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Dancing With the Stars Professional Critique

2011-03-21T21:07:00Z

Dancing With the Stars has become a huge success amongst dance-loving homes across the United States, and the show platform has launched across the world. Dancing With the Stars, or some version of the show thereof, airs in countries ranging from the United Kingdom, where the show platform originated as Strictly Come Dancing, all the way to New Zealand, Hong Kong, and even Chile (where Simeon and I were invited to perform in their Santiago studio back in 2006).

Simeon and I watched the earlier seasons, and from time to time we’ll catch episodes of Strictly Come Dancing during our months of training in London. But since we started teaching, every day from 3pm to 10pm, we found it too difficult to keep up on all of the episodes. Besides, we soon found the commentary about the dancers a little too flippant for us. I mean, we dance as our careers. We know what ballroom dancing is supposed to look like. We know what things matter, and which ones don’t. After all, out of all the things a “star” could do wrong, is the “develope of the leg” really that important? And in the 21 years of my dancing, I have NEVER heard of Jive described as a “well-peeled onion”.

Our students have caught on to this, as well. The judges are too happy, too indulgent, and too frivolous. This was the biggest reason why we stopped watching. It’s also the biggest reason why most of our students stopped watching. The routines may be fun, the music interesting, the behind-the-scenes footage endearingly familiar, but the judges’ comments are simply too much to digest. So it was suggested to us to provide our own professional critique.

We thought this was a great idea. Simeon and I have the background to be able to tell at a glance what the stars are missing. We can tell their weaknesses and their strengths in a millisecond; and we can tell when the judges hit the mark, and when they’re a mile off. Therefore, starting with tonight’s premier episode, we will be watching the episodes and giving commentary on the stars’ dances, the pros’ choreography, and the judges’ comments and critique. We thought this would give the show some of the depth it is definitely missing.

So stay tuned! We will be adding our first Dancing With the Stars professional critique tomorrow.

Bronze Tango

2011-03-01T01:16:00Z

Bronze Tango

end of Long Side
2 Walks
Progressive Link

Short Side
Natural Promenade Turn
Open Promenade

Long Side
Progressive Side Step
1 Walk
Open Reverse Turn, Lady Outside, Open Finish
Rock Turn (danced Outside Partner)
Progressive Side Step Reverse Turn
Progressive Link
Natural Twist Turn

Short Side
Open Promenade
Left Foot Rock
Right Foot Rock
Back Corte
2 Walks
Progressive Side Step

Long Side
1 Walk
Open Reverse Turn, Lady In Line, Closed Finish
Progressive Link
Natural Promenade Turn, Rock Ending

restart from the 2 Walks, travelling diag wall.

If anyone has a difficulty remembering the individual steps, feel free to look them up on our website. Each step is described in depth on the website, and hopefully soon we will have a video of the Bronze Tango posted to aid your study of Tango. Please visit the site at:
www.emotionsdancesport.com/tango.htm

Silver Tango Routine

2011-02-25T01:49:00Z

Silver Tango Routine

beginning on the Short Wall

2 Walks
Progressive Link
Promenade Link
Open Reverse Turn, Lady Outside, Open Finish
Four Step

Long Wall
Open Promenade (with lady's flick)
Outside Swivel
Progressive Side Step Reverse Turn
Progressive Link
Natural Promenade Turn (overturned 1/8)
Natural Twist Turn, Rock Ending

Short Wall
Back Corte
Progressive Link
Back Open Promenade
Reverse Outside Swivel

Long Wall
2 Walks
Open Reverse Turn, Lady In Line
Progressive Link
Fallaway Promenade
Natural Promenade Turn, Rock Ending
2 Walks
Four Step Change

restart from the Progressive Link

For more information regarding Tango, and for detailed descriptions of all of the above steps, please see the Tango page of our Online Training section of our website at:
http://www.emotionsdancesport.com/tango.htm

Samba Technique Class: Samba Practise Routine

2011-02-07T00:12:00Z

Samba Technique Class: Samba Practise Routine

This routine is meant to be used in conjunction with the Advanced Technique Class held on Tuesday nights from 9:00 to 10:00 at the Impulse Ballroom. For the month of February, we focused on Samba, and in order to practise various changes of rhythm and body action, we used the following practise routine:

2 complete Reverse Basics
3 Whisks
1 Side Stationary Samba Walk
4 Bota Fogos
4 Voltas L
4 Voltas R
4 Stationary Samba Walks
Corta Jaca on each foot
Turn to R & 2 Whisks
Turn to R & 2 Whisks
Turn to R & 4 Counts Chasse L
Flick & 4 Counts Chasse R

I hope to be able to post a video of this practise routine, either on the blog or on our website. For more information or a complete Bronze level routine, please visit the online training section of our website, or click on the following link: http://www.emotionsdancesport.com/samba.htm

Stonehenge and Salisbury

2011-01-22T14:08:00Z

Stonehenge and Salisbury

This is the sixth year we’ve come to the UK Championships here in Bournemouth, and despite Stonehenge being only 30 miles away – a quick day-trip, really – we’d never visited it! Mostly because we never have time to. But this year, with our recent focus on Standard and the decision to not dance Latin at this year’s comp, it meant we had an extra day off. We decided to make some good use of today, and surprisingly, it was Simeon who suggested going to see Stonehenge. For some reason, I had thought Stonehenge was further away, but as it turns out, it’s a mere 1 hour drive from Bournemouth, so we decided to hop in the car. Even more surprising, we had to drive through Salisbury to get there! I guess my mental map of the whole area was a bit screwed up. I always thought Salisbury and Bath were right next to each other, and Stonehenge was somewhere out in the boonies. Actually, Salisbury and Stonehenge are next to each other and Bath is a long ways off!

