Another Week of Dancing

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.

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.

New Year 2009

We celebrated with friends at the O Club for New Year's Eve again this year. We dined with Janet, Jeff, Joy, and Tony. There were lots of folks there that we see around at various dance venues. The band was Special Delivery. They had a 5 piece ensemble and played very well. We got there about 7:30, the dancing started at 8:00 and continued to 1:00 AM. We had to dance a lot to work off the cheesecake we had for dessert.

We had a pretty good year dance-wise. We got to Buenos Aires for a 2 week vacation and got to work on our Argentine Tango. We also got a lot of dance shoes there. We went with friends to a "Dirty Dancing" weekend at the Mountain Lake resort in southwest Virgina. We joined the Elks Lodge which along with a lot of charitable activities, have numerous dances throughout the year. We've kept up our dance lessons with Richard at Studio One.

So, with the economy spiraling down the sewer pipes and wars that never seem to end, keep you head up, dance frame locked, watch your step, and keep on dancing. There are always more dance steps to learn.

Ouch, That One Hurt

We had a good time dancing over the weekend. Friday we went to the practice dance party at Studio One. There was a pretty good crowd, but there were more ladies in attendance than gentlemen. On nights like that I make sure I dance with my regular partner each kind of dance at least once. I also try to dance with each lady during the evening. I've gone alone to dances before and know that it is a lot more fun if everyone gets to dance. That's one of the good things about Studio One. The regulars all seem to realize this and try to make sure that dancers who come as a single get to dance too.

Saturday, we went to hear Helmut Licht at the Elks Lodge. Helmut's band always puts on a good performance and we really enjoy their music. The Elk's were having an Oktoberfest Dance so we got to practice our Polka along with the regular Ballroom Dances. We sat with a group we know from the O Club, had a nice dinner and a lot of dancing.

What hurt was the Redskins game yesterday. The only precision on the field was provided by the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team at half time. The Redskins have a bad habit of coming back from winning against a tough team only to lose against a lesser ranked team. I hope that Coach Zorn can turn them around. There was that one incredible play that had everyone in the stands looking at each other saying "What the heck just happened?". I didn't figure it out until I read the paper this morning. The Redskins Quarterback tried to pass; the ball was batted out of the air by the Rams; a Redskins Guard caught it and tried to run with it; he got tackled and fumbled it; the Rams picked the ball up and ran 75 yards for a touchdown. All I knew at the time was the ball was snapped, something happened around the line of scrimmage; and the Rams were running it into the endzone right below us.