Saturday Edition: Arthur Murray Fall 2012 DC Freestyles

I forgot to mention that my wonderful parents, brother Tom and little sister Bonnie, all came down from PA to watch me dance on Friday night.  Itwas so awesome to have them there supporting me and I was really excited for them to meet my dance instructors that I blab on and on about all the time to them.  They now have a face and awesome dancing skills to put with the names! 

Friday night we all hung out inthe hotel, me and Bonnie in one bed, my parents in the other and poor Tom on the floor in between the beds!  He’s a champ…actually he had the best spot because Bonnie threw me the elbow a few times and my parents snored so loudly that I woke up…and remained awake for a few hours.  Needless to say, between the elbows, snoring and me being minorly mental about messing up the Foxtrot, sleep was a challenge.  I think I got a good 3 hours in…

Saturday morning came around and I was bouncing out of bed and into the shower! I teased the crap out of my hair in the hopes of achieving volume and put it in a back bun.  The eye lashes went on a little easier the second time around and my makeup was much more natural.  Saturday was “Smooth” day, so I wanted to appear classic.  I put on a borrowed purple gown and received quite the compliments from my family.  Apparently purple is my color and I looked skinnier than normal (Yippy!). 

Since I’m addicted to coffee, we all headed down to Starbucks and fulfilled our desire.  The kids hung out on one chairand my parents hung out on the other. My little sister is at that age where being with her parents isn’t cool, but being with her siblings still is cool. God, I hope I am always cool enough to hang with her!  J  Pretty soon it was time to enter the ballroom and practice. My family headed up to the room, packed up and came back to the ballroom to watch me dance. 

Taras and I danced a waltz and a tango.  Ahh!  It was heavenly.  I stumbled for a second during the waltz in one of the travels, but other than that, it felt really good.  I really, really enjoy dancing smooth.  My mind was focused on following his lead, keeping my conductor's posture, smiling and having a long neck.  I felt really strong in the Tango and waltz, but I guess it’s all relative because I have no idea how anyone else did.  One thing I know, spinning in a ballroom dress is awesome! I felt like a princess when Taras spun me at the end of the Waltz.  Such a cool feeling!  Later on my mom informed me that she teared up!!  Ahh!!  I have the best parents ever!

Eric and I performed single swing, rumba and cha cha.  The single swing was super easy and Eric made me laugh quite a bit with his finger pointing and winking!  I love swing!  It’s just a super high energy, fun dance.  I know I probably have a ton of technique to work on, but I felt strong in it and I was happy with my performance.  The rumba felt good too.  I got a little quick at times which I am not happy about, but it was nothing compared to my complete and utter collapse during the cha cha.  I don’t want to talk about it. It was ugly.

Susie and Amber performed throughout the day and they did wonderful and looked phenomenal! They are extremely beautiful ladies!    

 

 

Saturday afternoon there was a dance battle between Virginia and Maryland. Virginia was themed as Spartans, Gods and Goddess, while Maryland was the theme of the Mad Hatter and Alice in Wonderland…enough said. Maryland was awesome.  We were very unorganized which was a disappointment and while our costumes were good, Maryland’s were great!  They were brighter, funnier, louder, more organized…they put on a show.  I was warned that I would be dancing with a complete stranger within my level and I was a little nervous, not about the guy, but rather about the dance.  My main fear was that the dance selected would either be a weakness of mine or a weakness of his, so when swing was announced and my partner said Oh Good! I like this dance! I was extremely relieved.   We did well! I was a bit more flamboyant than he was, but that’s not too surprising J

Break time before Ball Time!!  Thank God!  I needed a nap so badly after not sleepingwell the night before.  I watched GLEE and slept for a bit, then got all dolled up for a nice dinner, some dancing and awards.  Susie, Amber and I all won awards for our division.  Eric won the best instructor award J  Yea, we pretty much rock!  Lol.  The dancing was quite fun and really relaxed. Guys asked girls to dance, the floor was packed, I learned a few new steps, met a few new people and really just had fun!  I’ve never seen so many talented dancers in one place ever…but I’m sure it won’t be the last.  I am going to work extremely hard, take practices more seriously and really try to dance the best I can dance in the future.  Messing up a few dances has left a last imprint on me; I don’t want it to happen again and the only way that I can prevent it from happening is if I practice my heart out and am extremely dedicated.

In closing, the weekend was like living a movie.  Being surrounded by fringe, ball gowns, dashing men in tuxes, great music, phenomenal dancing and extremely dedicated and interesting people, created an energy that cannot be described.  There was tension, excitement, pride, love and overall sense of accomplishment in the air.  It was awesome!  Thank you to everyone who made my first dance competition such a roaring success! 

 

Much love.