Happy New Year! (And IHSC Chronicles Day 5)

Six months since my last post! Let's continue my foray into the world of Jack & Jill competitions...

Still not used to seeing dancers off all ages fully decked out first thing in the morning (competitions run all day), I face the conundrum of what to wear. Costumes weren't necessary and  didn't have any impact on scoring (so they said.) As much as I love crystals and sequins, I didn't want to be the only one in costume, so I decided to go with a red top, short red skirt and fishnets. Taking my place at a table at the corner of the dancefloor, I recognize some faces and try to spot my competition. It's not a huge deal, but I would love to win something! I did recognize two of the four judges, who both knew me from my involvement with the BermudaSalsa.com Group.

The format was a little confusing, though typical for ballroom competitions: all couples dance at the same time for two minutes to a song of the DJ's choosing. Kinda makes choreographing with any sort of musicality specific to the music difficult. I had entered "Advanced Salsa" and "Intermediate Hustle"...there were only Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced divisions. Couples are paired up at random and judged together on lead/follow skill, technique, and musicality. My partner was one of the competitors I'd seen this weekend.

My division was up! There were about seven ladies and three guys, so the poor guys all had to dance twice. The song was one of my favourite Latin Jazz pieces by Tito Puente, so I was immediately fired up, and hoped my partner and his sprained wrist was up to the challenge. Those two minutes went by far too quickly, and I hoped that it was enough to land me a place!

Next up, after a bit of a wait, was Hustle. About ten couples took the floor, myself paired with a female lead. I'm pretty certain we weren't seen by the judges at all, because the floor was so crowded, even after one rotation of couples. Ah well. It was fun.

I waited nervously for awards. Again reminding myself that it wasn't really important what the result was, but rather following through on a dare I had made with myself. I am not competitive at all; all the times I've ended up in competitive situations were the result of much convincing by others. Ironically, this wouldn't be my last dance competition this year!

Annndddd second place it was! I was grinning from ear to ear and I grabbed my silver medal and dashed to the bathroom to take a selfie with it for Facebook! Cheesy. I know. Whatever.

I got rid of the skirt and fishnets, changed into some denim shorts, and headed to the pool for a few more dances before I left for home. I traded pleasantries with the DJ and a few others I had met over the course of the weekend. This one older gentleman kept asking me for dances, since it seemed like the humidity had already taken its toll on everyone. It was the perfect end to an awesome weekend! I was happy with my silver, and I was refreshed and inspired to hit the dancefloor twice as hard when I returned home.