Officer James M. Feltis III

Last weekend we did not go dancing. We went instead to the 18th Annual Candlelight Vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC.

We went to honor Officer James Feltis who was killed in the line of duty in February 2005. I have the privilege of working with Mary Feltis, the widow of James Feltis. I only met James once when he came to the office and Mary introduced us. However, I feel that I know him well.

It is said that you can take the measure of a man by the company he keeps. This being true, James Feltis was a great man. I have nothing but the highest respect for Mary Feltis. Her strength through this last most difficult year has been extraordinary. The other officers of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency have shown great consideration for Mary and compassion for their young daughter.

It is well to remember and honor those who have given their all to protect and serve the rest of us. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is something that everyone should visit. Next time you are in DC, take the Metro Red Line to Judiciary Square. Go up the F Street escalators and there you are. While you are there visit Panel 59 West and pay your respects to Officer James M. Feltis III, whose name is inscribed there.

Indications

A strange and wonderful thing happened last night. We went to the Wednesday night dance at the Officer's Club on Fort Belvoir. They had their usual great buffet and dancing to the tunes of Bob Williams. The O Club brings in a mixture of entertainers for their events. On Wednesdays we've seen anything from a 5 piece ensemble down to Bob. Bob Williams is a vocalist who sings along to instrumentals and has his own renditions of songs. He usually plays a lot of foxtrot, waltzes, and the occasional ballad.

Anyway, the strange and wonderful thing was someone actually complimented us on dancing. It was wonderful because it is nice to be noticed. We don't do dance competitions. We only compete against ourselves. It is good to get an indication that our dance lessons are paying off. It was strange because we got the compliment after dancing a waltz. The waltz has never been the strongest dance in our repetiore. It has taken a while to get the feel for it. We are finally getting to the point where we can move around the floor and do more than the basic box.

So, our thanks to Agnes Bordas and Richard Benjamin, pictured below, from Studio One of Alexandria. Their patient work with us is showing results.

PWC Fire and Rescue 40th Anniversary

This a a photo of our group all dressed up for the Fireman's Ball. The Prince William County Fire and Rescue had its 40th anniversary celebration at the local VFW hall. They had a great buffet and a wonderful program to honor our local heros. They had a local band named the "Tom Cats". We danced a lot of swings and a couple of hustles.

Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School

There is another dance movie that opened recently called Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School. It is only playing in a limited number of theaters. We went to Shirlington to see it, but it was definitely worth the drive.

While the story line in the last movie we reviewed, “Take The Lead” was predictable, this one was anything but. The director used an alternating time sequence to look back on one life while looking forward at another.

Frank Keane (Robert Carlyle) witnesses a car accident involving Steve Mills (John Goodman) and stops to help. Steve is on the way to Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School to keep an appointment he made 40 years ago. He had attended this school in the early 60s as a boy where he met his first love. They agreed to meet at the school on the 5th day of the 5th month of the 5th year of the new millennium. He implores Frank to deliver his regrets.

One man's dream becomes another man's destiny as Frank is pulled into a journey that is illuminating and funny and ultimately redemptive--a journey through dance that changes his life forever.

Dancing is only one thread that the director uses to weave the story. Each character’s situation contributes to the whole. We highly recommend this movie.

Dancing as a hobby

There are a couple of things that I like about ballroom dancing. First, it is an opportunity for my wife and I to do something together. More than just doing the same thing at the same time, we are actually doing something with each other. It sure beats sitting in front of the boob tube together.

Second is that it takes concentration and focus to dance. My day is filled with phone calls and meetings and running around. I usually going in several different directions at once. However, when we practice together or go to a dance or take a lesson, I have to set everything else aside and focus on my partner and what we are doing.

There is nothing bad about doing something together with your soul mate that focuses all your attention on the here and now.

A Movie Review: Take the Lead

We always go to all the dance movies. Last week we saw Take the Lead. It was a cold and rainy afternoon; perfect for going to the movies. Other people must have thought so too because the place was packed.

Take the Lead is a feel-good Cinderella story complete with a ball at the end. Antonio Banderas stars in the story that is loosely based on the life of Pierre Dulaine. Pierre started a program to teach ballroom dance to grade-schoolers in the NYC public school system. This movie follows the same premise with a program to teach high school kids in Chicago.

Pierre is riding his bike home from a dance when he witnesses some kids wacking away at a car with a nine iron. He picks up a parking pass that the kids drop as they run away. It turns out the car belongs to the principal of the local HS. While returning it, he hatches the idea to teach ballroom dancing at the school. The principal thinks he's nuts. She lets him try with the incorrigibles assigned to detention. The students in detention think he's an alien from another world. Through his persistence and love of dance he wins them over and inspires them to compete in a city wide ballroom dance competition.

