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.

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!

The Journey of the First Year (Part 8 - May: Dancescape)

The next weekend, we were headed to another hotel, the Westin Memorial, in Memorial City.  But first, there was a tan incident.  I was trying to save a little money.  I'm pretty sure that's how most tan horror stories start.  Anyhow, I found a groupon for a $20 airbrush tan, and managed to squeeze in an appointment that Friday evening (May 29th).  Everything was looking normal-ish, except that the tan wasn't developing.  After a panicked text message to the airbrusher at 10:00 that night (she was trying a new product and asked us to text her a picture of how it was developing), she offered to let us come back at 7:30 in the morning and she would retouch Shara's tan.

We had an appointment for hair at 11:30, and she was scheduled to start dancing after 1:00.  We dashed over to the tanner at 7 am, got retouched, went back to the house, let it develop as much as we could, then she rinsed off so we could head to the hotel.

After finding the studio manager, picking up her souvenier blanket (obviously because it was freezing in the ballroom), and getting checked in, we headed up for hair and makeup.  Her makeup artist was one of the male pros from the independent circuit, and he was excellent!  I loved his color choices, and she got a lot of compliments from our guys.



She had been feeling a little concerned, since she went into Latin the prior weekend a little self-conscious, and didn't come out on top, and with Latin being the stronger of her styles....

Shara Houston Dancesport Classic May 2015

But she blew everyone in her category out of the water.  All of her rounds were danced with Matt this time, and she quite literally placed first in every category she entered, including her championship round.  They even figured out how to pronounce her name halfway through award announcements.

Even better, all of the competitors from our studio did really well (including our pros), and up against some really strong competition, too.  I was really proud of everyone.  We won some kind of Top New Studio award, or something.

While we were there, we looked around at some of the dresses on display, and even though we knew Shara was going to need a new Latin dress to really move forward competitively, we also knew we weren't going to find it there!