10 DAYS THAT SEEMED LIKE A YEAR!

FIRST BALLROOM COMPETITION: SOUTH AMERICAN AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Seriously?! How could I have started out that week any better?? I don't need to mention how much I was looking forward to it before-hand (because most people already know), but all day Saturday was the amateur competitions. Here I was able to see and get to know all of the Dancers from IBD (the studio I'm attending) compete. Anyone who has competed before knows that practice and competition are completely different -- Yes the technique may be similar but the atmosphere and peoples personalities explode. The ONLY bad thing was that I could not stand still! I would sit down for about 5 minutes and then I'd be back up tapping my toe at the least. It was at this moment that I realized I could not go without competing for 5 months. It would be tough creating routines and learning Paso Doble in about a month but there it is still completely worth it.

AND YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHO I RAN INTO... 

This world (and especially the dance world) is incredibly small, and as I was cheering on one of our couples I realized one of the judges looked very familiar. He didn't have black hair anymore but I could have sworn I knew him?? So I creepily walked closer and stared at this guy -- I wasn't 100% sure, but he looked a LOT like Forrest Vance, 7-time American Rhythm champion and studio owner of where I took lessons while working in Sedona last year. After a couple questions from other officials I found out it was him! I think he was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. We caught up a bit on his break and even planned to grab lunch a couple days after the competition. Unfortunately he was pick-pocketed and got his wallet and phone stolen so we were never able to meet up,  but it was still great to see a familiar face!

SUNDAY
Stepping back a little bit, only Melissa showed up at the airport Saturday. Her and Leah had been flying stand-by and it turned out a couple behind them was pregnant and they would have had to be split up so Leah gave up her ticket so they could ride together (somehow I think this had to play into some of the luck we had later that week...). She was able to catch a plane the next day though and arrive Monday morning.

That night was were the show dances and the final pro-am competition dances. The pros were Anna Melnikova (the girl who dances with Slavik in "the ballroom dancer") and Justinas Duknauskas & Evgeny Smagin y Paulina Kazatchenko (from that I'm sexy and I know it routine). Like always it was extremely impressive and inspiring to watch them dance (sometimes I think I'll get tired of dance... but in reality I don't think I ever will).

SUNDAY NIGHT: AFTER PARTY!

After the competition, there was a party hosted on the top floor of the hotel. For the first 1.5-2 hours most of us just talked and socialized with each other and the various pros in attendance. Then some people started to get antsy (what's new) and began to dance to the DJ's music. There was a good mix of rap/hip hop and latin songs. Eventually the pros started to join in.

I had been talking to the russian group that included the Russian Commissioner of Dance, Evgeny, Anna, and some other competitors that had made the long flight because the only other language they spoke was English (unlike Spanish which the majority of others knew) -- by talking I mean very small talk haha. Before I knew it though, Anna Melnikova was up and dancing to Black Eyed Peas. I don't blame her - need to break out of that ballroom shell some time or another! It was fun to see one of the best girl dancers in the world let loose!

What I didn't expect though was that I was being coaxed into the same circle by another Russian lady I had been dancing with earlier. I timidly entered for about 15-20 seconds. Afterward some friends from my studio said I looked a little intimidated... umm YES! Ha Next time though!

I ended that night going to pick up Melissa who had met up with Mariano, her friend from Brasil who was in BA for the weekend. It was going to be a good week!