This weekend was absolutely wonderful! To preface, I have had this planned since the end of January. I am allowed three absences in my classes. I planned on using two for this trip, but since I got the flu, I could only afford one. It was like a fake spring vacation (since we at BYU don't get one, we get out early in April). It was just for fun, but it was also hard work. The workshops were extremely educational, and I learned a lot about lead-follow technique. I've found that since doing blues, I am so much better at following and maintaining my connection in ballroom. About 25 of us from the Salt Lake City and Provo areas of Utah went over. Everything was meticulously organized. We had vans and switched off driving, and no one got lost. It all went perfectly smoothly. We had schedules written up with the car piles, stops, who needed to be where and when.
Thursday, we left around 2. It's an 8 hour drive, and it was me, Laura, Scott and Josh. We were totally prepared with road-trip-worthy snacks, an excellent music selection, and conversations all about dancing. We got to Kat's house around midnight. Kat's parents were amazing, and let us all stay at their gorgeous mansion about an hour from Denver. They are a lovely Mormon family, and had a big old golden retriever. They even made us french toast and eggs for breakfast and sloppy joe's for dinner. Mmmmm :3
Saturday - we got up early to go to the workshops. Next year I'm definitely auditioning for the advanced level. We had lessons with Dexter about how to dance with anyone, tips on social conduct etc. Chris and Campbell (so much loooove, saw them when they came to Boston) did a lesson on "Flomentum." They talked about how to match the momentum of your partner and how to control it, and flowing from one figure to another (lots of fun spins and turns, and elastic connections). They are my favorite by far. Another reason why I love Chris and Campbell: Campbell went to Stanford, and Chris studied Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech. Nerdy dancers are the best. Here's a clip of their beautiful dancing.
So the next day we had some time before registration, so a van of us went adventuring. We saw the sculpture garden, ate at a hippy-organic place called the Rainbow Cafe at CSU (had a dish just like the Big Fresh Special mmmm) and went shopping in downtown Fort Collins. We tried on old fashioned clothes at an antique store, perused the White Balcony, looked around a thrift store, and ran around a puppet-and-games kids store (I bought a mini art kit complete with a mannequin). We finished off by trying on dresses at Cira and getting the boys' opinions. I loved this one flowy black Monroe-style dress, and I would have bought it but it was $100.
Friday night was the first dance - everyone is in casual clothes. It was really fun having a live band, but they tended to do longer, faster songs, which wore me out quick. We all had a marvelous time. The finals for the social dance competition were held. A few of us left around 2 because we were tired.
Friday night was the first dance - everyone is in casual clothes. It was really fun having a live band, but they tended to do longer, faster songs, which wore me out quick. We all had a marvelous time. The finals for the social dance competition were held. A few of us left around 2 because we were tired.
Saturday - we got up early to go to the workshops. Next year I'm definitely auditioning for the advanced level. We had lessons with Dexter about how to dance with anyone, tips on social conduct etc. Chris and Campbell (so much loooove, saw them when they came to Boston) did a lesson on "Flomentum." They talked about how to match the momentum of your partner and how to control it, and flowing from one figure to another (lots of fun spins and turns, and elastic connections). They are my favorite by far. Another reason why I love Chris and Campbell: Campbell went to Stanford, and Chris studied Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech. Nerdy dancers are the best. Here's a clip of their beautiful dancing.
Then Scott organized a group private with Joe and Nell, and we worked on drag blues. It's a different connection that's more based on copying your partner rather than following, and it looks like you're dragging each other around, resulting in a very grounded effect. I consider Scott an excellent dancer, and I felt really proud that he was complimenting me on my dancing. I used to be really intimidated by him. I haven't danced with him since September. Kat is a gorgeous blues dancer and I love watching and learning from her. Mike, Laura and Josh were also in the group, members of the Provo Blues Ambassadors. Then we ordered lunch from Noodles & Co, rested for a bit, went to dinner, and then got ready for the next dance.
We all gussied up in our very best. It was amazing because we had met so many fabulous dancers earlier at the workshops, and I had fantastic dances, every single one. The two guys that posted on my wall were a couple of my favorite leads at the dance. Erik goes to the Air Force Academy, apparently there's a sweet blues scene there. He was super fun to dance with, we played off the music really well. There were a lot of people from Boston, which made me happy. I miss the Blues Union group from the summer. I didn't get to dance with everyone I wanted to though... I couldn't make it through to the end of the Late Night dance. I left at 3.
And then Sunday we got up, most people went to church, and those who wanted to went to more workshops and dances, but about six of us took a nap and then drove home through the sun and snow.
And then Sunday we got up, most people went to church, and those who wanted to went to more workshops and dances, but about six of us took a nap and then drove home through the sun and snow.
It was a truly inspiring weekend, and now I'm back in Provo with a body aching to dance.
