To Dance Or Not

     At one point in my life, I was a competition level ballroom dancer. I love to dance but I rarely do it anymore (unless you count skiing). For about 7 years, I did competition dancing - mainly International Standard (waltz, tango, viennese waltz, foxtrot and quickstep) and the American style version of those dances. I tried Latin dance (cha cha, rumba, mambo, swing....otherwise known as the "American rhythm" dances). I even once spent a month worth of lessons learning to do an International Latin style rumba walk. Then, having finally learned how to move my abdominal and back muscles in the right (painfully slow) sequence, I walked away from it. It just wasn't me! But give me a waltz and I could dance my heart out.

    At the peak of all of this dancing, having gravitated toward higher level competition instructors, I went to the U.S. Nationals and won a 2nd place for Tango (American style) and a 3rd place for Waltz (American style) for my division (Bronze..the lowest level). That sounds kind of impressive and it does require the discipline to practice but I really think ballroom dancing has a lot to do also with the application of money. Not that you buy judges, but you find the highest level instructor that you can, you fund the trip for him & his professional partner, you pay for high level additional coaching, ball gowns, etc.

    It's a wonderful hobby but extremely expensive. Strangely, the competition aspect can drive you, but in the end, for me, it felt like it was bleeding away my enjoyment of just the dance.  I did once win a scholarship competition (Grand Ball, SF, International Standard Bronze). I won $300 and first place in all dances. THAT was the highlight of my dance career! Eventually, I stopped taking lessons as I bought a house and the financial strain of competing was becoming untenable. When my instructor gave me an ultimatum--"Do out of state competitions or quit," I said goodbye to the whole thing. Though I miss dancing at times (the feeling of joy pouring through your body), skiing, I suppose is my substitute.

     Below is a video of professional ballroom dancers doing several international standard dances.

Here is another video showing professional level International Latin dancing: