I got rhythm, I got music...

I've officially discovered that two nights' ballroom dancing per week are enough - four, too many! Friday night we attended the pre-Intervarsity Ballroom social (I may have mentioned before that our university hosted the National Students' Dance Sport competition this year). The social was an absolute disaster - half the people were still at the competition hall practicing, and the social hall was way too small for the number of people attending. Despite the awkwardness of the evening (for many reasons), I still kind of enjoyed it all.

Saturday was spectacular - not that many people, but the atmosphere was great. I used to love athletics meetings at school, and this was as close as I've gotten to something similar. We started off with our little opening number, which I have previously described. That was alot of fun, as was our first competing section: Beginner's Ballroom (waltz & foxtrot). The first dance I was a little tense, but my dance partner's relaxed presence helped to calm me down. I remember how much I love the waltz & that I'm dancing because I love it. I think we both ballroom-ed better than ever before that day. Our latin-american was a bit harsher, seeing as neither of us seemed to have mastered the "bounce" required for jive. However, it was fun all in all, from the calm waltz to the daring mambo to the silly line dances (of which every dance-society seems to have its own repertoire) - "Blame it on the Boogie", "Footloose", "Macarena", "Follow the Leader", etc.

I went there just hoping not to make a huge screw up and just for the experience of having taken part in a dance competition once. I must admit I enjoyed dressing up for the mambo open section (unlike the uniform social sections). The first surprise came when we found out we'd made it to the 2nd round in the beginners' ballroom section, then the quarter finals, semi's and, guess what?... the finals! I'd never dreamed that would happen. We ended up getting 5th place overall. I must express appreciation for my dance partner for his willingness to work hard with me, the fact that we equally much enjoy dancing and his calm demeanor when I would otherwise have been a nervous wreck. You were brilliant & managed to bring out the best in me. I also want to tell my friends who came to watch and who all provided stellar emotional support - it was so cool having you guys there. And last but not least thanks to Just-ify, not just for devoted, ingenius camera work, sticking through a long day to ensure that I never forget it, and miraculously getting me to the final round on time (after a sudden change in program that found me sitting in Spur five minutes before the final was going to start), but also for being there with me - your support means so much to me and I'm not blind to the sacrifices you make to support the things I love. Thank you.