Walk of Life

Jeff and I had the last minute opportunity for a special ballroom dance class with a world class Latin dance instructor. Olga (all the best dancers are Russia, aren't they?) was the partner of one of the Dancing With the Stars professional dancers. So of course we jumped at the change for two workshops under her tutelage.

What might we have focused on for an hour an a half, you might ask? Walking! Well, not walking, of course, but basically the dance version of moving forward and backward. The more we get into ballroom dance (and consider competitive dance sport), the more we realize we don't even know how to move! So an hour and a half spent "dancing" forward and backward (rumba walks and cha cha locking steps, for those in the know) barely scratched the surface. But it gives us plenty to work on!

Dancing Darling

I'm so proud of Jeff! We had a local church entertainment night this past weekend, and Jeff had agreed to sign us up for a waltz demonstration. We weren't sure if it would work out since we'd have to use the ballroom across the hall from the main room with the piano, but the MC scheduled us for just before intermission so people could walk over to see the dance and then take a break for pizza and snacks.

We had no time to practice, let alone choreograph something, so we just decided to wing it with a social dance. Meaning, whatever steps Jeff decided to lead on the spur of the moment, I would follow. We attempted a run-through at home once with our selected song, but waltz really needs a large space and we couldn't even get through a single verse without running into walls or furniture.

But the performance went well! It's the first time we've ever danced for any sort of audience, so it was a little nerve-wracking but fun. Forgive the loud "clumping" of our dance shoes; laminate floors make a lot of noise!

Strike up the Band

Jeff took me to another dance this past Saturday evening! It was a semi-formal, so it was another fun occasion to dress up. We enjoyed a fantastic buffet dinner, great conversation with our table-mates, and three plus hours of live music and dancing. Since we have just completed beginner and intermediate level Samba lessons, we even got out on the floor for several of those numbers. Our repertoire now includes waltz, foxtrot, tango, rumba, cha cha, samba, single swing, triple swing, and west coast swing. We can merengue, too, but neither of us particular enjoys marching around the floor with halting twisty-turning moves, so we generally use those songs as breathers!

Being a ballroom band, there was none of the more contemporary music we usually like for west coast swing, but we snuck it in a few times when the tempo and rhythm fit. Returning to our table after one such dance, our table-mates clapped and one said it was definitely our dance. I was flattered, but Jeff confessed later to wondering whether it really meant that none of our other dances were any good!

Lower Body Workout

Yesterday was a rare sunny, warm(ish) day for once, so I hit the stables for a nice training ride on Flame. Then, it was off to our regular Monday night two hour dance class, which happens to be Samba this month. To get the real movement and feel of the dance, there is much abdominal crunching, hip opening, trunk rotation, and toe/ankle flexion.

I woke this morning with the realization that my abs, inner thighs, and calves had all endured quite a workout. But the best part is, the activities were such fun that I wasn't even aware of how hard I was working. That's my kind of exercise!

I Could Have Danced All Night

Jeff and I had a wonderful time Saturday night! The private Cotillion Ballroom Dance Club had the theme of Sparkle! Glamour! and Razzle-Dazzle! for this particular dance, and it was quite lovely. We met and had wonderful conversation with the new friends at our table; enjoyed a very satisfying meal of chicken Marsala, Greek salad, roasted red potatoes, Italian zucchini, and carrot cake for dessert; and danced the night away to the most popular dance band in the Southeast region.

There were a little over 50 couples, including members and guests, and we were by far the youngest (I guess dancing is a generational thing in part, as we are quite frequently the "babies" of the group in any class, practice party, or social dancing venue). It was so impressive to see middle-aged, older, and just plain elderly people out on the floor every dance having a great time, and demonstrating a great deal of talent to boot.

We waltzed, foxtrotted, tangoed, cha-chaed, swung (West Coast, East Coast triple, and single), and rumbaed our way through the evening to three sets of some great tunes. We just need to add bolero and samba to our repertoire and we'd never have to sit out a song!

Photo montage of the evening

Tailor Made

Jeff and I have been invited to an "exclusive" ball this coming Saturday evening, so I'm working on what to wear. It's a formal cotillion with dinner and a live band on a great wooden floor, so the focus is on the dancing. I have several formals, but not one I can foxtrot in!

Thankfully, I recalled stashing something away several years ago as a sewing project. It's a beautiful gown I found for a few dollars at a discount place. It's a couple sizes too big and quite long, but I think I can work with it. I'll post some photos when I get the alterations done!

Cheap Date

Jeff is off for Spring Break this week (more things to love about the college professor lifestyle ;-), so I invited him on a little date Monday. We did a late lunch at the Olive Garden, which was almost free as I still had some money on a gift certificate from our credit card points. Then, we finally went to see The Blind Side. We very infrequently go to the movies, so we miss the rare previews for the decent films we might actually be interested in. Of course, by the time we heard about The Blind Side and made time to see it, it wasn't in the regular theaters anymore. But, happily, we discovered Huntsville has a $1 theater that gets most of the popular movies right after they leave the main screens. I'm happy to report it is a very clean, well-run theater, so maybe we'll be catching a few more discount flicks in the future.

After an enjoyable and uplifting movie, we went to our regularly scheduled dance classes Monday evening. We take two back-to-back since the studio is on the far side of town, and we're working on waltz this month, one of Jeff's favorite. So all in all, we did dinner, a movie, and dancing for under $20 total! Not a bad price for a fun outing to kick off spring break.

The rest of the week will be spent working on various projects around the house, so I'll update our progress lest it appear we are slacking off too much!