Good Choice

Cotuit Center for the Arts did a very nice job for their Thrilla night, except for the band, and for once, it didn't spoil the evening. They took a good long break and the DJ gave us Michael Jackson hits, very danceable. A group had learned his Thriller piece and looked great, all in costume. Costumes were terrific, original, well thought out mostly. My first wig ever needed adjusting way too much. I expect if I'd paid more than $6, it would have worked better, but 10 minute hustle dancing is pretty athletic and full of turns.

Halloween on Saturday

Lots of choices this year, as you would expect with the Party Event date falling on a weekend. Choices I considered are: Friday, Sons of Italy with Dave Burbank $10, Thrilla! at Cotuit Center for the Arts $10, Splash of Blues at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod $10, Harpoon Halloween Costume Party at The Beach House Restaurant with Commonwealth $22, and a "Chairity Ball" at the Artists' Guild (no dancing)$45. Saturday, Betsy Ballroom party $10, Cultural Center of Cape Cod Swing Party with Stage Door Canteen $20. Private parties round out the mix.

Beny More'

More' pronounced Moray, but I never figured out how to place an accent.
Romantic Cuban music from the 50s is so smooth, I hope one of the songs has a beat consistent enough for teaching. Beny More's voice is like Ibrahim Ferrer's on Buena Vista Social Club, the tone described by Ry Cooder as "an empty room".

Fridays and Saturdays

I'm getting more calls for weekend classes. As part-time as my job as dance teacher is, as small as the window is for some people to take classes, I still need to keep part of the weekend for my husband.
That said, Friday's class with the the teens was great. Last night, Saturday, I taught another small group of Cape weekend residents, a variation on the summer residents - their house in the country is an hour or so away from their professional life in the city. One or both do the commute or stay over.
Then, out for a drink with Joe, he started talking tennis, so I drifted over to see who those former students were. Turned out they were from the last regular Friday class and talked about coming back. She claimed not to know about the First Saturdays. He had always been oblivious, happy to be back-led, letting her take charge. My version of how couples dancing works doesn't work so well with that dynamic.

Waltz Legs

Wow! If you dance slow waltz with style for over an hour, you can end up really working your legs. Quads and hamstrings are protesting this morning on both legs. I consider this a good thing.
The set of terrific teens was also a good thing. A group from Falmouth Academy organized themselves. We got six young men including a former ballet dancer and a Czech. Seven young women, so I led happily. With the changing partners, now I know the girls' names.
I hope they do this again, maybe next month. Swing would be a smart choice. Some of them know the FA pretzel which has been expanded to include a dip since I learned it with another group 5 years ago.

Finally (DWTS)

I was just saying to a student last week that the stars were not very interesting this season on Dancing With the Stars, and lo and behold, this week, they finally improved. That's what makes them interesting - watching the progress they make. It's a process I get to watch as a teacher that makes my job so rewarding.
Anyway, this week the stars got into their dances. Donnie Osmond, whom I had not expected to like, went beyond his usual charm to get so far into the character of Argentine Tango that he seemed in a daze at the end. Michael Erwin enjoyed himself with Paso Doble. The one who went home, the swimmer, was still holding back, not pouring herself into the movement.

Windows

The double hung windows that served the mary French Studio for so many years are being given a new face life. In fact, the only windows in right now are the storms, so it's a whole new look. Personally, I'd have done new lights and a good ceiling with sound absorption. Hopefully that's next.

CCBD Newsletter

Time to see what happened in the ballroom dance scene on Cape Cod the past 6 weeks - tons!www.capecodballroomdancers.org has a new set of photos. Look for yourself!

shopping bag

Another try

Sloane dances and talks

Tell me if this works

Sloane

My granddaughter is very busy.

Work

Still working on the memorial dance. The write up is supposed to include photos. I have to make the new camcorder work with the new computer and get some still photos of the performances - I Hope!

Running a Fundraiser

There are professionals who run fundraisers, and they may be worth the money, but for the Mary French Memorial, we went with amateurs and a lot of good will. Humor helped us over the rough patches.
We raised a good sum of money for a ballroom dance scholarship. that will be interesting, and I'm glad Ghislaine is interested in administering it. There should be some theatrical boy on Cape somewhere with the sense to realize ballroom dance has a lot going for it.

Yay Comcast service

It was a case of the guy walks in the door and the thing works for him (doncha hate that).
But he didn't say, "It must be your fault." which it could be since computers and routers are fussy items. And he said what to do if it happened again! And it made sense!

body work

Injuries in my students and on the TV dancers - to me that means being more aware of our bodies. I am offering foot warm up, an extended stretch, and some flexibility afterwards. When I'm teaching now, my awareness of their shoulders is constant throughout. I'm afraid knee work might take too much time, so I'll try to get them to do it on their own or in a stretch class.

Decorations

How important are decorations to a dance?
Festive atmosphere vs What a bother!
Homemade vs professional
Food vs floral