, rumba, and swing
Open cha-cha, rumba, and swing

¹Ballroom dancing in the U.S. is divided into 2 styles with 2 types of dancing under each style: American Smooth and American Rhythm, plus International Standard and International Latin. Smooth and Standard overlap significantly as do Rhythm and Latin, but there are some key differences as well. dancer1957 and I dance American style.
²A deck captain is the ballroom equivalent of a wedding coordinator: she counts heads, lines everyone up before each heat, and tells you when to go out on the floor.
³In the U.S., pro-am competition--dancing with one's instructor, in which case only the student (the "am") is judged (supposedly)--is very common. Metropolis is home to the biggest pro-am competition in the country and it is very popular up there. 7 am-am couples danced in this comp. as compared to 26 pro-am couples. Of that 26, 21 were ladies divided among only 5 pros. Those guys were TIRED by the end of the day, but they were wealthy. Pro-am is a gold mine for the pro, because the student(s) pay for the pro's time, entry fees, travel costs, and expenses during a comp.
⁴Competitive dancing is divided into a series of levels: roughly Newcomer, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Novice, Pre-Champ, Championship. This being our first comp., we should probably have danced in Newcomer.
⁵A "Closed" event is one in which only syllabus steps are allowed; in an "Open" event dancers can do any steps that suit their level and the character of the dance.

A winnar is me!

2008-06-29T01:08:43Z

Oh, LJ.

I can now officially claim to be a competitive ballroom dancer.

'Tis awesome.

*falls over dead*

Starting to understand why certain religions don't permit dancing

2008-06-25T01:33:52Z

First, I got ready for dance class a little early this evening and thus took my trash can out to the curb while wearing skin-tight jazz pants. Fast-forward 30 years and I'll be swanning around in a caftan and turban with a cigarette holder (what would I put in it? Pocky?). Then, at class, I asked Pauline if I could take my t-shirt off and dance in just my sports bra, because after 1 cha-cha I was pouring sweat. She, a 60+-year-old woman who has been known to wear a fishnet shirt over a red bra, recommended against it. Where has my sense of propriety gone?

Dancesport Challenge Checklist

2008-06-23T13:04:01Z

+ Email comp. organizer for schedule
+ Email friends to harass them into attending
+ Practice at least 2x this week
+ Print out directions to venue
+ Put on self-tanning lotion daily
+ Do nails (white)
+ Clean & brush pink shoes in case new ones don't arrive
+ Wardrobe: fishnets, black halter leotard, black practice skirt
+ Makeup: foundation, concealer, blush, bronzer, black/silver eyeshadows, mascara, red lipstick, Airbrush Legs
+ Take camera and extra batteries

Dance-y updates

2008-06-15T21:45:13Z

+ After two one-hour private lessons and a social dance this weekend, Yoga Toes feel REALLY good.

+ Dialogue while exiting today's lesson:
sauvagerie: Ugh, I have waffle butt from my fishnets!
dancer1957: But you like waffles!

+ Have registered for Dancesport Challenge, and not a moment too soon. Must still figure out wardrobe. Zoinks!

Linkity

2008-05-26T00:36:43Z

I love Reem Acra's designs (not that I can afford them), so I'm not surprised at all to find out that she is also a dancer!

Did anyone else notice that Dancing with the Stars ended just in time for So You Think You Can Dance to begin? Thanks, Universe! And on a related note, am I allowed to fly to San Francisco on June 13 to take a lesson and attend the "welcome party at Cheryl Burke's new studio?

See 5:04 and then skip ahead to 10:13.

In other news, I'm definitely getting these shoes when I find some money. I tried them on last August in Ft. Collins, CO and the saleswoman confirmed that they are a good shoe for "low volume feet." They are only about $10 more than what I've been wearing and I'm sure they will fit better. Yay! I also want a pair of silver shoes but that would just be a gratuitous vanity purchase.

This concludes tonight's episode of "Linkity."

Postmortem

2008-05-03T02:16:21Z

Exhibition: done. It went extremely well. Pauline even said she was proud of us. o_O

I had exactly enough energy after my 12-hour day to get through 2 numbers, come home, put on my pajamas and eat a leftover grilled chicken salad that Miss Brown foisted on me. Internet, you heard it here first: exhaustion is actually a pretty good offset to stage fright. You're too tired to be cripplingly nervous, and the adrenaline rush you do get is just enough to keep you dancing and smiling. Good to know.

