We started on Monday with our lesson at Studio One. We spent most of the hour reviewing a figure called Spot Turn with Under Arm Turn in Waltz. It's one that we thought we had but parts of it kept escaping. As we go through the syllabus, the steps get more complicated and take more floorspace to execute. Besides that, I have a mind like a steel sieve. We could tell that something was going wrong because after doing this figure we'd be off the beat. Richard quickly diagnosed the problem and we worked on correcting it. Then we spent a little time on a Rhumba step that Richard introduced us to recently; the Open Cross Over. This one is eight measures long and uses advanced timing. We've seen advanced timing in Rhumba before. However, on this figure the advanced timing doesn't start until measure 4.
Tuesday, Doris joined the Elks Lodge. I had never realized that Elks were party animals. We have a whole new calendar of dances to attend.
Wednesday, we have a standing date at the Officer's Club on Ft Belvoir. We always reserve a table for 4 in case someone we know can make it. This week we dined and danced with Joy and Tony. It was one of those times when you look at your watch at the end of the evening and wonder where the time went.
Thursday, we practiced in our living room. A couple of years ago we got rid of the furniture and had the floor refinished so we could have room to dance. The room is much more functional now. We use it a lot more as a dance studio than we ever did as a living room.
Last night we went to the Dance Party at Studio One. Most of the regulars were there. We had more ladies than gentlemen but we swap around so that everyone gets to dance. Dancing with other partners really helps me improve my leads. I can cheat with Doris because she can read my mind.
We may go down to Strictly Ballroom tonight. They have a 70's Disco Party and a group lesson on the Hustle. I haven't worn my leisure suit in a while. It's hard to dance in those platform shoes.
We are torn about what to do on Sunday. We can either watch the Redskins beat Dallas on TV or tape the game and go to the practice at the Dale City Recreation Center.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Another Win
We got to see the Redskins win against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. The Redskins pulled out a win even though we were robbed of a touchdown because of a penalty for "unnecessary roughness". I thought that unnecessary roughness was the whole point of football.
Going to the game is an all day affair. We drive up to the Springfield Metro station to catch the Blue Line. We stay on the same train through the Virginia suburbs, across DC and into Maryland. The Metro ride last about an hour and twenty minutes. Then we hike up to FEDEX Field and across the parking lot to the Extreme Skins tailgate party. Total trip time is about 2 hours. It's worth it to see the Redskins win. The tailgate party is a lot of fun too. There is usually a good crowd even at the pre-season games.
Chief Zee usually shows up at the tailgate party. He's a big time fan and we've seen him at the games several times. We were glad to hear that his tomahawk was returned.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Weekend Dancing
We started our weekend dancing at Studio One. I can't think of a better way to make a clean break between the work week and the weekend than going dancing. Studio One has a practice dance every Friday night from 9:00 to 11:00. There was a pretty good crowd this week. This was the Friday we celebrated birthdays for September. Studio One is a good place for singles to dance. Richard encourages swapping partners (on the dance floor). This way the gentleman gets to practice his leading skills with dancers other than his regular partner. The other benefit is that when someone attends without a partner, they still get in some dancing.
Last night we attended a Ball for the Elks' Auxiliary at the Elks Arlington-Fairfax lodge. We had recently been invited to join the lodge and this was our first social function there. There were cocktails at 6:00 followed by dinner at 7:00. After a short program the dancing started around 8:00. We danced to the music of the Joe Shelko band. We have heard them before and they play very well. We saw a lot of familiar faces at the dance from both the Officer's Club at Ft. Belvoir and the Regal Dinner and Dance Club. We had to leave at 11:00 so we could get up early for the Redskins game today.
Last night we attended a Ball for the Elks' Auxiliary at the Elks Arlington-Fairfax lodge. We had recently been invited to join the lodge and this was our first social function there. There were cocktails at 6:00 followed by dinner at 7:00. After a short program the dancing started around 8:00. We danced to the music of the Joe Shelko band. We have heard them before and they play very well. We saw a lot of familiar faces at the dance from both the Officer's Club at Ft. Belvoir and the Regal Dinner and Dance Club. We had to leave at 11:00 so we could get up early for the Redskins game today.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
First Regular Season Game
We had a good time on Sunday, even if we didn't go dancing. We went to the Redskin's first regular season game. It really is a lot more fun when your team actually wins. We got to watch the winning touchdown come into the end zone right below our seats, too. So, the Skins beat the Saints 29 to 24, pulling it out during the last quarter.
Part of the fun in going to the game is the tailgate party. We take the Metro to the game, so we can't take much in the way of refreshments. However, the walk to the stadium helps work up an appetite. This game the big attraction was a hot dog eating contest. The picture shows the action, fast and furious. The winner got 12 dogs down in the time limit. He did pretty good, he even kept them down.
Part of the fun in going to the game is the tailgate party. We take the Metro to the game, so we can't take much in the way of refreshments. However, the walk to the stadium helps work up an appetite. This game the big attraction was a hot dog eating contest. The picture shows the action, fast and furious. The winner got 12 dogs down in the time limit. He did pretty good, he even kept them down.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Unsolicited Advice
I don't like getting unsolicited advice, so I have a rule that I never give any. However, since rules are made to be broken, here is some unsolicited advice to anyone considering taking ballroom dance lessons.
