The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of dancing to prepare for the bluesSHOUT! competitions. I compete with Karissa in the Ballroomin' strictly and with Julie in the Jookin' strictly.
Since Karissa and I now have a reputation and most judges know how we've danced previously, we worked our asses off to step it up another notch. A lot of other competitors are doing the same. So, for the past three weekends, we've tried to come together as a partnership after four months of not seeing each other while simultaneously refining our technique, presentation, and musicality.
Aaaaand… go.
We started off with two hours of private lessons on the previous Sunday (April 4th). That got us thinking about a lot of material. It was not easy to start off a private with Brenda and have her critique our partnership when we literally hadn't danced together in four months. The lessons yielded important critiques of our dancing and direction for where we go next.
Last weekend we attended a competition and performance retreat with Barry Douglas and Brenda Russell. Always a valuable experience, this intensive training had us dancing ten hours a day for four days. We would run J&J and Strictly comps every day, mixed with technical work. By the end, I felt like I couldn't dance. Also, that I couldn't move for my body being so sore. My head exploded several times throughout the weekend. But it always feels so good a couple days later.
I traveled up to Seattle on Tuesday to practice more with Karissa. This was a good idea because it allowed us to review what we learned and assimilate the data into our dancing. Now we're feeling solid, connected, grounded, and looking sharp.
I am excited for this weekend at bluesSHOUT! The competitions were a big reason for me to come out to the event. Social dancing, seeing lovely people, and teaching private lessons are great, but I'm especially ramped up about the comps. I think they're going to be a blast and they have been a real inspiration to me to work on my dancing.
I've come to realize that one of the reasons for competitions are to inspire and challenge the competitors. It's a great way to push yourself and to receive feedback from others on your current level of dancing. They are also always inspiring to watch. It excites me that the Blues community has continued to evolve and develop a more thorough understanding of the dance.
Since Karissa and I now have a reputation and most judges know how we've danced previously, we worked our asses off to step it up another notch. A lot of other competitors are doing the same. So, for the past three weekends, we've tried to come together as a partnership after four months of not seeing each other while simultaneously refining our technique, presentation, and musicality.
Aaaaand… go.
We started off with two hours of private lessons on the previous Sunday (April 4th). That got us thinking about a lot of material. It was not easy to start off a private with Brenda and have her critique our partnership when we literally hadn't danced together in four months. The lessons yielded important critiques of our dancing and direction for where we go next.
Last weekend we attended a competition and performance retreat with Barry Douglas and Brenda Russell. Always a valuable experience, this intensive training had us dancing ten hours a day for four days. We would run J&J and Strictly comps every day, mixed with technical work. By the end, I felt like I couldn't dance. Also, that I couldn't move for my body being so sore. My head exploded several times throughout the weekend. But it always feels so good a couple days later.
I traveled up to Seattle on Tuesday to practice more with Karissa. This was a good idea because it allowed us to review what we learned and assimilate the data into our dancing. Now we're feeling solid, connected, grounded, and looking sharp.
I am excited for this weekend at bluesSHOUT! The competitions were a big reason for me to come out to the event. Social dancing, seeing lovely people, and teaching private lessons are great, but I'm especially ramped up about the comps. I think they're going to be a blast and they have been a real inspiration to me to work on my dancing.
I've come to realize that one of the reasons for competitions are to inspire and challenge the competitors. It's a great way to push yourself and to receive feedback from others on your current level of dancing. They are also always inspiring to watch. It excites me that the Blues community has continued to evolve and develop a more thorough understanding of the dance.
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