Mel, Helio, Marie

DWTS Final.
For first place, I'm rooting for a woman for a change, and Helio is not as strong at Mel, so it would be fair.
That one trick of Mel's where she jumped over and around him to end up held up in front was perfect and I've never seen it before.
There are those cheering for Helio because Julianne is so cute. He is good, though not as good as Apolo, Joey Fatone, Emmet or Mario of past seasons. Maybe Drew. I've forgotten how he danced.
Marie shouldn't even have been in the final, but maybe all of Utah is voting for her. Plus her doll buyers. I thought it was a cute routine, though I've seen it done before and better.
I guess the lifts got to be too much, too many for the judges. A dance routine should have one or two lifts, not a dozen just because they could.
Will we watch "Carrie vs Bruno" in January?

Company/Dance Class

Sometimes it's fun just to say "See ya!" to all those people camped out at your house for a repeat of the Thanksgiving dinner. Seriously, they were very good guests who brought tons of food and did most of the clean up, so I had no qualms about leaving the kitchen in their hands.
Our class the Friday of Thanksgiving was a success. People are ready for something good, and Heather Osman's invitational class was something special.

Brain Waves

I'd love to hear a study on dancers' brain waves. The Alpha, relaxed reflection, may be the follower's state while the Beta, working with the brain, the leader's. I don't think the Theta state, daydreaming, fits in so well.
I'm sure the leaders use the left side of the brain to go step by step, while followers are using the right side, spatial relationships.

Semi final

Well, the Vague Chance of Recording AKA VCR did its merry best again, leaving me without the end of the show. I know it was my fault. I wanted to keep a bit of the old show because Jennie was so beautiful in her Rumba, but that was too far into the tape. so I had to wait to watch the end of the show until ABC.com got it loaded onto the website. I watched another beautiful performance from Jennie, just before she was eliminated. Marie is better after all her study, but I still would not choose to watch her. On the results show, I was looking forward to seeing Sabrina & Mark again, but did not love all the lifts they indulged in. Lifts are not my favorite.
Our recent fortune cookie said "Humans invented language so they would be able to complain."

Habana CD release party in South Yarmouth

Well, we went - and left!
The Cultural Center of Cape Cod is in the old Bass River Savings Bank on Main Street just off Route 28 in South Yarmouth. They were holding DJ events with dance and the floor looked nice online, but we didn't get there.
The Saturday event looked good, 9 musicians. I always have doubts about Latin fusion because it can be really loud jazz, but I called up and they said there would certainly be dancing, so I thought some of the music would be danceable. And Joe had a soccer officials dinner right around the corner, so I could go pick him up and save him from the awards and speeches. And hit Trader Joe's before Thanksgiving.
However, the space was full of chairs. They sold the dance floor space, sold out and then some. We looked in and I told the lady I didn't want to have to sit. The music was also as I had feared, the cacophonous sort, not romantic smooth or steady beat.
We had another invitation, so the evening was not a waste, and my Prius did not eat as much gas as the old Malibu would have done.

Gail Rundlett

Dance Teachers Club of Boston brought in a local teacher to spin a bunch of combinations, lots of toys, as I call them. Some months, we get all technique: this time, we moved around a lot. The steps are like that Schmuzzle puzzle, a jigsaw that every piece can fit with every other piece. Dance teachers help you make your own picture.

Fitness Directions

I already knew Jana as the wife of a soccer player, so I was excited to see she opened a Pilates Studio in Falmouth. After class yesterday, I felt great, so how can I fault the lack of music? My daughter-in-law the dancer doesn't use music for her Pilates classes either.
The single class price is high at $20, but there were only four of us, so we all got attention to be sure we didn't hurt ourselves. Jana demonstrated the exercises, and then just watched. Also, I wanted to try it out with no commitment. A set of ten classes is only $89.
It's even time to try out the classic Pilates machine, the Reformer, with a personal training session. Fitness Directions is on Worcester Court, 495-6500.
Last year, I felt worse after Pilates at Balanced Health in a class of at least 20. My stretch class at Turning Pointe has fun music, but the emphasis is on the legs, and I am growing fond of core work. Both do well with my back and neck exercises.

Cultural Center of Cape Cod

I may have heard of this place, a former Bass River bank, and here they're having a Latin dance tonight. Judith Repucci sent me the notice last night.
"HAVANA NIGHTS” CD Preview Concert. The Mike Garvan Group
Original Latin jazz infused with Brazilian, Cuban & Caribbean styles & rhythms. November 17th, 8:00 pm. $15 at the door. Cultural Center of Cape Cod, 307 Old Main St., South Yarmouth. Featuring: Mike Garvan, piano & synthesizers; Bruce Abbott, saxophone; Scott DeOgburn, trumpet; Paul Good, guitar; Natalie Dietrich, vibraphone; Rich Hill, bass; Steve Silverstein, drums; Vinnie Conga, percussion; Cheryl Kain, vocals."