Hey, elina

2008-05-02T01:09:36Z

I totally get it now!

I always read your Women's Chorus day-of-show-logistics posts and think "Wow, that's a lot of planning." But tomorrow I have to go straight from a 12-hour workday to a dance performance. I get it now!

Tonight
+ Do nails
+ Get together all costume pieces:
-- black miniskirt
-- silver tank
-- fishnets
-- trunks
-- red dress
-- kimono to hide costume till it's my turn
-- shoes
+ Assemble makeup: foundation, concealer, bronzer, lipstick, eyeshadow, brushes, powder
+ Gather shower equipment: shampoo, soap, towel, razor, and flip-flops; round brush, gel, and blow-dryer

Tomorrow
+ 7:15 a.m.: Leave home with all of the above in car
+ 8 a.m.: Freshman comp. final
+ 10 a.m.-12 p.m.: Grading, lunch
+ 12 p.m.-4 p.m.: Discipline Committee hearings
+ 4 p.m.-6 p.m.: Find food. Shower, do hair, put on makeup and (possibly) costume in faculty locker room at gym
+ 6 p.m.-8 p.m.: Professional Communication final
+ 8 p.m.-10 p.m.: Dance event with exhibitions starting at 9:00, by which time my ass better be there
+ 10:30 p.m.: Arrive home and fall down dead

Better to be over than under?

2008-04-20T17:01:55Z

Last night, K-Dub, dancer1957 and I carpooled to a town about 25 minutes away where the Rotary Club was putting on its annual fundraising dance. Heavy hors d'oeuvres, cash bar, silent auction, live band, $35/ticket or $250 for a table of 8: doesn't that summary suggest at least "cocktail attire" to you? D. wore a shirt and tie; K-Dub and I sported sparkly dresses; most of the rest of the crowd looked like they'd just come off the golf course. It worked out for the best, though. Pauline had, unbeknownst to us, arranged (or decided on the spot, for all I know) to have us do some exhibition dancing during the band breaks. If I'm going to get up in front of people and represent the glorious excess that is ballroom dancing, I'd rather look, well, excessive.

From left to right, that's Mrs. K (come to think of it, I've never even seen her wear pants--always a skirt), Pauline, me, and K-Dub.

K-Dub picked out my dress; I'd never have considered that color but I got a lot of compliments on it.

3...2...1...

2008-04-18T02:01:29Z

BUG OUT COMPLETELY!!!

Last Friday dancer1957 and I ran into Pauline while out for a cup of coffee. She announced that our USA Dance chapter was talking about raising its profile and had, in keeping with that goal, decided to pay entry fees and travel expenses for a few dancers to go to a competition in Metropolis in "a few months." The chosen dancers are SuperJim and J.D., and dancer1957 and me. She has talked about stuff like this before, and I'd have chalked it up to a latte-fueled whim, but then our chapter president discussed it with us at the monthly social last Saturday. So it's really happening!

We'll now pause for a happy-dance. Play, or hum, the ballroom music of your choice.

Okay. Tonight at Pauline's class I got a copy of the competition announcement. The date is June 28. That's 2 months away! Holy crap! I just hope Francesca will be willing to take us on again as students. I danced with another student of hers tonight, and when I jokingly said "I bet Francesca is totally trash-talking us for dropping out of lessons," he just smiled and didn't answer. Then when I pressed him on it, he...didn't answer, some more. He's a gossipmonger, though. No doubt he was just enjoying watching me squirm.

Manly Thoughts and Carriage

2008-04-14T22:23:42Z

"And since nothing appears to me to give children so much becoming confidence and behaviour, and so to raise them to the conversation of those above their age, as dancing, I think they should be taught to dance as soon as they are capable of learning it. For tho' this consist only in outward gracefulness of motion, yet, I know not how, it gives children manly thoughts and carriage, more than any thing."
--John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, 1692.