The story line and plot development are good but predictable. It does have some great dance scenes. Doris really enjoyed it when Antonio Banderas demonstrated the Tango. A wonderful line from the movie described a tango as 'Sex on hardwood'.

This was a really good movie, especially for dancers and we highly recommend going to see it.

Dancing at the O Club

This week we went twice to the Officers Club at Fort Belvoir. We generally like to go on Wednesday night when they have a buffet and dancing from 6:00 to 9:00. The crowd is generally older and mostly have the basics down of ballroom dance. They know about line of dance and you can even recognize some steps. There are a couple of couples that seem to be able to take one particular step and adapt it to any beat, but these are in the minority. They had a vocalist Wednesday night. The good thing about a vocalist is that the music will have a consistency to it. Sometimes with a live band the tempo will change throughout a dance. It can be disconcerting if the beat changes from a cha-cha to a rhumba to a bolero and back again all in one song.

Friday, we had an out-of-town visitor so we went back to the O Club. We wanted a place to visit. At a regular resturant they want you to eat and go. Friday night at the O Club is Seafood Buffet and they expect people to hang around to eat and dance. They had a band that was new to us on Friday night. They are named Private Stock and played country-rock. We got to dance a couple of swings.

Sunday at the Candy Factory

We went to the Candy Factory for the 1st Sunday dance. The featured dance was the Waltz. It was a pretty good lesson. Bobbi started out with the basic square for all the new dancers and then did a Corkscrew for the dancers with more experience. The Corkscrew starts out with a Twinkle and the gentleman brings the right foot across and in front of the left, then pivots to the left, while the lady walks around him.

There was quite a crowd last night. Bobbi used to teach ballroom dance at the Candy Factory just on Thursdays. Now, she has added a class on Wednesday and teaches both a beginning and an intermediate class on Thursday.

Rockin' Sock Hop

The Prince William Chapter of the American Red Cross is putting on a dance at the Heritage Hunt Golf & Country Club. This dance will be on Saturday, March 25th, from 6:00 PM to 11:30 PM. Proceeds from the Sock Hop go to help the Prince William Chapter serve members of the military and victims of fire and other disasters in our community. For information on this dance please call 703-368-4511 ext. 227.

They will have live music with one of our favorite bands, the Starlights. The Starlights are a garage band from the 70's that never grew up. They are perfect for this kind of dance. The recommended attire is 1950's Cool or Casual.

The festivities will include:

• Dancing
• Dinner
• Raffle
• Crazy Socks Contest
• Games
• Silent Auction

Prices vary

• Individuals - $70 ($65 before March 10)
• Bronze Sponsor - $1500
• Silver Sponsor - $3000
• Gold Sponsor - $5000

Dancing the Night Away

This Friday night dance at Studio One had a few more couples and Richard brought in his Mud Pie for people to enjoy. Richard played the Waltz quite a bit last night. Since he is in control of the sound system we get to dance what he's in the mood for.

Phil and Laurie were showing off pictures of the new grandson. The kid really has a head of hair.

We've been working on the Heel-Toe Swivel in the Cha-Cha. I think it will be a while until we can dance that one to music. I'm still getting the knack of getting that swivel down.

Pictured are Agnes Bordas and Richard Benjamin, dance instructors at Studio One.

Friday Night Dance

I didn't know if I would make the dance last night. I had been out of town on business all week but managed to get back in time to go to the dance. We go to the social dance that is held every Friday night at Studio One in Alexandria. Attendance was light last night. Everyone must have been home watching the Olympics or something. This just means that there was more room on the dance floor for us.

Pictured are Agnes Bordas and Richard Benjamin, dance instructors at Studio One.

Going dancing is a great way to unwind from the week. Richard lays out some finger foods and occasionally someone will bring in a favorite dish. They have tables and a TV in the back where couples rest between dances and watch re-runs of "Dancing With the Stars". We visit back and forth but generally try to get all the dancing in that we can. Richard plays a selection of dance tunes every week, both smooth and latin. We are getting so that we know at least a few steps in most of the regular ballroom dances. One day we will pick up the dances that we haven't gotten to yet. There is always more to learn. With dancing the journey is the destination. Whether you are a novice social dancer or a professional there is always another step to learn or technique to polish.

Dance Lesson 2/20

I had a private lesson alone with our instructor tonight. We worked on the Cha Cha and the Rhumba. We went over some styling in both dances and we started to learn some new steps which definitely need a lot of refinement. We are getting to the harder steps in both dances now and they need more work to smooth out. We are almost done with the bronze level in both dances.

Valentine's Day After the Fact

We got to go to another Valentine's Day Dance on Saturday night. This one was at the Candy Factory. It had been postponed from the previous weekend. Postponing it a week didn't help their attendance, but it did leave us plenty of room on the dance floor.