We didn’t run around Salisbury too much. We’ve been to Salisbury before, which was another thing that made it strange that we had never seen Stonehenge. But I’ll be honest. When I came to see Salisbury, it was during the time that I was writing my books about late Yorkist Era England.

an old market cross in beautiful Salisbury

The antagonist of my two novels, the love of my former life, the man who was at the root of my Medieval persona’s smashed dreams, was beheaded in Salisbury in October of 1483 for treason against Richard III. When I had come here the first time, it was to see the cathedral where Richard had prayed on the eve of the Duke of Buckingham’s execution. It was to find the sight of Buckingham’s burial, the sight of his beheading. And, can I say, it was eerie. Salisbury still is eerie to me. As we were driving in this morning, I could feel Buckingham’s presence as strongly as Simeon’s. I still have yet to visit Brecon, the seat of Buckingham’s domain and the location of his home castle, and I predict that when I do visit, I will be oppressed by him. But here in Salisbury, where he died, he is still present.

Regardless of Buckingham’s ghost, Salisbury is a beautiful city. You can see the spire of Salisbury Cathedral from across the plain as you drive in. We were blessed with a cloudless blue sky this morning, and that massive spire of the cathedral is omnipresent as you drive through. The city still has the feel of a medieval town. The streets are small and windy, the houses packed closely together, the city surrounded by massive expanses of farmland. Of all the places I’ve visited in England, I’d have to say that if I were to move to England, I should have to live in Salisbury. It’s only 80 miles from London, it’s gorgeous, and I somehow feel peaceful here, despite Buckingham… or maybe because of him?

But this morning we drove straight through and on to Stonehenge, which is just outside a small town called Amesbury. Our first view of Stonehenge was as we came around a bend.

a view of Stonehenge from the road

It was incredible. I wanted Simeon to stop and take a picture from that view, but unfortunately there was nowhere we could pull over. Instead, we had to loop around and pull into the Stonehenge carpark. Stonehenge was far larger than Simeon imagined. For me, I didn’t know what to expect, but it was strange seeing all the normal sights of English countryside, only to come around the bend and see this huge monolithic sight basking in the winter sun on the Salisbury Plain.

Stonehenge was beautiful, but I wasn’t particularly affected by it. I know some people are, and it’s strange that I, with my penchant for history and my respect for the ancients, didn’t find the site incredible in its own right. My

a closer view of Stonehenge

explanation is that none of my past lives were much affected Stonehenge. In case you haven’t noticed, I believe in past lives, mainly because I’ve had personal experience with the proof. Past lives are my explanation for why some people feel drawn to a particular place in the world, a particular type of person or behavior, a particular period in history.

Coming back to Salisbury, we parked and sought out the Salisbury Starbucks, where we enjoyed a coffee and shared a cookie. Then we sauntered along the River Avon and an old water mill until finding the pub “The King’s Head” and ducking inside for a real British classic: A Curry and a Pint.

me still discovering my iTouch whilst digesting

We couldn’t stay outside for too long. Despite the nice weather, it’s freezing cold in South England right now and my toes, which were a little damp from the mud around Stonehenge, couldn’t handle it. But it’s nice to be back in Salisbury. It reminds me of the good times with Buckingham, even though he only died here. It reminds me of Buckingham in general. The city even makes me miss him, if you can believe it.

For more pictures, visit our complete photo gallery on our website at http://www.emotionsdancesport.com/uk-championships-2011.htm

Report from Bournemouth

2011-01-19T17:59:00Z

Report from Bournemouth

Well, day one is over and done with. It’s time for a nap, but first, I guess I’ll give everyone an update of our comings and goings in rainy old UK.

So to start with, it’s not very cold here. Simeon’s grandmother was extremely worried about him not taking a heavy coat, so if anyone sees her, can you please let her know that it’s pretty warm for January and, besides, he has his big heavy coat with him? Anyway, on to the important things: On Saturday we had lessons with Stephen Hillier in the morning and swapped over to Latin for our lessons with Goran Nordin in the afternoon. Having spend the last few months focusing on Standard – due to our invitations to represent Bulgaria at the Professional Standard World Championships and the Professional Classical Showdance World Championships, as well as the fact that the International Championships in October only allows us to do one style, which for us means Standard – it felt really good to get back in the studio and get some information for our Latin. All four of our lessons, the Standard lessons with Stephen and the Latin lessons with Goran, were great! And we felt that we were dancing really well during our lessons. Stephen gave me some great pointers that I was able to apply the very next day at the Universal Championships. We managed to make the Quarter-Finals of the Universal, although I think we could’ve made the Semi. There were definitely some couples in the Semi that we have beaten before and I definitely think we are better dancers (not trying to brag, just an honest and objective opinion based on where I know our dancing is). But it’s ok, we’re not upset. Our Quarter-Final was not our best round, so I’m not too worried about not making the Semi. I think if we had danced better, and possibly if we had been in the other heat, we would’ve made it. It’s ok. It’ll come.