Ballroom Picspam

2008-03-29T19:58:39Z

Got our groove on at the Cherry Blossom Ball last night. The venue was gorgeous, the food was tasty, the drinks were free, and everyone looked fabulous. K-Dub and I agreed that next year they need to do red carpet arrivals complete with paparrazi so that after the event we could all go online and play Fashion Police as after the Oscars, etc. My only beef was with the 2 bands that played. With serious dancers (I R SRS DANCR. THIS R SRS EVENT.) making up a good 1/4 of the crowd I was hoping that the organizers would have provided for a variety of ballroom music, but the first band played swing and foxtrot almost exclusively (they did manage one rumba after one of us went up and requested it) and the second band played swing and hustle almost exclusively. Still, I had a very good time. The Lieutenant and I invented a new way for ladies to gauge the fun factor of a ballroom event: how many times did you see the ceiling? (Me: 5) I also danced with someone new, "Jim Belushi," who is rather a blowhard but whose dancing ability at least matches his braggadocio. We danced a hustle that went on...and on...and on, inciting him to try progressively more complex combinations while I just prayed I wouldn't pass out. I know the basic hustle step, and hustle is a dance that responds well to the "just keep doing the basic" survival technique, but when you're being flung and twisted around the floor by a flirty character who is also a perfect stranger, panic starts to creep in. As I told K-Dub, though, I'm just competitive enough that a part of me was thinking the whole time, "Bitch, I can dance anything you throw at me." Which was...mostly true.

A couple pretty good pictures of the venue and the band:

Me with K-Dub:

I said "You look so tan. How do you do that?" She says it's self-tanner but I think she secretly goes to the beach on weekends.

Chef B. and her Internet boyfriend:

I aspire to be Chef B. when I grow up. She is independently wealthy, smokin' hot, rocking her grey hair, AND she's an avid Democratic activist.

Daniel's friend P. and his current arm candy:

When ballroom makeup goes horribly, terribly wrong:

This lady (and her partner) are the head teachers at Overpriced Studio Across Town. Every time I see her, she is wearing approximately this much makeup and clothes that look 20 years out of style. I don't get it, but then I don't get anything about them.

Nose-smoosh!

Everybody, now: aaaaawww!

Pauline is re-starting her First Friday dances at the Sports Hall of Fame in May and is planning to include an exhibition. She wants dancer1957 and me to dance and I want to take the opportunity to do a rumba to Timbaland/One Republic's "Apologize." Will I be borrowing some steps from Helio & Julianne? Probably.

Behold my towering masculinity*

2008-03-02T04:13:47Z

The Lieutenant (K-Dub's partner) taught a 2-hour workshop today on West Coast Swing, his specialty. 'Twas awesome, but as always we were short of men, so Pauline pressed me into learning the man's part. I couldn't have done it if we'd been working on a dance I already knew, but I have barely been exposed to WCS, so being a guy was not too difficult. One of the women I partnered said I was a better partner than the actual men she usually dances with!

After about an hour of workshopping, Pauline called for a break. When we got back to work, several of the men didn't return on time and Pauline asked about them. "They went to the restroom," someone volunteered. I added "They were too intimidated by me." And Kelly threw in, "Yes, they couldn't handle her towering masculinity." Hee.

Now back from tonight's social dance, at which I hardly danced, on accounta (1) too tired from this afternoon (despite hour-long nap: WTF?) and (2) sinus headache moving in from Lord knows where. Have taken some Sudafed and Tylenol and will now make with the sleeping.

*My towering masculinity: let me show you it?

Technical/tactical/etiquette question

2008-02-29T03:36:05Z

If you are dancing with a man who is doing all the right steps but ignoring the rhythm of the music, do you try to alter your tempo/rhythm to match his? A lot of the men in my class can do the step patterns, but with no attention to rhythm or tempo--I think they get worried about remembering the steps and start to rush. In that case one is almost bound to speed up or start missing leads.

Some men would take a correction on this point graciously and with good humor; some would insist that they are doing the best they can; the most audacious would try to spin their tin-eared approach as a point of style: "That's just the way I do it."

On the up side, I discovered that it is possible to adjust to dancing with a man who is 7' tall (with my dance shoes on I am 5'11"). It's all a matter of figuring out how to follow a lead that's being communicated at a level up around your ears.

N.B.: Seven-Feet-Tall Man and Rhythmless Man are not the same guy. I'd have been doomed.

Eek.

2008-02-08T17:58:31Z

Discount Dance Supply's wish list feature includes the total cost of all the stuff on your wish list. I could have my whole list for $220.15.

Not that I have $220.15 to spare, but somehow, seeing the total there and looking at all the stuff (3 pairs of tights, 2 pairs of shoes, and some miscellaneous separates) makes me think "Oh, that's not so bad."

Must put the online shopping down and slowly...walk...away.

