Hollywood Ballroom

Last night we decided to go somewhere different to dance. We had heard good things about the Hollywood Ballroom, so we went there. It's up near Silver Spring, Maryland which is farther that we usually go. The traffic on Sunday evening wasn't too bad and we made it in just over an hour. Even that far afield we met a few people that we know from other dance venues. Anthony, our Argentine Dance instructor was there. He didn't get much of chance to rest. He seemed to dance every dance, each with a different partner. We also saw a couple that are also members of the Regal Dance Club.

The Hollywood Ballroom has a large dance floor (7200 sq ft) so even with the crowd they had last night, there was room to dance. There were dancers of all levels from beginners to couples that could really move across the floor. They had one "John Paul Jones" mixer where the ladies form a circle in the middle of the floor and the gentlemen along the outside of the floor. The DJ would blow a whistle and the dancers would pair off to dance some Swing. There was a good mix of music. We got to dance everything that we have in our repertoire. The standard ballroom dances and we also got a chance to practice our Argentine Tango. We have a few of the basic steps down, but I'm still struggling to string them together.

The Last Tango in Fairfax

We are members of the Regal Dinner and Dance Club. This club holds 7 dances throughout the year. Five are formal and 2 are "Tea" dances. These dances are held at the Country Club of Fairfax. The formal dances have dinner then 3 hours of dancing. The Tea dances have 3 hours of dancing and then dinner. All the members have at least one thing in common, they like to dance.

We held the last dance of the year on Sunday. It was a Tea dance and we had an excellent band for the event. The Headliners played a great variety of ballroom dance music. They really made the last dance a great one.

I also had the privilege of being elected to the Board of Directors for the coming year. I don't know all the duties I've just signed up for, but I will give it my best shot.

Polish Night Dance

Last Sunday we went with friends to the club at Heritage Hunt for Polish Night with authentic food and lots of dancing of the Polka. The band was Joe Stanka and the Cadets. We had a lesson in the Polka. We needed it since this was our first exposure to the dance. We picked up a couple of steps and now we feel confident enough to move around the floor when the band picks up that Polka beat.

On the left, Randy and Kathy show how it is done.

Movie Review - Dirty Dancing

This week we went to see the movie “Dirty Dancing”. There was a special showing for the 20th Anniversary of this wonderful movie. The theater was full and there was applause at the end. It was evident that most people (like me) had seen this movie numerous times. You could hear some of the most popular lines being echoed throughout the theater. We knew all the lines.

“Dirty Dancing” is a coming of age story of a girl, Baby (played by Jennifer Grey) who accompanies her parents and sister to a ritzy resort in the Catskills in the summer of 1963. One night, she stumbles upon the resort workers’ quarters where they are dancing, dirty dancing (and it sure isn’t your Mama's Foxtrot). She meets and falls for the dance instructor Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) who teaches her to dance (among other things). It is a story of the loss of innocence set at a time when America was poised to lose its own innocence with the death of President Kennedy and the Viet Nam War. The movie also explored the attitudes between the guests and owners of the resort to the workers. This was all set to great music and dancing.