On Monday morning, exhausted as we were from competing on Sunday, we had to wake up bright and early for a 9am lesson with Andrew Sinkinson before heading down to Bournemouth. I love our lessons with Andrew. He is seriously so much fun. We made it down in plenty of time to check in, drop off a package for Richard Gleave, and feast at Pizza Hut’s all-you-can-eat buffet before heading over to the Bournemouth International Centre for the lectures. The lectures every year are free and are a great opportunity to hear different judges’ opinions on various topics. This year we had a special treat – our coach Gary MacDonald was doing one of the lectures! It was so much fun watching his lecture. He’s just himself, and it reminded me how much I have really missed him. I mean, apart from seeing him at various competitions, we haven’t had lessons with him since last June, and we need to get over to New York and get some more lessons with him. I really miss G-Mac!!!

I wanted to stay for the tribute to Oliver Wessel-Therhorn, who many of may not know was a very famous dancer and an important figure in the dance community who died from cancer last October. Unfortunately, we could not stay as our first event was scheduled to go on (today) at 10 am, and I still needed to get back to the hotel and tan and iron my dress. If any of you have seen my ballgowns, you can imagine how much work it takes to iron my gowns, but let’s just say it takes about 45 minutes if I don’t have any problems with filthy irons or ironing boards. Last night it took longer because the hotel’s fire alarm went off mid-task and we had to be collected into the downstairs parlor while the security checked every single room. But we finished at last and got to bed at a good enough time to have an acceptable number of hours of sleep.

This morning I had to wake up at 6 am sharp! But luckily I finished with everything pretty fast. It took me about 30 minutes to do my hair and another 30 minutes to do my makeup, so in the end I had a lot of time to just sit back and relax before getting the stuff together and heading to the comp. OK, and the breakdown on the comp: it felt great!!! The dancing felt wonderful, we got along the entire day, and we made the top 48! On top of all of that, we managed to speak a bit to Jennifer Hillier (Stephen Hillier’s wife), and she told me it looked really good. What more can one ask for? It felt good, supposedly it looked good, and the result was good. Needless to say, we were happy!

The Quarter Rule

2011-01-08T02:09:00Z

The Quarter Rule

When there is no swiveling or pivoting of the foot going into a rotation, only up to 1/4 of a turn made be made from the standing leg to the moving leg.

The Elements

2011-01-08T02:07:46Z

The Elements

This exersize is for applying the principles of drive in forward and backward driving motions while going straight, with 1/8 of a turn to either side, and with 1/4 of a turn to either side. It is important to note that 1/4 of a turn is the maximum turn you will do without pivoting the foot (called The Quarter Rule).

While going through this exersize, pay attention to the 3 elements of posture (found here: http://blog2.emotionsdancesport.com/2011/01/05/3-elements-of-posture.aspx) and the technique of driving, which you should have practiced using the Fourth Position Drive exersize (found here: http://blog2.emotionsdancesport.com/2011/01/06/fourth-position-drive.aspx).

The exersize is as such:
Beginning on either foot, drive forward, then drive backward, in a straight line, 4 times one each foot. Then repeat with 1/8 of a turn to either side, always returning to the centre between each drive. Then repeat with 1/4 of a turn to either side, always returning to the centre between each drive.

Tango Practice Routine

2011-01-08T01:19:00Z

Tango Practice Routine

2 Walks
Progressive Link
Closed Promenade
2 Walks
Rock Turn
Back Corte
Open Reverse Turn, Lady Outside
Five Step (turning left)
Closed Promenade
Progressive Link
Natural Twist Turn
Closed Promenade

This practice routine covers one long side and one short side. It is made up of syllabus level steps (only the Five Step is a gold level step; the rest are bronze) and is designed to practice the most important elements of Tango. It is suggested to spend at least half an hour repeating this combination during your Tango practice before moving on to your competitive routines.

Fourth Position Drive

2011-01-06T23:08:00Z

Fourth Position Drive

This exersize is designed to help teach the technique of driving forwards while keeping the hips underneath the body. All too often you will see dancers taking a drive forward but leaving the hips behind them. There are pictures at the bottom of this post to help explain what is bad and what we are looking for. But first, the exersize:

Stand on one foot (let's say your right) and point your other foot (let's say your left) in front of you in fourth position. Bend your right leg, allowing the left foot to slide out in front of you so that the left knee remains straight. Move onto the left foot until the spine is over the left foot, but do not take your weight off the ball of your right foot. Check your posture in the mirror before continuing, paying special attention to the 3 elements of posture (description found here: http://blog2.emotionsdancesport.com/2011/01/05/3-elements-of-posture.aspx).

Now, bend forward from the hips, making sure the spine remains straight, until you are looking straight down at your left foot. Move your hips forward while simultaneously straightening back up, this time with the hips underneath you and your right hip flexor stretched to a maximum. You should have moved to the tip of the toes on your right foot. Meanwhile, your weight is over the ball of your left foot, which is flat on the floor. Check your 3 elements of posture, paying special attention to the compression of your buttcheeks and the position of your hips underneath your spine.

