The competition started on Wednesday evening with single dances in the Night Club and Novelty dance division. This year we danced the Night Club Two step, West Coast Swing, Jitterbug and Polka on Wednesday Night. Two of the highest ranking couples on the World Pro/Am Dancesport Series leader board also did the Polka this year, most notably, Proctor and Kish & Lapointe and Bar. I was both happy and relieved that we weren't the only couple out there who danced the Polka this year. It's one of my favorite dances.
Just moments before we went out on the floor, I sent a quick note to Cissy King, she's been such and inspiration to our dancing and I just wanted to take a moment to think of her. Although many judges warn against dancing the Polka, due to image and personal branding issues, I still see some merit in dancing it. Life is too short to ignore the things we love most, just because others deem them to be unpopular. I am very thankful to Sophia for being willing enough to enter in it.
With that said we danced 4 polkas this year, but we may reduce that number to 2 for the next year, so that we don't get hooked and tomatoed off the floor.
For its entirety, this year's WSDC was completely stress free and fun. All the couples we met were friendly, and we had a few rare opportunities to mingle with fellow Pro/Am dance couples that we seldom get to chat with.
Smooth day was fun and worry free. Sophia and I danced well during the bronze freestyle and multi dance divisions. I particularly enjoyed hearing the news of Marcy Garson's win in the Silver Smooth scholarship. She's been a dear friend for many years, and it feels like just yesterday when she first began dancing in her former (more famous) partnership, with Don Beedie. During smooth we also had time to chat with Gregory Day and Natasha Issacs. Natasha appeared in a stunning new smooth gown, in a bold blue. Her new dresses always seem to turn a few heads upon debut in the ballroom. I was also impressed by Charlene Proctor's new Pink Vegas Showgirl dress. There were several new dress sitings this weekend, and normally I'm not one to notice, but some were so beautiful and impossible to miss.
Roxi spent the entire event vending for Donna Inc. Chimi Choo accompanied us to the Pfister this year , which we discovered to be dog friendly.
Roxi stayed in a separate hotel room this year, with Donna in the newer part of the hotel. We all had time to chat and catch up in the evenings, however brief the time was.
Sophia and I decided to fly home a day earlier. We met up with Dmitri Dologolpolov to fly back in DC. At times I wonder if the two of them together are always a recipe for trouble. They wasted no time in finding the cheese hats at the Milwaukee Airport. I guess this photo can add to the already growing collection of dance celebrities in cheese hats, now streaming through Facebook.
