Competition Jacket Came In!

So, Shara's dad bought her an official competition jacket for her birthday to wear in the ice-cold ballrooms over her costumes.  We went into the studio for a West Coast Swing class, and not only were we able to pick up her jacket, but we also got on the list for this weekend's events - the Professional Competition on Friday night, and a show with renowned Latin World Champions, Maurizio and Andra, during the Into the Woods ball.  We're pretty excited, and by we, I mean I'm pretty excited, and the stoic teenage female thinks it's "cool."

Lone Star Results Came In!

We got Shara's results and plaque from the Lone Star competition back in May, where she danced all Latin with Daniel.

So if we do the math, the girl she was going up against beat Shara four times (or six if you count the championship round) and Shara beat that girl eleven times (or twelve if you add in the championship round).

 

I will say that Tiny Dancer was pleased to hear that, simply because the loss in the championship round shook her confidence a smidgen. Taking first in every round at the competition the following weekend really helped, and knowing that the choreography that they put together for her was a reflection of their confidence in her ability to learn it helped, too. 

From here until the end of the year, it will be working on choreography for the October Spotlight, which will be an Open Swing to Uma Thurman and potentially a preview of her Dancescape choreography.

Level Passing 8/20/15

So, tonight was the Level Passing party.  Shara did her six main dances, and scored 95's across the board.  I think she was passing out of Preliminary Advanced Bronze and into Intermediate Advanced Bronze.  Once she finishes Intermediate Advanced, she moves into Final Advanced and then she goes into Silver.  Once she starts Silver, she should also be starting International.  I believe she is entering Final Advanced Bronze sometime in the beginning of next year, but don't quote me on that.  I am way too tired tonight to post much in the way of detail about tonight's event.  Tomorrow we go back to work on the comments the judge suggested, and another bout of choreography.  She finally worked most of the soreness out from last week.  Some of those lifts are a little brutal for a first timer, but she's getting it!

Okay, in order:

Waltz

Rumba

Swing

Cha Cha Cha

Tango 

Foxtrot

She starts her second semester of college next week, so wish us luck maintaining sanity!

New Dress for January

Today was the day!  We picked up the dress from The Singing Seamstress today.  Here are the promised pictures.

She always looks that excited when I ask her to do anything.  For someone who is pursing her dream, she has an awfully "teenager" attitude a little too often for my taste.

Once she tried it on with shoes and did some dancing in it, we messaged the seamstress and decided to add an extra skirt layer to the back, so in addition to the crystals, it will get a slight design modification, to adapt to the extreme movement in her choreography.

Note the lovely new shoes, her new practice pair with the three inch heels.  She has been wearing 2 1/2 inch heels since she started last year, so we don't expect her to have any difficulty adapting to the new height.

Show Choreography and Mini Match

It has definitely been a busy week.

We got a call on Tuesday morning that we could come to the studio and watch the choreographer work on her solo.  Of course we went!  I have to be honest.  As I watched, I felt a little like the Len Goodman in the room.  I would have liked to see more Argentine Tango content, but what they put together will be really great when she learns it and they smooth it out.  I think there are about five challenging lifts, though it may be more if we include the trust fall and the floor drag.  I absolutely CANNOT post any early video since this is all proprietary stuff, but let me tell you how impressed I was at how challenging they made it for her.  It will definitely be a growing experience for her.

 I did get a fantastic picture of her face when she saw the first lift they were working on, and it was pretty humorous.

 So fast forward a few days, and today was Mini Match.

Since we're putting most of our money towards Spotlight in October and her solo in January, she only danced each of her competitive dances once.  I was so proud of how improved her Rumba was, and so disappointed that I pushed the wrong button and ended up with pictures instead of video of that dance!  I have video of the other eight, and we should have her comment sheets later this week or next.

 She actually thought it was really funny that I got an accidental picture with the camcorder that looks almost identical to one I accidentally took with Matt back in January.

 

Tango! 

 

August Mini Match

 Some of you might notice the bandage around poor Matt's head.  Long story, and not really mine to tell, but suffice to say, he's mostly okay, and the studio named their themed super hero after him:  Captain Calamity.

So, two exiting things - we pick up Shara's custom costume (shout out to The Singing Seamstress for all of her amazing work!) tomorrow, and the guys have agreed to let her try out three inch Latin heels.  She really needs to start physical therapy to stretch the tendons in her feet, but we're having a disagreement with the insurance company, so it may be a little while before we start those.  We pick up her smooth shoe inserts on Monday, so with those in the smooth and the slightly taller heel in the Latin, it may really help, though she definitely needs to make sure those tendons are expanding before she's old enough for them to settle.  Anyhow!  Exciting stuff - tall shoes and a new dress, so expect pictures tomorrow night!