I've been dancing ballroom styles now about three hours a night five days a week and already I'm feeling ready for competition. The girl I dance with is from Placer Theatre Ballet's 'The Nutcracker' and so I find myself with her more then anyone else these past few weeks. Hopefully I can convince her that we will do alright in perhaps International Standard Waltz in a Newcomer division of the San Francisco Open Dancesport Championships, and prior to that just view what ballroom competition is like at the City Lights Ball in San Francisco earlier in March.
Dances I've learned and feel good at performing are International Standard Waltz, Argintine Tango, Salsa, East Coast Swing, Rumba, Cha-Cha, Foxtrot.. have a taste of a few others but Salsa and Swing remain the hardest not due to difficulty, but the amount of moves you need to know to keep things fresh and not repeat the same few steps over and over. I can quickly blaze through all my moves in Swing in a minute of dance, and in Salsa things are so complicated I end up doing things simple then busting out some complicated maneuvers that I run out of after a few minutes of movement.
Chad and Marie (http://www.chadnree.com/) from the Ballroom of Sacramento (http://www.sacdance.com/) remain the strongest inspiration to me and the girl I've been dancing with, and if you are in the Sacramento area, a class from them is amazing. If you are not interested in the International Standard dances for competition then I'd say grab the best Salsa teacher in the Sacamento area for a lesson who is all over the place. Fahad (http://www.salsasacramento.com/) is amazing and the Monday night advanced Salsa class at the Ballroom consists of a 'battle' of moves old school break-dancer style between guys and girls, then a blazing set of moves that form 1-3 minute long Salsa routines. Great stuff.
Besides Ballroom I've enrolled in some cheap dance classes at local colleges to save money on studio fees. So far I've seen one girl I've danced with in 'The Music Man' and another that used to teach at Hawkin's School of Performing Arts who I run into from time to time in the dance world. That girl is starting a High School dance program somewhere that slips my mind, and is still trying to get together 32 units of dance under her belt to fill requirements for the teaching program she is in. I sometimes consider the path she has taken.. but crossing the line into becoming a dedicated teacher could sap away my chances at still dancing professionally.
Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Tap, Pilates, social styles (listed above), all together I'm taking 5-6 hours of dance a day, plus fitting in JUST enough work to keep my job at the California Arts Council and pay some bills. I only wish I had more time in the week to continue partnering at Hawkins' School and also Deane Dance Center (http://www.deanedancecenter.com/) which I was told I am always invited to help in partnering classes and then take a free class as well. I'd also love to teach more at the new school that replaced the Roseville School of Dance that I taught partnering at, but again time is the enemy.
This weekend is auditions for Alice in Wonderland for Placer Theatre Ballet, but they have my number and I will dance for them if they need a guy and call me. Again time is the enemy. Sad really.. next month I'll be starting a diet I was on in the past and have no idea why I stopped. Proteinfactory.com is the best place to get your powders from, and I'll be on a custom mix of many sources of protein forming a 200 cal / 50g protein drink that I can intake 3x a day and balance with 1500 cals of carbs from pasta drenched in olive oil for my fats. Pair that up with some flax and fish oil, a multivitamin and Glucosamine... why eat anything else? Can't wait to order that and start Feb 1st.
Performances. Next weekend on Saturday I have two tickets to Carmina Burana that is a sneak peek at the Sacramento Ballet (http://www.sacballet.org/) training studio, and then Sunday is a performance by my brother in the morning and Swan Lake performed by The San Francisco Ballet in the afternoon. I still have tickets to the actual theatrical performance of Carmina Burana which I received as a Christmas present as well, and two weeks ago I saw Corteo from Cirque du Soleil (http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/corteo/intro/intro.htm) in San Francisco so performance wise I'm content. I only wish I could get my teaching bug out of me somehow, but training people the ballroom moves I've learned is working out somewhat in that area.
Until Febuary..
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