Stardust Dance Seen Darkly...

[seedarklyxero]

What an amazingly rewarding weekend! My Lady GZ and I took a vacation for a "Dance Getaway" at a resort out in what we've taken to calling "the Kill country of New York."
Thursday we took off to get closer to the resort. On the way there we jammed to one half of the MSI/Left Rights discography and listen to the recent Jukebox Zeroes podcast I'd just guested on because G hadn't heard it yet. We didn't get the hotel we wanted because it (and all its neighbors) was overrun by some kind of scary bikers convention. After we found what was an even better hotel we had sushi, did a little light shopping, and got to bed early.
Friday we get to the resort (gorgeous) to begin the adventure:
FRIDAY
Day One Workshops:
Rumba , 1 hour - GZ & I are not beginners at this. Those who recognize what we dance know this. Still, of the options we had for that hour, I felt it had the most to offer us and could give us a baseline of how to gauge the levels of each class. The teach was professional, corny, and a lot of fun. We mostly did review of things I'd already taught GZ with the addition of a couple cute variations with arm styling. At one point the instructor needed someone to lead him as he demonstrated something for followers... no one was volunteering so I did. As if our purple hair wasn't already turning heads... heh.

Lunch

West Coast Swing , 2 hours - Not everyone knows I used to teach for Arthur Murray Dance Studios. I know a wide variety of ballroom and Latin dances, which I've spent the past 3 years teaching GZ. One of the few dances I've never spent time on for myself was West Coast Swing. But MANY of the folks in the places we dance do it so I've been wanting to get it under my belt and figure it will add to our overall versatility. The good thing about the workshop was how comprehensive it was, easy to follow the instructor and learn the steps and technique. The only real negative was that this instructor singled me out in a really aggressive way, at one point physically grabbing my shoulders from behind to direct me pulling me off balance. I finally had to simply look him dead in the eye and tell him to stop. That shook me a bit, and I was concerned it might have embarrassed or upset G, but we were determined to learn, and we had no issue after that. (It didn't occur to me until later that many others in the class were really struggling with the material, far more than I or G, but he never worked with them one-on-one as he attempted to do with me so I don't really understand what any of that was about.) His partner/assistant also singled me out later but off to the side and respectfully in a way that somehow recognized a peer I think.She seemed impressed when she asked how long I'd done the dance and I told her, "today." (Of course I followed up to explain I'd instructed other dances so it's not THAT impressive in tha context, HA.)
Learned five steps, some technique, and useful tools that work with other dances as well!
We've got some rehearsal to do with it, but I feel pretty good about the foundation he gave us despite his attitude.

Waltz , 1 hour - So at this point we were GOING to take a class on Lead/Follow techniques that was supposed to be for ALL levels. The instructor immediately went into teaching syncopated shadows in waltz... which is a bit more advanced we anticipated... doable but with the potential to be really discouraging so I suggested we hit what should have been a beginners waltz class with the same teacher we had for Rumba. But he wasn't there! Instead there was a couple (later we found out they were performing for the evening showcase) and they were teaching what seemed to be an outside partner alternating forward box step with a reverse box step ending... and they were calling it "twinkles" but it wasn't "twinkling" if you take my meaning. Also on the more advanced side for what we assumed was a "beginners" class, but this was far more attainable. Unfortunately the instructors did not communicate very well, with the class or even themselves, so there was a lot of confusion. We picked up enough of the step, as it was basically a combination of other elements I'd already taught G so in the end, a net positive!

Rest time, refresher time, Dinner Buffet

Late night of dancing and watching the performance. 3 numbers from the instructors (American) we had earlier and 3 numbers from instructors(Latin) we would have the next day.
The Latin numbers were the most impressive, the Americans had one really Hunger Games "catching fire"-style matching outfit that was pretty cool.
They had 4 dance halls: Milonga (all Tango), Latin, Swing/Hustle/Country, and Full inclusive Ballroom. We stayed in the Ballroom ballroom most of the night but would drift in and out of the Swing room because musically we like the variety of music for the dances we know, even if everyone else is usually doing West Coast in those type rooms.
Our feet didn't bleed, but we beat ourselves blissfully until after midnight. We had an even earlier startup the next day so opted to call it soon after midnight.

SATURDAY

Early Breakfast Buffet

Day Two Workshops:
Cha Cha , 2 hours - The Latin performers from Friday night taught this class. The leader taught most of the class with his partner running assist. He pointed out something that I keep seeing and has been driving me crazy, that so many people are learning the rhythm incorrectly, breaking on something other than the 2 and 6 beats! He spent the early part of the lesson getting everyone on the same page. Lot of focus on steps with turns that include hustle-pretzel arm maneuvers. Very cool stuff, but as atrophied as some of my skill has become from non-use, I didn't retain enough of it to use it immediately on the dance floor later. One of the more informative of classes that give something to both GZ & I for later review.

We took a break to rest our feet and watched those instructors teach an advanced Mambo lesson. I picked up some things I'll be teaching GZ later!