Repeat 3 more times on the same leg and 4 times on the opposite leg.

This exersize should be done slowly and meticulously. The point, as aforementioned, is to train the body into keeping the hips underneath the body so that the spine may remain straight throughout the dance. In the picture below, notice how both of the partner's hips are behind their spines. Their hips are so far away from each other that, even though the man is obviously backweighted, you can actually see the audience in the gap between their hips. Their bad posture has created a very small topline:
(please excuse the funny blur, but I wished to preserve the identity of the dancers, though I do not know who they are)

Meanwhile, the picture of Current World Standard Vice-champions, Mirko Gozzoli and Edita Daniute, below, shows how high level dancers maintain a beautiful and straight line in the body, even when driving, by keeping the hips perfectly beneath their spine, neither arched back nor hunched forward:

Postural Plie

2011-01-05T21:46:00Z

Postural Plie

Use the plie to help practice the three elements of posture (for specifics, click here: http://blog2.emotionsdancesport.com/2011/01/05/3-elements-of-posture.aspx).

Begin with your feet in second position (little more than shoulder-width apart, feet slightly turned out). Check that your posture is correct and that you are incorportating all three elements. Take your arms and draw them up over your head, rising into releve while you do so. Releve means you rise onto the balls of your feet. While you are in releve, think of specifically compressing the buttcheeks and stretching the neck. Widen the arms until the hands are at shoulder height, and think of pulling the shoulderblades down from the shoulders while doing so. Drop into a deep plie (bend both knees until the thighs are at a little more than 45 degrees). Focus here on the tensile in the spine, and pay special attention to the hips being underneath the body, and not arched out behind. Also drop the arms to in between the legs. Moving the arms forward and up, rise again into releve. Repeat three more times. On the last releve, as you widen the arms, really feel that the shoulderblades pull down and that the back stays long. Lower the heels and, maintaining the posture, go into frame and soften the knees.

3 Elements of Posture

2011-01-05T21:20:00Z

3 Elements of Posture

1. Stretch

From the knob in the middle of the nape of your neck up, you should feel a stretch in your neck as if there is a string pulling you up and away from your spine. I imagine that someone is tugging on a hair on the crown of my skull. The back of the neck should feel long and flat. Do not think of lifting the chin! This will shorten the back of the neck, which is the opposite of what you want.

2. Tensile

Think of tug-o-war. From the middle of your back, your upper spine will stretch up, while your lower spine will stretch down. The result will be a long and flat back.

3. Compression

Squeeze the buttcheeks! Think of the buttcheeks compressing in towards each other. Another thing to imagine is that you are holding a hazlenut between your buttcheeks, constantly trying to crack it open with the steel force of your buttcheeks, and while you dance you want to keep that hazlenut from slipping out.

ten-sile: capable of being stretched or drawn out: ductile

Disambiguation of Head Extensions

2011-01-04T01:29:00Z

Head Extensions

There are four type of head extensions used at specific times when dancing standard:

1. Natural Turning Figures moving forwards

The nose should try to overtake the left elbow (which obviously will not happen, as the left elbow is constantly turning), resulting in a long stretch from the left toe up to the left elbow.

2. Natural Turning Figures moving backwards

The body will turn to the right while the head will stay behind, resulting in a big extension to the left.

3. Reverse Turning Figures moving backwards

The turn of the head to the left should precede the turn on the body to the left, making sure that the left side is not included in this head turn.

4. Body Tilt

A result of sway, the head will more or less stay facing the same point in space, while the body will change its sway and rotate. Often, this technique is used in a lady’s turn to promenade, for instance in an Outside Change to Promenade or The Open Telemark. Also, the man uses Body Tilt when dancing line moves such as Hover or The Left Whisk.

Important points to remember is that the lady and man should keep their heads in their own quadrants, and not allow themselves to cross over. For instance, the lady will always remain in the southwestern quadrant, while the man should remain in the northeastern quadrant. Also, at the end of the figure, the dancer should always return to neutral, and never maintain a constant extension. This would result in stress in the partnership. Also, the extension should never pull on the arms or affect the frame.

Week 3: The Left Whisk & Review

2011-01-04T01:11:00Z

The Left Whisk and Review

In the seminar today, we started out by reviewing. Unfortunately, we spent most of our time reviewing, and we only had about ten minutes for the Left Whisk. We spent twenty, but we technically only had ten. I will dissect everything we did in the seminar in parts, beginning with the general body position, moving on to our review for the Hover, Hover with Developé, and Eros to Right and Left.