Tasty video goodness

2008-02-04T13:07:56Z

I took these with my digital camera so the quality is not spectacular, but you'll get the idea. They are good enough to remind me of the steps so I can practice, anyway, and I enjoyed the Pasha Ass Close-Up at the end of the samba routine.

Samba...Cha-Cha.

Pashaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

2008-02-04T01:20:53Z

Pasha's Latin workshop was fantastic. I feel like I learned a lot, and I am so impressed by how genuine and enthusiastic he is. He was a better teacher than I expected. A good dancer isn't necessarily a good teacher, but he knows how to give constructive, specific criticism without letting a class get bogged down. he also has a knack for explaining the same thing in multiple ways, so if you don't understand one explanation, another one will come. He even told us when it's okay to cheat--I'd never done a "bachacata" (a samba step) before and had no chance of doing a technically correct one, but he showed us how to fake it by just stepping fast and wiggling our butts!

He divided the 2-hour session in half. We worked on cha-cha for the first hour and samba for the second hour. Thank goodness Pauline has recently started teaching us samba, or I'd have been utterly lost. For each dance, he taught us a short solo routine. As we learned the routine, he would stop and give corrections and drill us on certain elements; then we would do the full routine and get more corrections. It was such a smart approach: no one had to share partners (as always, more women were present than men) and we all had to focus on cleaning up our own dancing. He worked us really hard on pushing into the floor, engaging our muscles to make our movements more sharp and delineate changes in tempo/energy, and making crisp changes of direction. That doesn't sound like 2 hours' worth of work, but it was. I am exhausted, not just from the physical work (which was manageable, if sweaty) but from the mental work of learning the choreography and remembering the corrections and things he wanted us to emphasize.

I used my camera to take video of Pasha dancing the two routines he taught us, so I'll post links to the videos once I get them uploaded. Right now I'm just waiting for some laundry to finish so I can crash.

dancer1957, whom I've started calling "the Pied Piper," talked to Pasha about coming to the U.L. to do a workshop and he was very enthusiastic about the idea. About 1/3 of the attendees were people from our dance scene in the U.L.--I pointed out to him who we were and explained where we'd come from. We think we could collaborate with Neighboring Town's USA Dance chapter to host him for a workshop; I'm sure we could get 20+ people to come and hopefully he'd be available for private lessons on the same day. dancer1957 got his phone number (!!!!!). He's supposed to be back in Metropolis within the next couple of months and said he could possibly come to the U.L. for one day on that trip. Squee!

Dance-Related Conditions

2008-01-31T23:17:50Z

from a user on Dance Forums:
hypodancemania (HODM): if you do not dance more you will go nuts.
hyperdancemania (HEDM): dancing till you are nuts.
mesodancemania (MODM): lightweight - take up knitting.

And my own current condition: LHFOS, Left Hip Flexor On Strike. It's been sore all week; feels better when I stretch it but then when I get up in the morning it's stiff and sore all over again. This happens sometimes when I sit at a desk too much, especially if I sit with my legs crossed. I've been doing a lot of desk work recently and, I suspect, sleeping on that side at night as well.

At least it doesn't hurt when I dance. dancer1957 and I and two fellow dancers are going to Metropolis on Sunday for a two-hour Latin workshop with Pasha Kovalev from So You Think You Can Dance.
*poingpoingpoing*

Aww!

2008-01-26T21:57:14Z

John Baldwin proposed to Rena Inoue at the end of their program. She said yes. I totally cried.

Made

2008-01-12T19:37:56Z

Just watched 2 episodes, and part of a third, of MTV's series Made. The 3 eps that I caught all happened to have a common theme: overweight, overachieving teen discovers what it's like to bust ass for a goal that doesn't come as easily as they're used to. None of them, of course, becomes brilliant at his/her chosen pursuit (ballet, ballroom, figure skating), but they all seem to learn that getting out of one's comfort zone has positive results. And to that, I say HECK YES.

I heard a bit of interesting news yesterday, that SuperJim is interviewing for a job in Metropolis. Presumably he would move up there and no longer coach dancer1957 and me. If that happens, I'll miss him, but in the long run we might be better off working exclusively with Francesca. She has competition experience, which SuperJim doesn't, and she dances American style like we do (SJ dances International style).

