Whew! I'm tired!!! It's been a long weekend! Let me do this chronologically... and let you know all about what happened.
It started on Friday with the party at the dance studio where I started calling out Ellen's name while she danced so she could get used to it. :-) Good news is she smiled every time I called her name... so I knew that if I could keep it up during the comp she'd smile her way through her entries.
Saturday came and at 9am I was at the tanning salon trying to get a spray tan. What a MISERABLE experience that was!!! The employee was so much less than professional I can't even find a word for it. Then I almost missed having my back sprayed because the machine didn't tell me to turn around like the guy said it would. I left there thinking that I would likely consider tanning again...but NEVER at that location! Not to mention that I didn't even feel very tan... I added an additional layer of tanning lotion after my shower just to try and blend the stark white of my shoulders with everything else.
I waited the customary 4-6 hours before I showered and headed out for the comp. Saturday night had me screaming for everyone I could think of, but especially Ellen. :-) She did SO WELL... She even scored a 95 in her proficiency for Fox Trot... (a score I wouldn't get even if I tried!) I am SO PROUD OF HER!!! She would go out for her heat, then come back and immediately ask me "Ok...what do I need to improve on." I continually couldn't come up with much for improvement... I just kept telling her to HAVE FUN!!!
Saturday evening ended with the pro competition I'm so PROUD of RT and Largo! They looked so good out there with their partners! It was so hard for me to shout for everyone because EVERYONE I care about was there... (of course when in doubt everyone knows I shout for RT and his partner) but in addition to "my boys" there was MSU, HBF, RTS, TNT (TNT and Largo are professional partners). I didn't lose my voice, but I was definitely hoarse by the end of the night. I was in bed at 2:30 am after all was said and done with all my pictures downloaded and everything.
Sunday... Oh what a long day it was! I wanted to make it to see the showcases (one student has a choreographed routine with multiple pros) and solos (one student has a choreographed routine with one pro...what I'm looking to get w/ RT) They started at about 10am...or so I thought... I was there by 9:30 to catch the comp already in progress. Showcases didn't start until about 10-10:30... they were all nice... three showcases stick out in my mind... two by students at my studio...one by a dance friend at the downtown studio. Now I have an idea of what other people are doing for their choreographed pieces...and if all plays out like it is in my head... RT and I will have one of the same caliber at least.
Sunday found me cheering on Ellen, and Jem, along with a few other dance friends. I LOVE to see them compete! I would totally be out there with them if I could! There were moments during the day where I was angry that I couldn't, tempered by the fact that I never had been on the comp floor before, so I can't miss what I've never done. A LOT of people asked me why I wasn't out there... and I told them the primary reason (finances) and left it at that. It was nice to hear that enough people thought I was good enough to be out there though.
By the end of the day all I wanted was to get to the general dancing portion of the evening so I could actually dance with someone. 4pm came and heats were over, Ellen and all my friends did a FANTASTIC job!!! But now was my time for action... I got to my car...grabbed my dress and makeup and went to my usual spot to change. Once I had my dress on I couldn't stop turning around to make sure the back of it was alright, tags tucked in, bra not showing the whole nine yards. FINALLY I decided it was ok to leave my designated changing room and head down for cocktail hour. I was a little shy about walking around in my dress... I felt half naked... (the back half anyway)... some of my regular readers saw me and complimented me... they've always been good to me... but the coup de gras was when people who didn't know I was stressing about this outfit called me over to have me spin around. :-) It was then that I realized maybe I was right to wear this dress. I was still a little self conscious about it... but as the night wore on I started feeling better. Before dinner I ran into MSU and asked him if he would ask me to dance later... I was so desperate for dancing after watching everyone else!
After dinner (which was one of the best dinners at a comp I've ever had!) there was some general dancing... mostly smooth...and I wasn't asked... which is fine cuz most already know that I don't really work on smooth I was waiting for something in Rhythm to come on during a Waltz.. Jesse came up and grabbed my hand "Come on girl, it's tradition that we Waltz" I followed him to the dance floor and retorted "Well it's tradition that we do smooth anyway!!" I have never been so happy to dance a Waltz in my life! We made our way around and through the throng of other dancers. I followed pretty well! Once that dance was over an East Coast swing came on and Largo asked me to dance, he was so tired!! (after dancing close to 100 times that day I can only imagine!) But we had fun with it anyway... then a Salsa came on. I was looking for RT or MSU...my two favorite salsa partners... but before I could even find them another pro from my studio (Jesse's brother actually) asked me to dance... well heck... I'll take it! He's really good too, only he was playing around and was only leading me in to a basic, then a left spin, basic, and a left spin... I told him after the 6th or 7th spin that I was done with it "Don't make me go look for [MSU]." I said... So he lead me into some swivel kind of things over and over and over... It was fun... Salsa is ALWAYS fun... but it was very repetitive... although I do have to give him props for the humor... last time I danced a hustle with him he kept spinning me too... only it was to the right so I had a much easier time following.
Next dance up was either a slow Cha Cha or a West Coast... MSU sought me out and said we could do either...but he asked about WCS... I told him I could, but hadn't in a while... (secretly I really only enjoy RT's WCS...but there's no use in telling anyone that when I'm on the floor.) So we danced... and my shoe came untied... so I had to be careful about that... it was still nice though... MSU's WCS isn't bad... still got nothing on RT though.
After that there was the professional show as mentioned before, it was AMAZING... I mean WOW! ALL the numbers were fun, and creative, and all of what I look for in a show like this... the Transformers number was amazing in the video I have below, but LIVE was SOOO COOL!! It's really nice to be part of a region big enough to be able to pull pros like this for our shows.
I was sad though because usually after the professional show is done..that's it.. no more dancing no nothing and I hadn't danced with RT! How could I make it through any FADS dance event without dancing with my favorite of all partners? I know it's a little odd, but even after more than two years of dancing with the same instructor... I never get tired of it... the best part is... no matter what kind of mood the two of us are in we usually pull out something fun. How could I have made it all weekend without one dance? THEN magic! The announcer said there would be two more general dances after the pro show. They put on a Fox Trot and one of the gals from South Barrington pulled me out.. we danced our basic Fox Trot and it was nice... Then the last dance of the evening came up and there was RT... like he knew all the time that we'd dance... he pulled me to the floor for a West Coast Swing... I just dance best with him.. I have a blast with everyone else...but I have a blast AND dance well with him. It's never perfect...but I hold my own more with him. It was fun!
Then as soon as it was over I had to get pictures... I had no pictures with Largo... and I needed a new one with RT... so I got one of me and "my boys".
Then I asked MSU for a photo, my request was honored...and he once again asked me "What about our thing?"
"Our thing? OH! ok...this is for the blog you know." I informed him.
So we took a picture of our version of the dip... twice...because MSU didn't point his foot the first time. :-)
So, please enjoy the pics of me and my pros and MSU... I'll get pics and a video of Ellen up soon! (I just have to get permission first!)
As always... comp weekends are very special weekends for me... I may not compete, but I still look forward to them the same way I would if I did!
Largo, Me, RT
"Me and My Boys"
Me & MSU
Would you trust your Salsa with this man?? :-)
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