With the number of times I mentioned my upcoming ballroom dance competition throughout the summer, now that it’s over I thought some of you might be interested in the outcome.

In our dance studio, we are frequently told to “dance as if no one is looking”.  I tried to keep that in mind each time I walked onto the dance floor and it must have worked because this was one of my best performances to date.  I entered 32 heats (number of times danced), and finished in first place 28 times and the other 4 entries I came in 2nd place.   The results were beyond my wildest expectations.  Needless to say I am over-the-moon happy with how I did.

I was away for four days, and when I got home I was so tired I could have slept for another four days, but that was not to be, so gradually I’m regaining my much needed sleep and energy that I poured into the dancing.  There are so many emotions that go through you at a time like that, it is hard to describe exactly what it was like, but I was certainly exhausted when it was over.

Just a little background information for you:   in American-style ballroom there are two categories of dance,   Smooth and Rhythm.  Smooth dances consist of waltz, foxtrot, tango, and Viennese waltz.   When dancing smooth,  long “ball gowns” are the required attire for women with closed toe shoes.  One whole day is devoted to smooth dances.  The rhythm category includes swing, rumba, cha-cha, mambo, Paso Doblé, samba, bolero, and hustle.   These dances require the woman to wear a short costume that has a lot of movement along with open-toe shoes.  The judges really want to see all that hip action, don’t you know!!  Another whole day and evening is devoted to rhythm dances.

In addition to the costumes, extreme hair styling takes place as well.  At our dance studio we are fortunate to have someone who is very talented at hair styling for competition and is available to “do” our hair for us.   I wouldn’t want you to think I go around with my hair looking like this all the time.  All though there are times when I have a “bad hair day”, it’s never quite  like this.  On both days that I danced I needed to be in the ballroom by 7:30am with gown and makeup on ready to have my hair done.  My first dances were around 8:30am.

The photos that I have included here show me dancing with my instructor in the smooth dances.  I hope you enjoy seeing them.  I am still waiting for my photos from the rhythm section of the competition.  When they arrive I will post a few to give you another view of what I wore and what that was like.