By An Ton That
Since Cam and I started taking dance lesson almost two years ago, the idea of competing never crossed our minds. We intended to dance just to have fun and to enjoy our companionship. That was our idea of dancing until last October when we started taking group dance lessons from Beth Knoll and Dave Watson at Ballroom Parkrose. We were learning Mambo, Cha Cha, East CostSwing, American Rumba, International Waltz, International Foxtrot, International Tango and Quickstep. Then we decided we might as well compete in Rhythm and Standard at City of Roses Ballroom Classic. It would be fun and - WOW - what fun we had!
We had learned so many dances in a short time. So, on the day before the competition we decided to stay home and we practiced all the dances. We practiced for four hours on Thursday - in all honesty though, the actual practice time was much less than that because for every two minutes of practicing we argued for five minutes...Normally after that many disagreements one of us would get the silent treatment from the other but surprisingly it did not happen this time and we were still on speaking terms after the practice session. It must have been a good sign.
On Friday night, the first night of the competition, here we were at our very first competition and we were scheduled to be the first couple out on the floor to compete in the first event. I thought we would be so nervous that our knees would buckle, our legs would be stiff and we couldn't even move our legs, never mind trying to dance. But surprisingly we were so calm and joyfully danced our best dances to compete against the other well trained and experienced couples in the Open Novice Rhythm. All of those hard practices and instructions from Dave paid off well. We won!
Unlike the first night, on the second day we had to sit and wait for more than three hours before our next events took place, the Novice Standard and Open Novice Standard. And also unlike the first night, this time my legs actually were stiff when we walked out on the floor. We didn't know what we were up against until all couples were introduced. Beside us, there were Jay & Miranda Willis, Marvin & Mari, and four other couples. They are all teen or preteen dancers. Looking at them while they walked out on the floor I was thinking that these are the future ballroom dancing, future US, future World champions. So it's not so surprising when we were beaten by the future champions. Good luck, kids! We love you all and hope nothing but the best for you and thanks for all the cheering for us when we were competing with others.
Later in the afternoon the mood of the audience was lightened up by Rick Pride and Dave Watson's act. Dave dressed up and wore a wig to be a lady instructor dancing with Jay and Rick dressed up like lady student dancing with (don't remember name)... Nothing more hilarious - what a crack up to see those dancing hairy legs! Thanks, Rick and Dave - you guys are terrific!
Dancing in our first competition was such a fun and wonderful experience. Thanks to all couples who competed against us. You have made dancing more fun for my wife and me to enjoy. We are looking forward to our next competition. Beth, Dave, and "friends", Thank you for all the support and cheering for us.
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