Thursday evening at Pauline's class I got a copy of the video from our most recent exhibition performance, on New Year's Eve. Here be linkage if you want to check it out. We are the third couple to perform; our part starts at 5:33.

Time to stop faffing around and take a shower.

Sketchy!

2008-01-11T15:08:22Z

"Dance companions" for hire--a new "service" from DancePartner.com. I already mistrust pro/am partnerships because of the potential for weirdness on either side, but a pro/am couple at least has a clear demarcation of authority between student and teacher. Hiring a partner seems like a minefield. Of course, I can comfortably make such pronouncements because I have an amateur partner.

Must admit, too, that .001% of my brain is thinking, "I am slim and attractive enough, and a good dancer; maybe I should put myself out for hire." But around here, anyone who'd hire me would likely be someone I already know and have danced with for free. Also, even the prospect of financial gain can't get me past the sketchiness factor.

I wonder if most of the partners-for-hire are men (who are more in demand in the female-heavy ballroom world) or women (who are the majority of the ballroom population).

nerd_on_ice @ 2008-01-06T10:54:00

2008-01-06T15:54:17Z

dancer1957: *leads a step*
Me: *fails completely*
dancer1957: Do you remember that one?
Me: Apparently not!

Went to a social dance at an "Arts Center" (repurposed ex-elementary-school cafeteria, charmingly retro but underheated) last night and danced pretty well. I'm more than ready to get back into lessons. Unfortunately, due to fiscal constraints (read: flat broke) we probably won't do any more private lessons till February. Pauline's class starts again this coming Thursday, so we'll be going to that. I'm debating also going to her Tuesday night beginners' class just for extra practice. I think I'll ask her on Thursday night.

I'm determined to do a competition this year and so is dancer1957. The competition calendar shows a couple of possibilities within reasonable driving distance. Must consult Francesca and SuperJim ASAP.

A year and a half later...

2007-12-05T02:35:50Z

Last Saturday: the first time I stepped on the ice since my last lesson in June 2006!

Our local "Coliseum" has random public skating on the weekends from mid-November through mid-January. Judging by the crowds on Saturday, I'm very surprised we can't support a year-round rink, but I suppose they make more money using the building for other purposes.

Skating felt WEIRD. Familiar and strange at the same time. My body remembered everything, but my brain is no longer accustomed to the public-skate zoo, so I was very nervous. I have to go back again just to make it up to dancer1957 for being too weirded out to skate around with him in Killian hold. What is it with Canadians, anyway? Are they born with hockey skates on? (OW!!!)

Exhibitionists!

2007-12-03T01:17:51Z

Tuesday's dress rehearsal was a massive headache but ultimately useful, if only because dancer1957 checked the dance floor really carefully and had the organizer bring him an Allen wrench set to tighten up the sections. The MC was rather nervous-making: I'd been told only that he had a British accent and had thought "Oh, how lucky to get a professional MC who happens to be all posh-sounding." He was not at all a professional MC; I think he is actually a chef! Fortunately he had a complete script and we ran through the whole thing even though not all of us dancers were present or dancing our routines. Both at the dress rehearsal and at the performance, the MC started out really shaky but did okay by the end. We ran our routine twice at the rehearsal and sorted out the only lingering question, i.e., how to position ourselves so we'd end up facing the right way at the end.

Wednesday I went to Francesca's house for makeup practice. Her house is enormous, fancy, and perfect, and she wasted no time in spiffing me up with large amounts of high-dollar cosmetics. I've come to realize that Francesca didn't know I had a setting besides "quiet, serious English prof." I tend to be pretty tight-lipped and compliant in lessons because she isn't interested in explanations. As a result, she seemed surprised that I didn't object to being made up so flamboyantly--well, flamboyantly compared to the small amount of makeup I wear on a typical day. In fact, I got so much amazed feedback from Francesca and then so many compliments from people on Thursday night that I paranoidly began to suspect that I usually look washed-out and mousy. Best of all was going to Sally Beauty Supply on the way home with my ballroom fancyface still on. I mostly wore my sunglasses.

Thursday was The Big Day. I had every good intention of coming home early to take at least a one-hour nap and still have plenty of time to get ready. Instead I got about a 25-minute nap, interrupted when Francesca called to make sure I didn't need any help with anything. I took a shower and then stood in the tub putting on Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs (good stuff). I gelled and dried my hair, put on base and concealer, and climbed into my fishnets. Then I had to decide whether to wear my "costume" to the event or put on a different dress. This choice is the only one I'd make differently if I had it to do over. I wore my costume (actually a sparkly red cocktail dress), but everyone else wore another outfit and then changed just before the exhibition started. Probably if I'd been less rushed (with more time to try on other possibilities) I'd have come up with something else to wear.

