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.