General Position

We used four steps to get into our dance position:

Touch the hands (man’s left to lady’s right)
Contact in the body (right front to right front) and settle the legs (so the man and lady’s hips are at equal height)
Lady extends out
Frame is finally placed, as icing on the top

Review of the Hover and Hover with Developé

First I’d like to remind everyone to pay special attention to the rise and fall, as they are very important for leading the two figures; also, there is a difference between the two figures. The man needs to be able to lead the lady’s developé with his rise and fall. For dissection of the rise and fall, please see the post on specifically the Hover and Hover with Developé at http://blog2.emotionsdancesport.com/2010/11/22/week-1-hover--hover-with-developé.aspx. In order to finish the move, the man has to extend as well as the lady, though not as much as the lady will. For his extension, the man will use a tilting head position and finish looking out and up over the lady. Please see the post on Head Extensions at http://blog2.emotionsdancesport.com/2011/01/03/disambiguation-of-head-extensions.aspx for a disambiguation of the tilting technique. If the man wishes to keep it as the Hover, he will remain on a raised position until count 6, at which point he will step out and lower. To lead the Developé, the man will lower on count 4, at which point the lady will extend her leg. The man will rise once more on count 5, while the lady lowers her leg to an extended point, and they will exit together on count 6. The lady must remember to keep her body stretched upwards as she kicks her leg, and to extend from her bra-strap up.

Review of the Eros to Right and Left

For a full explanation of the Eros to Right and Left, please see the post located at http://blog2.emotionsdancesport.com/2010/11/28/week-2-eros-line-to-the-left-and-right.aspx. Firstly, remember that the entry into the Eros Line to Left is the same as the Hover, though the man will rise slightly faster and send his hips forward to the lady in order to lead the Eros versus the Hover. The man must support the lady with his hips, and the lady must remember to keep her hips forward though the leg will be lifted behind her in a back attitude position.

The Left Whisk

We left the Hover Family finally and ventured into the Whisk Family, which includes the three steps: The Left Whisk, The Left Hinge, and The Right Hinge. The first step in this series of Line Moves is, obviously, the Left Whisk. It will be noted that the entry into the Left Whisk (and, consequently, the Left Hinge) is exactly the same as for a Hover or Eros Line to Left, while the entry into the Right Hinge would be the same as for the Eros Line to Right. Below is an example amalgamation into and out of the Left Whisk:

Natural Spin Turn

456 of Reverse Turn

Fallaway Reverse and Slip Pivot

Double Reverse Overspin

Left Whisk

Standing Spin

Open Impetus

Chassé from Promenade

The man will lead the Left Whisk by lowering into counts 2 & 3 and giving a sharp rotation in the upper body to the left. Meanwhile, the man must remember to keep his standing foot facing toward the wall, or approximately a quarter of a turn to the right of the upper body. As a result of his lowering and sharp rotation, the lady will cross her left leg behind and place her weight on the left foot just underneath her left shoulder. The right foot will swing across in front of the left leg, but the lady should be sure to keep the tip of her toe on the floor. The lady will extend her head over her left shoulder, while stretching her left side toward the man. Meanwhile, the man will extend his head slightly to the right in order to look up and over the lady, employing the technique of the head tilt. He will also cross his right foot behind his left with slight weight in the ball of the right foot, though 90% of his weight should remain in the left. A very important thing to remember is the connection in the hip, which is a responsibility of both partners. If either partner retracts their hips, there is a distinct possibility of the partnership ending up on the floor. Also, ladies, a word to the wise: if you lose your balance, let go. You will land on the floor, but if you pull on the man, you will still land on the floor; only this time, the man will land on top of you.

A beautiful picter, albeit small (sorry for the low quality) of World Champions Arunas Bizokas and Katusha Demidova dancing a Left Whisk:

Our Day out in Leipzig

2011-01-01T23:33:00Z

December 19^th, 2010

Three words can describe my feelings: Leipzig is beautiful! I truly loved the city. It was so unlike all the other European cities we’ve been to; first of all, it was clean; and secondly, everything was refreshed, if not rebuilt, at least kept up. And beneath the veil of winter, Leipzig was even more beautiful. The entire scene was like a fairytale.

We were up late the night before, because of the Showdance competition. For specifics of the competition, go to blog2.emotionsdancesport.com ; so we ended up sleeping in until about noon. By 1:00 or so we were headed out of the hotel. We had to walk to the Glass Hall, or Messegelände, as it was called in German, through foot-high snow that, though it hadn't snowed since

A view from the inside of the Messegelande in Leipzig

we’d arrived in Leipzig, was still powder fresh. At Messegelände, there was a tram that we could hop on that took us straight into the city centre. We were told by one of the couples from USA that there were two Starbucks cafes in Leipzig city centre, and since neither of us had eaten anything, I was determined to find it. Well, we only walked a block into the city centre before I saw the first Starbucks. For pictures and more information, go to starbuckproject.wordpress.com ; we ran inside and grabbed a coffee and a couple of pastries. It was especially nice because my toes were freezing. We pulled out our map and planned our route.

The city centre was much smaller than we expected. We skipped down the street with the aim of finding the Christmas Market, but the market found us instead. Or rather, the sound of music found us. We could hear bells, drums and bagpipes, so we resolutely followed the lively sound of music to a little square packed with people on all sides. It was so difficult to find a way through! But the music was very loud here, so we knew we had found the source of the music. Simeon could see better than me; I, of course, had to squirm my way to the front so I could get a good view. But what a view it was! There were four men in the centre of the crowd; two

The group of medieval musicians

had bagpipes, two had huge drums strapped to their chests. They were all wearing Medieval style garb, and one had the pointy Medieval shoes called poulaines or crackows. (Thanks to all those years of studying everything about the 15^th century, I knew what they are called and even how they are made.) The music was great. They had a couple of girls in normal clothes on the side, selling CDs of their music. Since we had some cash on us (we made sure we had cash for Leipzig shopping), we decided to buy a CD. She asked us which one we wanted, since there were two; we couldn’t decide, so we bought them both!

