Well That Wasn’t So Bad

We don’t leave for a couple of hours and I can’t sleep late anymore so I’ve been up for a bit and I might as well take advantage of the time and the hotel wifi.

I started this blog a long, long time ago in what now feels like a galaxy far, far away. I was doing my first one these events so I wanted a place to record some thoughts and, like dancing, I’m still doing that today.

No question that this experience was far better than the first one. Multiple reasons for that. The group from the studio is larger so more friendly faces around. Also, I went to the first one for all the wrong reasons. While I can’t point to any strong reasons for going, this was more of a test case to see how it feels on a bigger stage.

The one thing I always say when anyone asks about “goals” is that my only real driver is to keep getting better. But really I just do this because of how it makes me feel to cut loose on the dance floor. So does an event like this help that?

Yes and no. The floors are the size of postage stamps and it seems like the goal is to see how many couples they can cram into that space. So you lose a lot of the ability to do what you’ve practiced. In all the smooth dances, we have patterns for the long side and for the short side. Works in the studio where there is really a long side. At this event, “long” doesn’t really exist so the patterns need to bend and curve to fit both the smaller floor size and to navigate around the other couples. Good for floor craft but it still often feels restrained.

But wouldn’t a competition help you see where you are? Like a measuring stick? Maybe but maybe not. First of all, I’m not super competitive when it comes to dancing. I mean I am my own worst critic so I’m competitive with myself. I don’t need placements because I wouldn’t believe them anyway. And, the reality is that any judged event is going to have some bias associated with it. Yes, if you make major mistakes in timing or footwork, then you can be easily dismissed. If not, it still comes down to what a bunch of people think and the particular judge may not like your style. How would you know? Besides, if you are trying to do more things to impress the judges, then are you dancing for them or for yourself.

Something like this also brings out the downside of ballroom – the cost. I look around and all the ladies have their fancy dresses and they’ve paid extra for hair and makeup so sometimes they actually look like different people. The guys have their outfits as well. Lots and lots of money spend on things you can only wear in a ballroom. Maybe the ladies can get other uses out of the dresses but no guy is going to wear the Latin costumes outside of a ballroom event.

Plus you’ve got vendors with new shoes and more outfits and other assorted bling. I mean you have to swap out your wardrobe from time to time (both men and women).

Now I’m not going to get on anyone for how they want to spend their money. If you can afford it and it makes you happy, then go for it. I don’t really like that sometimes it feels like there is subtle (and not so subtle) pressure to go spend more money. Like if you want to wear that its OK but wouldn’t you really like to wear THIS?? I’m not speaking from personal experience but just what I saw happening to a couple of the students. Like it isn’t enough to spend money on the lessons and on getting to an event like this

It kind of makes it seem like this is an exclusive club and you need to spend big bucks to be a part of it. We all joke about the cost of this hobby but I hate that there are those who absolutely love to dance but get priced out of continuing.

It is a long weekend and there is so much time to fill and I think there are those who decide to fill as much time as they can with heats and other things so you see the same people on the floor over and over again. I understand why because the downtime can suck. But knowing how much each heat costs, I keep coming back to how much they are really spending to do one of these. Because you’ve still got the basic fixed cost of the hotel to deal with and that isn’t cheap to being with. Again, if you can afford it and it makes you happy, I don’t care. It just keeps highlighting the gap between those with significant amounts of disposable income and those that have to save to just get a small part of this experience.

I’m kind of in the middle. I could have afforded to do more but the sticker shock got to me and I wasn’t going until it got to a number I could sort of feel comfortable with. Turned out to be about right. Still was the fun worth the cost?? Guess that’s the bottom line and I’m still trying to figure that out.

Oh and most of the dances went pretty well. There were one or two I wasn’t happy with but that’s not bad.