The first piece of advice is to figure out why you want to learn to dance. Is someone you care about getting married and you want to do more than the "high school shuffle" at the happy event? Are you looking for a hobby that helps you stay fit and is a lot more fun than calisthenics? We just wanted to be credible when we went somewhere there was dancing. We started dance lessons because my wife had always been interested in learning ballroom dance but the opportunity never really presented itself. She tried to find a studio to take lessons when she was a kid, but there just weren't any ballroom studios in Boise, Idaho during the 70's. She was looking through the catalog from the County Recreation Center a few years ago and saw that they offered ballroom dance lessons on a night we weren't doing anything anyway and they were relatively inexpensive. She wanted to go and I couldn't think of a real good argument for not going, so she signed us up. These were group classes that were held once a week at the local recreation center.
My second piece of advice is to look around for the studio and instructor that fits you. We started with group classes to learn the basics, but after a while we felt that we needed more individual attention to get to the level of proficiency that we wanted. We wanted to add to dance steps we had already learned so we found a studio that did both group and private lessons. We would go to the group lessons to pick up new steps and work with our instructor to polish what we had learned. This did build up the number of dance steps we knew rather quickly. We left that studio because of traffic and rising gas prices. One night we were scheduled to go to a group class and traffic was so bad we arrived just in time for the class to be over. We went looking for a studio that was closer to home and easier to get to. We found the studio where we currently take lessons. Our instructor is very patient and has a lot of experience both with dancing and with instructing. This is something else we have found when we have taken lessons from different instructors. Just because someone knows how to dance, doesn't mean they know how to teach. Our instructor has seen all of the mistakes that we make many times before. He is adept at being able to explain what we are doing wrong. If he sees that we just aren't getting it, he tells us in another way. If you are looking around you will find dancers who try to teach and less often dancers who can teach. It is pretty rare to find a teacher who is an expert dancer and can break down the steps in a variety of ways depending on how the student learns.
The third piece of unsolicited advice is to practice. Early on we could tell the couples who took the lesson and didn't practice the whole week until the next class. They would take up time in the class going over the last lesson. If you're spending money and time taking lessons, don't waste it by not practicing. We take our lessons on Monday night. We generally practice on Tuesday, go out dancing on Wednesday, practice on Thursday, go out dancing on Friday and Saturday night, then go to a practice session at the Recreation Center on Sunday afternoon. OK, so we tend to go overboard. Some people go to the gym; we go dancing. It gets worse. So that we had enough room at home to practice we got rid of all the furniture in the living room, tore up the carpet and refinished the floor. When we started we used to practice on the deck, much to the amusement of the neighbors.
The first piece of advice is to figure out why you want to learn to dance. Is someone you care about getting married and you want to do more than the "high school shuffle" at the happy event? Are you looking for a hobby that helps you stay fit and is a lot more fun than calisthenics? We just wanted to be credible when we went somewhere there was dancing. We started dance lessons because my wife had always been interested in learning ballroom dance but the opportunity never really presented itself. She tried to find a studio to take lessons when she was a kid, but there just weren't any ballroom studios in Boise, Idaho during the 70's. She was looking through the catalog from the County Recreation Center a few years ago and saw that they offered ballroom dance lessons on a night we weren't doing anything anyway and they were relatively inexpensive. She wanted to go and I couldn't think of a real good argument for not going, so she signed us up. These were group classes that were held once a week at the local recreation center.
My second piece of advice is to look around for the studio and instructor that fits you. We started with group classes to learn the basics, but after a while we felt that we needed more individual attention to get to the level of proficiency that we wanted. We wanted to add to dance steps we had already learned so we found a studio that did both group and private lessons. We would go to the group lessons to pick up new steps and work with our instructor to polish what we had learned. This did build up the number of dance steps we knew rather quickly. We left that studio because of traffic and rising gas prices. One night we were scheduled to go to a group class and traffic was so bad we arrived just in time for the class to be over. We went looking for a studio that was closer to home and easier to get to. We found the studio where we currently take lessons. Our instructor is very patient and has a lot of experience both with dancing and with instructing. This is something else we have found when we have taken lessons from different instructors. Just because someone knows how to dance, doesn't mean they know how to teach. Our instructor has seen all of the mistakes that we make many times before. He is adept at being able to explain what we are doing wrong. If he sees that we just aren't getting it, he tells us in another way. If you are looking around you will find dancers who try to teach and less often dancers who can teach. It is pretty rare to find a teacher who is an expert dancer and can break down the steps in a variety of ways depending on how the student learns.
The third piece of unsolicited advice is to practice. Early on we could tell the couples who took the lesson and didn't practice the whole week until the next class. They would take up time in the class going over the last lesson. If you're spending money and time taking lessons, don't waste it by not practicing. We take our lessons on Monday night. We generally practice on Tuesday, go out dancing on Wednesday, practice on Thursday, go out dancing on Friday and Saturday night, then go to a practice session at the Recreation Center on Sunday afternoon. OK, so we tend to go overboard. Some people go to the gym; we go dancing. It gets worse. So that we had enough room at home to practice we got rid of all the furniture in the living room, tore up the carpet and refinished the floor. When we started we used to practice on the deck, much to the amusement of the neighbors.
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