As we walked on, we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of the Christmas market, and without even trying! The whole market smelled so good! There were portable stands set up with freshly made food, and these meat-filled pasties that reminded Simeon of a Bulgarian food called Принцеси (Princessi) were tempting Simeon at every step. Then we saw people carrying around freshly made waffles filled with some sort of cream; and everywhere we looked people were eating wieners and drinking mead or gluhwein. In another small square, there was a trio of men dressed in Russian garb. One was playing what looked like a massive guitar that was propped on the ground, and the other three were singing and dancing to it. We were so cold, so we stopped by a stand to order some gluhwein, since we were told that to get the real German Christmas experience, we need to drink gluhwein. Obviously I had never ordered it. We were walking around all day

Don't know about this gluhwein....

wondering how the people serving the gluhwein expected to get their cups back, since the customers buy the gluhwein in ceramic cups and take them to tables that are set up in an almost haphazard arrangement anywhere in the square. When I went to go order the gluhwein, I figured it out: the gluhwein itself cost us €2.50, but the cup cost us €3, which equals €5.50 total. When you return the cup to the stand, you get your €3 back! With that figured out, we paid for our gluhwein and found an empty table to drink it at. While I paid for the gluhwein, Simeon availed himself on one of those Принцеси. You should have seen Simeon’s face when we bit into that pasty! He was in absolute Heaven. The gluhwein, meanwhile, was very warming. Basically, gluhwein is heated, mulled wine. Mulled, in case you don’t know, means spiced. I really enjoyed it, but Simeon was a bit unsure. He really doesn’t like alcohol in general that much; hard alcohol is not tasty to him at all, and he only drinks red wine because he knows it’s good for him; in the end, if he’s going to enjoy some alcohol, it’s going to be beer, and not very much of it at that. The gluhwein was really not to his like, but I enjoyed it!

When we took a look at the ceramic cup, it had the name of the Christmas market with “Leipzig” and “2010″ etched into the clay. We decided, since it had the city name and the year etched into it, to keep the cup. We had paid for it, after all!

As we were wandering, we came across a stand crowded with glass pieces. They were beautiful! Some of them were wind chimes

The glass wind chimes

made of glass balls with aluminum wings fluttering inside. We had to get something here, because it was just so beautiful. So we bought a glass peacock with a real peacock feather as its tail; the peacock was nestled on a hook that allows us to fasten it to our Christmas tree, which we thought was perfect. Now we have two memories of our trip to Leipzig. On the side of the stand, attached to it, was a little booth just wide enough for a man’s body and a six-inch shelf all around. A young man, maybe twenty years old (my guess), was sitting in the booth all bundled up, and there were sticks of colored glass and tiny flames burning on the tabletop in front of him. As we watched, he heated and melted the glass in the flame, then grabbed it with a stick and, before our eyes, created a glass airplane.

Soon we needed to go to the bathroom, so we opened up our map and searched for a public toilet. We found one on the map right next to a big church. What we discovered was that the church had a public bathroom in the old cellar, and they asked for a couple of euro donation. Of course we left them a donation, and when I came out of the bathroom, back up the stairs, and outside to the church’s courtyard, I noticed a big statue. Lo and behold! We had accidentally found the very church where Johann Sebastian Bach composed most of his music! The area was rather deserted and we wanted to get back to the busy areas, so we saw a gate into yet another market. This one had a bunch of little scenes set up, much like Nativity scenes here, except that these scenes were from famous fairy tales. There was a scene from “The Princess and the Pea” (which Simeon has never heard of!!!!), and another from

The Princess and the Pea

“Hansel and Gretel”. At the end of this market was a tiny train with little kids on it; I wanted Simeon to go on it, but he suddenly got nervous. I took a picture of the little train, anyway.

We found our ways to the shopping district and went into a shoe shop. Simeon had been bothering me about my shoes for a long time. He was convinced that I had broken my boots because I walk on the insides of my feet. We looked around and luckily the shop as having a sale, so I found a really nice pair of black suede boots with a 2 ½ inch heel, very comfortable for every day stuff, for about €25. I’d say it’s a good deal! But the shop had an added bonus: it was warm! And our feet were cold! We were in the shop just long enough to get feeling back into our toes.

By the time we left the shop it was getting dark outside, which meant it was also getting considerably colder, and my feet were sore from walking all day, so we started to make our ways back home. We retraced our steps, stopping by to get those waffles filled with cream. I also bought another gluhwein; Simeon was surprised I wanted another one, but my way of thinking was that it might be years before I drink gluhwein again, so I might as well enjoy a second one! That’s when we found the second Starbucks in the city centre, which you can also read about on starbuckproject.wordpress.com

All in all, it was a great day. Leipzig is a beautiful city, the people are so nice, and the food is amazing. My experience in Germany was altogether a positive one.