Rumba , 1 hour - Same teacher as our first rumba lesson (schedule seems to indicate he switched to this from Friday's waltz class with those instructors.) This time we worked on two different variations of a back spot turn that we already know. Again this guy was probably the best teacher of all of them. Simple instructions. Clear demonstrations. Which was also impressive given he had a fairly pronounced accent. Truly an exceptional communicator. We found ourselves able to use everything we taught us throughout the weekend.

Lunch Buffet

Tango, 1hour - Seriously... we really liked this guy so stuck with him. This one had a little less to offer in terms of new steps but was a great practice for frame, stance, and closures. Also learned the meaning of the word "Corte" which is used in the names of several tango steps. I'd never really considered what it meant prior, but knowing it means "cut" makes so much sense. (At least I already knew what La Puerta meant.) Looking back on it though, I only now realize that we never actually danced any tango in the ballroom functions. It's time will come. heh.

Foxtrot, 1hour - Basically a review on stuff we know pretty well by now with a little more focus on framework. The instructor was pretty high energy and fun. It was a good way to round off the day with a low stress review we could relax and let our brains absorb everything we'd been exposed to for the day.

Little rest and stretching, watched the first episode of Iron Fist. Then we got dressed for the...

Dinner Buffet and the "ALL WHITE" Gala!

We got fancy in cocktail formal...the "preferred" attire was "all white" but we're still goth at heart so... no. We did what we could.

I also had painted my nails white. (not shown.)
And we didn't worry too much about standing out once we saw a number of people dressed in various colors of tweeds, plaids, and... JEANS? (I mean... as mentioned, we both have matching purple hair, but everyone already saw that. In fact, one guy we came to recognize as "the Full Monty guy" came up to remark that we both looked like we were "from the same planet." Well of course we are, Scott. Same planet as you!)

So ok... maybe this wasn't entirely the exclusively fancy party of our expectations... but that had little impact on our ability to enjoy yet another long night of dance. In fact, I ended up disposing of my tux jacket at my first opportunity, which made things a fair bit more comfortable. Before the evening performances we danced to a live lounge three-piece band with vocalists (though I had to get my earplugs because their sound was not well mixed for the room.)

Most of the performances were not all that exceptional but they did give GZ and I some time to rest our feet for a while. The MC, who sang That's Amore on Friday night, sang Bossa Nova, and told dumb really painfully bad jokes. The American performers, supposedly long time champions, slipped up during their first number and it looked like the leader came very close to injuring his partner. But they came back for two more numbers. One in which the lead was dressed as a bubble-butted Chef Boy-R-Dur, twerking around the floor and his partner was in a kind of pink flapper, looking like the spinners inside a carwash, dancing to the "Move It Move it" song... I don't think we got the theme on this one?
The other couple was entirely Tango, stylized, sophisticated, smooth, and over all pretty dazzling in their precision.

Then we spent the rest of the night after performances in the West Coast/Hustle room or the Ballroom ballroom. Our feet were pretty hammered by the end of the night and we made it to almost 1am from having been up since 8. And even as we made our way back to our room I was still dancing with every step!

 

SUNDAY
OMELETTE STATION!

Day Three Workshops:
Foxtrot, 1hour - After a long night of exhilarating and exhausting dance, and the more advanced options for the morning being international styles, we opted for simple reviews that might introduce some easy variations on what GZ had learned thus far. This was the instructor who had taught the Lead/Follow class we skipped on Friday. He taught what I know as a "Junior Walk" but he was calling a "Basic." Not sure where that comes from but it was some good solid technical practice. He also introduced a variation on a promenade turn with a tap-step that was easy for us to pick up and immediately use.

Samba, 1hour - Instructed by the same lady we had for the Foxtrot class on Saturday, this was also not much more than a good technical review. She introduce the idea of our belly buttons' have an eyeball and told us to "blink" that eye in the samba rhythm so all the bounce wasn't only in the knees. Creative technique. I mentioned that the view from there was pretty interesting and that got a laugh. No new steps but she did expand on a Com Paso step we know that effectively just makes a bigger box. By the end, we'd done our workout and were ready for the final luncheon and dance party.

Last Dance:
As we ate, I managed to get GZ up for a few slow dances in between bites. After we'd finished and were waiting for our next moment to dance, the instructor from our last class came up to asked me to waltz. We'd managed to get through the entire weekend with no one asking us to dance but with GZ's approval I accepted and it was pretty informative, both about where my skill is and things I need to consider as GZ & I advance. The instructor then sent her son over to have a dance with G... and he showed up during one of the few dances she doesn't know. It says something significant that, despite us not partnering with others, she followed his lead pretty easily and picked up the basic steps quickly. (Truth told she's coming into her own style now that she's committed so much of what we do to muscle memory, finally free to do some beautiful and creative things with her arms and just have fun with it all. I'm really proud of her!)
I think we ended on a Cha Cha before driving home to the second half of our MSI/Left Rights discography.

Thoroughly amazing and fun weekend! We learned a lot. We ate a lot. We danced even more! I REALLY got "the bug" again and can't wait until we get the chance to do another of these trips! I'm going to have taught GZ a lot more by then too. Now that I have a solid foundation on WCS I expect we'll be adding that to our options before long.
Considering all I've been through with my knee injury, that we are able to do this at all is such a blessing and I am so grateful to GZ for helping me with my recovery and sharing dance with me in this way!

More to come...