With my dress on, I packed up the rest of my makeup and my shoes, put on sneakers, a big coat, and sunglasses (Celebrity Incognito) and ran out the door to pick up dancer1957. My particular neurosis is that I immediately feel more relaxed when I arrive where I'm supposed to be. So we were early, but we were there, which eliminated a host of possible problems (blow-dryer explosion, car trouble, gridlock). I set about getting the rest of my makeup on, fluffing up my hair, and painting my nails, while my dear partner helpfully went and got me a nice big vodka tonic. Finishing my preparations as the rest of the group filtered in didn't take too long, and soon we were sitting around chatting. We sat down with the rest of the guests as hors d'oeuvres were served and then dinner began, though nobody ate much and we fidgeted our way back behind the scenes pretty quickly. I have to give props to Mary, the world's most obliging and cheerful event organizer. Her entire job was to take care of us dancers, and she outdid herself, stocking the dressing room with water, sodas, mirrors, and a tray of hors d'oeuvres just for us. She also bullied the waitstaff into holding our dinners in the kitchen till after we performed. The dancers had a little meeting to go over the order of operations one last time, then people started getting changed for their first numbers.

dancer1957 and I were number 10 out of about 13 performances, so we had some extra time to mill around. We practiced a few steps in the hallway and then went to stand on the stairs behind the bandstand to watch the other dancers. Everyone danced well; I was a little disappointed that the audience wasn't more attentive, but it was a dinner-dance, not a competition or recital. Some people were bound to be more interested in the food (which was awesome) and drinks than in us. After a while I went back down to the hallway to try to warm up. The venue was freezing; next time I'm bringing a wrap, and maybe some legwarmers if I can swing it. SuperJim and I agreed that we should have had a group warm-up to shake off the chill and nerves before we had to perform. I stood in the hall doing relevés and dégagés and stretches for a few minutes.

When the couple ahead of us went on, we took our places at opposite corners of the stage in front of the band. I remember glancing over to make sure dancer1957 was in his place, then listening to hear whether the MC had pronounced our names correctly. Our music must have started; I stalked out onto the floor with the biggest flourish I could manage and resolved, above all else, to ham it up. Our routine went perfectly--dancer1957 swore he made a mistake in the sequence of the steps but even I didn't notice it. All I was thinking about was keeping my hips moving and making eye contact with the audience. I think maybe my strategy worked; I swear we got more applause than most of the other couples.

Before I knew it, we were taking our bows and leaving the floor. After a couple minutes of pacing and waiting for our heart rates to slow, we went back out to join the group and watch the rest of the show. Once it was all over, we became Just Regular Guests. SuperJim took me out for a swing (finally got the blood back into my fingertips, thank GOD), dancer1957 and I had a celebratory rumba, and then our dinners appeared. I tucked into my filet with foie gras sauce and potatoes carved to look like mushrooms (huh?) with undisguised relish and a sense of utter justification. The feeling of deserving-ness only increased when Mary brought us some plates of dessert ("collage of pastries": a collection of small petit-four and mousse-ish things, all delicious). Then SuperJim figured out where the extra dessert plates were, and hauled out two or three more. Yum yum. Dancing for our dinner was totally worth it. Dancing for an audience was totally worth it: Mary actually said she liked us best of all the couples who danced, and Francesca hasn't stopped complimenting us yet.

So the evening was quite a success. We stayed all the way till the end and danced quite a bit; I dragged myself home with sore feet, showered off the makeup and hairspray, and fell into bed to sleep the sleep of the sparkly. I can't wait to do it again.

Just one photo of the evening so far--I was in such a rush that night that I forgot the camera, but I took this mirror-self-portrait with my phone:

I sent the pic to my parents and for the first time in my adult life, my dad called me out for what I was wearing: "Too much makeup? The fish could care less. But about that outfit? Well I'm not sure about that. " I'm sure he's seen worse on Dancing with the Stars, but it's different when it's your own daughter, probably.

[The fish reference: a high school boyfriend accused me, "You would put makeup on to go fishing by yourself." The boy is long, long gone but the joke persists.]