Pictures of my Showdance Look

2010-12-19T20:45:00Z

Since the theme of our showdance is "Addiction and Obsession", a la Dorian Grey, I decided to for a gypsy theme for the costume. The idea was to combine the exotic looks of Tribal Fusion Belly Dance with Ballroom Standard gowns, and use all fabrics that are light and floaty so as to express the smoke that drifts up from pipes when respectable gentlemen gone bad smoke opium. Here are the pictures of the costume:

The front view of my showdance costume:

The back view of the costume.

I made my own "yarn falls", which are dread locks made out of yarn that you can attach to your hair. You can see them hanging down my back in the picture above, but here is a close up of what my hair looked like:

Here is the picture of the headpiece:

And, lastly, the necklace:

Update from Disneyland Paris

2010-12-14T15:45:00Z

I’m sure many of you are wondering how the competition went. In a word: egh. Not terrible, not great, nor any other adjective deserving a spot on the blog post. Just egh.

I was not too impressed with the organization of this competition. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t know exactly who made these calls, but originally we had a quarter-final scheduled for the Rising Star; however, when we showed up, there were only twelve of us. That didn’t seem to stop the organizers from running it as a 12-couple quarter-final, which is ridiculous because a semi-final is supposed to be 12 couples! Well, they didn’t cut any couples. So they ran a 12-couple quarter, gave us no more than a 5-dance to rest, then ran a 12-couple semi. So basically, we just danced a semi-final twice. What really sucked was that our “quarter-final” was pretty good, while our “semi-final” sucked. We are not at the point in our dancing where we are very consistent with the feel, and we know that we stuck in a lot of traffic during our semi-final. Also, I think I pulled something in my thigh, or at least strained it, because after the Waltz in the semi, my thigh was burning. We didn’t make the final, which I was pretty upset about. We could’ve definitely been in that final. There were couples in that final who we’ve beaten before; and I think if they hadn’t run the original semi as a quarter, we probably would’ve made it. In other words, if our first semi had counted towards the final instead of the second semi, I feel we would’ve been in there. It was very frustrating. On top of it, we were not very centered with each other in our second semi, so it felt terrible, and we were at each other’s throats afterwards. We were fighting the car, but Simeon had to stop by the mall and buy some more groceries on our way back to the hotel, so by the time he returned to the car, he was calmer. And, as anyone who knows Simeon knows, if he is calm, then life is calm. When we got back to the hotel, I took a long bath to try to relax my leg and back, update the blog, and went to bed early.

Last night for the Open we had a similar situation as the earlier night. In the program, we were scheduled to dance a 1^st round, but we only had 23 or so couples. They still ran it as a first round, and cut three or four couples only. Then they ran a 19 couple quarter-final. On the plus side, it meant the floor was pretty wide open for the quarter. They split the comp into two heats, with ten couples in the first heat and nine couples in the second heat. We were in the second heat. So, unfortunately for us, were Domen Krapez & Monica Negro and Warren & Kristi Boyce. They couldn’t possibly even out the playing field at all!

That’s alright, though. We didn’t make the semi-final, and although we were a little disappointed, we certainly weren’t upset. The semi-final was of very high caliber, and there was admittedly no one in that semi that we have beaten before. Furthermore, all the couples around our level, the couples that we normally battle with for positions, didn’t make the semi either, so it’s fair. Completely fair. Doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have liked to be in there, though.

xoxoxo Kora

From Paris With Love

2010-12-11T22:24:00Z

We are finally in Paris! Well, to be honest, we’re actually to the east of Paris, in a region called Marne du Vallée, in a little village named Jossigny. When we found and drove into the village, I have to say I was charmed. I normally don’t get charmed. The last time I was charmed was in the Lake District, in a little village called Grasmere which is where William Wordsworth was born and buried. Before that was Melnik, a town in Southern Bulgaria.

But Jossigny really is charming. The road into the village technically has two lanes, but the right-hand lane is also used for parking, so you can really only drive in the left-hand lane, which is of course the right-hand lane if you’re going the other way. All of the houses are brick and plaster, with the bare vines of ivy crawling up the walls, plaster fences at waist height surrounding gardens with rose fences against them. Little apple trees and peach trees, missing all their foliage, block the view of the surrounding farmland.

We came upon our hotel rather quickly. I think most people would find this hotel charming. It’s called l’Hotel Cheval Blanc, and it has a tiny little reception about two feet below street level, which makes me wonder how old the building actually is, since it’s common knowledge that streets grow up throughout the years. There’s some sort of calculation I’ve heard of before, but I can’t remember.

The lounge is very chic, with leopard fabric covering the walls, the tables are espresso wood, all the sofas of cream fabric. I think the restaurant is a famous one. I seem to remember hearing about it from somewhere, and the chef seems to be quite celebrated. The food is very expensive, so unfortunately for us, we will have to keep to the pizzeria around the corner.

The first thing I saw in the room was a magazine for TV, which an advertisement on the front cover for the showing of L’Age de Glace Trois, Les Temps de Dinosaurs, which is translated to, of course, “Ice-Age 3, Time of the Dinosaurs”. Simeon and I had a nice laugh about that one, because it’s hard to imagine our favorite characters (mine, of course, has to be Scrat) as being in L’Age de Glace. I don’t know, it just sounds funny to me.