Maple Leaf Dance

The last of the pink orange maple leaves are dancing in front of a gray sky,
Their brilliance floating on invisible branches, tossed as far as they can go,
Turning their pale undersides, then torn away.

Montreal Wedding

Our son David and the lovely Marie-eve

8th Round

As they say on TV, the semifinals are next week. With Sabrina gone, only 2 of them looked like winners this week, Helio and Mel.
I forgot to record this week what with a weekend in Canada for my son David's wedding, so I watched it on the computer. Sometimes the digital doesn't quite focus quickly, but the judges' comments showed me I wasn't just not interested because the quality of the picture was poor. Mostly they weren't interesting. So if, as Tom B. said, the grades are the highest ever, there is probably grade inflation, a common problem.
He also mentioned the "lovebirds" Sabrina and Mark, so maybe romance has blossomed. If their relationship can survive the pressure cooker of show business is another story.

Do Re Mi

We got to the smooth spacious dance floor above the bingo hall in Montreal. Also above a dance studio where they seem to specialize in the Waltz. The Waltz dancers were most beautiful.
The line dances were fun. All new to me, of course. I never studied line dances.
A live Latin band was good, but the dancers were not as comfortable with anything but the Cha cha and the Rumba. The Salsa, Mambo, Bachata and Merengue numbers had a fairly empty floor.
Naturally, the non-Latin numbers were during the band's break.
The food was pretty bad, but we'd been well fed at the Cluny Art Bar where we had tapas for hours with our family and our son's Montreal friends and new family.
Lots of Latinos in Montreal. The French speaking part of Canada has a different immigration policy than the rest of Canada. Asians are given preference throughout English speaking Canada, but Quebec decided the Spanish speakers would assimilate better.

Montreal weekend

Our first cold weather trip to Canada will be a great occasion, the marriage of our middle son, David, to his sweet, lively, beautiful Marie-eve.
I'm printing up the stats on the ballroom club Do Re Mi, "glitzy if not very ritzy", but I doubt we'll get there this time.
We're bringing them a system that will play the iPod, so I can provide dance music if asked. It's all very casual and last minute, the way we put things together when I was young.
You'll know when I get back because I'll post again.

DWTS

Now that all the competitors look so good, I am content to watch how the show goes and admire them. Now I'm thinking of how much I could improve with daily private lessons for a couple of months. Plus they get paid. I heard $100,000 plus $10,000 for every week they stay. But the stage fright would be awful.
I don't have to bother thinking about voting since my favorite is gone. They pretend like we should be motivated by the elimination.

Johnny Hoy & the Bluefish

Before my power went out, I was going to write up Friday night at Grumpy's because this time Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish were not mobbed. There was room to dance to this great band. I forgot my earplugs, so we didn't stay for the whole show. It was just as well. I needed my sleep that night to prepare for the storm.
So it just goes to show you, you never know what the crowd is going to be.
December 21 they're back at Grumpy's, if you're ready for a break from Xmas prep.

STORM

I wished I were at the dance Saturday. The roads were unsafe, so I tried to call whoever I could remember, though I was in a tizzy. The smelly, leaky noisy generator gave me a headache. No possibility of emailing. That generator does power in surges which would probably have ruined the computer.
It reminded me of Hurricane Bob when I had 3 small boys and that generator for a week.
Electricity is our most valued servant.
We're getting a better generator.
And the first Saturday in December, the first day of December, will be here in a few weeks.
This weekend Swingin' New England is at the Seacrest with a gorgeous show Saturday night of free form West Coast Swing dancers, and a great shoe shop in the lobby. We'll be in Canada for the wedding of our second son.

Another place to see dance video

Youtube. That site has the dances from my favorite show, much easier to see than on abc.com which stretched the video sideways and has the rest of the show when all some of us care about is the one and a half minute performance. Maybe a bit of Shirley Ballas at the training spot.
And for a conspiracy theory, how about this one? Cheetah Girls are aimed at girls aged 6 to 10, and Disney and ABC are one company, so they may have decided that their Cheetah Girl brand was not getting the publicity they wanted, especially with Tom Bergeron's remark, "Get a room!"

Dance Seasons

For dancing, we are in the middle of the fall season that rolls nicely into the holiday parties. My November dance is this Saturday, and next weekend is Swingin' New England at the Seacrest in North Falmouth. Cape Cod has settled into regular lessons, and the CCBD Holiday Dance is going to sell out again.
If you have any time to spare, think about fitting in some kind of body conditioning. I love Laura Faria's class at Turning Pointe Studio. Yoga classes are readily available, Pilates as well. An injury can really set you back, and this type of awareness is the best prevention.