They had a lot of good finger foods, with a chocolate fountain to dip strawberries in.

Several of our dance crowd were there, even Stella. I would never venture to guess a ladie's age. I will just say that Stella is a very experience dancer. She usually comes as a single to the same dances that we get to. She is a lot of fun to dance with and can still really "cut a rug".

We also went to the Recreation Center for the Sunday practice session. There was a real light crowd there, too. Besides, Jodie and Charlie, there were Candi and Jerry. Candi and Jerry took lessons from Jodie and Charlie in the same class as we did a couple of years ago. We all tend to get to the same dance venues.

Valentines Dances

We did get some dancing in for Valentines Day. On the 14th we went to the Officer's Club at Ft. Belvoir. They had an ensamble with a singer, a keyboard player, and a drummer. We went with Janet and Jeff and another couple who are friends of theirs. The O Club has a pretty good dance floor and a variety of local bands play there. We generally go to their Wednesday night dances. The crowd there is generally older, but most of them know the at least the fundementals of dance.

Last night, we went to the Valentines Day dance at Studio One. Richard told everyone to where something red that everyone could see. Red undies didn't count. We had a pretty good crowd and everyone brought a dish, so there was lots to eat, too. Richard was in fine form and did the Samba with a couple of different ladies. He can really get that latin motion going.


Tonight, we are going to the Candy Factory. They had scheduled their Valentines Day dance last weekend, but got snowed out. They had a dance last Valentines Day and it was a lot of fun. They have a CD player and the regular dance instructor plays DJ. She has a good selection of dance music and the crowd there is a mix of experienced and novice dancers.

Snowed out for Valentine's Day

We were all set to go to a Valentine's Day dance at the Candy Factory in Manassas last night. Unfortunately, it got cancelled because of the snow storm. It was a real shame about the weather. We knew of at least 5 different dances we could have gone to. They were probably all cancelled.

So, we stayed home and practiced. Last year we got rid of all the furniture in the living room, tore up the carpet, and had the oak floor re-finished. It is not a real big space, but one of the short walls is mirrored so it works pretty well. We do fine practicing the latin dances, but the moving dances like waltz and foxtrot are a little tricky.

We have some exercises that we do. For spins we practice to a Rhumba beat, stepping to the left or right with the "quick-quick" and spinning on the ball of one foot for the slow. Then, repeat for the other direction. For Foxtrot, we stand face to face and palm to palm. To a Foxtrot we alternatively go forward and back trying to length our strides. After that, we place LP records on our heads and go up and down the floor balancing the records. This is to help us not to bounce when we Foxtrot. Doris has an easier time with this; the record keeps slipping off my pointy head.

Monday Night Lesson

We took our regular Monday night lesson from Richard at Studio One last night. I am getting better at keeping the timing on the Back Spot Turn with Reverse and Roll Underarm turns. It seem counter-intuitive, but adding the turns seems to make all the difference in getting the time right when going into that last chasse.

Also on the Cha-Cha, we started work on the Cross Over and Break, not to be confused with the Cross Over Break. You do a Cross Over Break as part of the Cross Over and Break. This is one where we need a real slow Cha-Cha.

On the Foxtrot, Richard made a correction on our Adlib Right. You are supposed to step, brush, step, and then pivot to the right. I was turning right as part of the brush step, which doesn't give my partner a good lead and looks weird.

We also started a new step in the Foxtrot, the Promenade Twist. I have to remember to twist with the right heel and the left ball of foot and Doris has to remember to lead with her right shoulder.

Super Bowl Sunday

We went to our regular Sunday night practice at the Recreation Center yesterday. It is normally scheduled from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM. They had it a half hour early in consideration of the Big Game. There was a light turnout. Besides us there were only the instructors, Jodi and Charlie, another couple, Jerry and Candy, and one single, Paul.

We started our dancing at the Rec Center a couple of years ago We signed up for group classes in Beginner Ballroom. A group class is a good place to start. You don't feel as foolish when you start to learn when everyone else around you looks just a clunky. The prices at the Rec Center are less expensive than private lessons also. The instructors are pretty good. Charlie's regular job is with the Fire Department. Jodi works with the Akita Rescue League and they normally have 10 or so dogs to take care of.

Friday Night at Studio One

Last night we danced at Studio One in Alexandria, Virginia. They have a practice session for students and guests that goes from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM. There is no lesson, just folks getting together to dance. There was a pretty good crowd. Some new faces and a lot of regulars.

We enjoy dancing at dance studios. People do more than the "high school prom sway". They understand line of dance and have at least a little skill at floor craft. There are dancers of different levels, from beginners to people who have been taking lessons for years. For a gentleman, an excellent way to test your lead is to dance with more than one lady.