We took a very long nap when we got here, and even though we set the alarm, I think we pressed the snooze button every ten minutes for about two hours. I know some of our friends can relate to that. But it felt great not having to do anything, just to lie in bed and doze. We haven’t had that freedom for a long time. Then Simeon went out to find a store, because we were dying of thirst, and I started doing all of the comp stuff – tanning, cleaning my dress, etc and etc. I think I’ve been watching NCIS in French for a good three hours now.

Tomorrow we dance the Rising Stars Ballroom at 6:30. I doubt we’ll have time to drive around and see anything. Maybe on Sunday we’ll be able to, since we don’t dance the open until 9:00. But the competition is held at Disneyland, at the Hotel New York in the convention center. It should be a lot of fun. I’ve never been to Disneyland Paris, and although we won’t go on any of the rides, I’m thinking I’d like to get into Disney Village and do some shopping if I can. Not that I’m looking for much, but I’ll see something to bring back for any of my students, or my parents, or my brother. You never know! And of course, I am still looking for an affordable cloche hat. I bought one in the States about three weeks ago and was expecting it to arrive in time for this trip, but it came on Monday (we left on Sunday; I was rather perturbed). At Heathrow Airport this morning, in the Tie Rack shop, I found a very nice cloche that I considered buying, but for £30? I don’t know if I can justify that. I mean, two of those hats equal a dance lesson (almost). I’ll buy one for £20 or €30 or less, that’s my budget, and I really hope I can find one. There’s snow on the ground here, and snow on the ground in London, and I’m betting on it being at least cold enough for snow in Leipzig, and my ears are only warm if my hair is down! Wish me luck, I’ll keep everyone updated on my hat quest!

We’re watching French pop music videos now. There’s a group of three young kids, Justin Beiber age, that put a song together called “Be Wiz’ U”. Simeon and I could not stop laughing. This is over the top. Not only do they have to take a song that is mostly in French and title it in slang English, but they even wrote the slang English in a French accent! Oh… my… God!!!!! Really??? They couldn’t just call it “Be With U” or even, ála Eboniks, “Be Wid U”, and just blame the “z” on their accent. Oh no, they decided to title it with the accent built in! Wow. There’s a Waltz song at our studio that is beautiful, except for the fact that a Japanese girl sings it. Nothing against the Japanese, and she has a beautiful voice. But obviously whoever wrote the lyrics also doesn’t understand English very well. The lyrics themselves have a Japanese accent, never mind the singer: “Here comes the night/ So kiss for goodbye.” Kiss me for goodbye? Don’t cry, soon I’ll “be wiz u”.

Looking for Videos?

2010-12-07T17:11:00Z

OK, I think Simeon and I are in trouble. I know a lot of you are waiting for us to post some videos on the website, but.....

WE LOST OUR CAMERA!!!!!!!

I know it's bad. That camera is like our lifeline. I don't want to count how many videos are on that camera, including Elijah and Hannah's Waltz routine! Ack! We think Simeon left it on one of the airplanes, and we've been trying everything we can to call the Dallas Airport's lost and found, but no one picks up the phone with one number, and with the other number it doesn't connect. So, it is with great regret to inform you all that if you're waiting for new videos on the website, don't hold your breath! We have no camera. Hopefully we can find it and get them to mail it back to Seattle. You should have heard Simeon when he discovered he left it. I rarely hear him swear so much (only in practice, or when he's helping me with my competition hair!). Anyway, good luck with your practices!

Kora

Silver Level Waltz Choreography

2010-11-30T06:40:00Z

Impulse Ballroom Adult Level 3 Standard
Silver Waltz Choreography

Month of November, 2010

This is the choreography that we used for the Monday night, Level 3 Adult Standard Class at the Impulse Ballroom. Check back at our website, there should be a video posted of this soon.

Silver Level Amalgamation
Natural Spin Turn
Turning Lock ending in Promenade Position
Chasse from PP
123 Natural Turn
Open Impetus
Cross Chasse
Outside Spin
123 Natural Turn
Back Whisk
Weave from PP ending in PP
Wing
123 Reverse Turn
Reverse Corte

In the class, we did two different endings to the routine. Originally coming out of the Reverse Corte, we danced a Closed Impetus with Reverse Pivot. My original idea was to teach a reverse turning section before looping it to somewhere on the first side. However, because of last week's snow and ensuing class cancellation, I was forced to forego the reverse turning section. Therefore, we deleted the Closed Impetus with Reverse Pivot from the amalgamation and danced instead an Outside Change, which allowed us to loop directly back into the Natural Spin Turn at the beginning of the combination. As a side note, the Back Whisk is underlined because it is danced into the corner of the long side, and all the steps from the Weave from PP on are across the short side. The Outside Change, therefore, is used to dance out of the corner of the short side and back onto the long side again.

For links to a description of the Newcomer level steps, please see below:
Natural Spin Turn:
http://www.emotionsdancesport.com/waltz/natural_spin_turn.htm
Chasse From Promenade:
http://www.emotionsdancesport.com/waltz/chasse_from_pp.htm
123 Natural Turn (including 456 Natural Turn):
http://www.emotionsdancesport.com/waltz/natural_turn.htm
123 Reverse Turn (including 456 Reverse Turn):
http://www.emotionsdancesport.com/waltz/reverse_turn.htm

Please do not hesitate to post a comment or send me an email if you have any questions.

Kora