Riot and Frolic

a mostly ballroom dance, but also a bunch of other stuff, blog

about

I own and rock people’s faces off teaching ballroom dancing at Dancers Studio in St. Paul, MN. My husband and I compete professionally in American style and wrangle eight children in our spare time. I’ve been teaching and competing in ballroom dancing for over 25 years and have lots of opinions on it. I am an expert by any means, but there are quite a few dancers who are better than me and I have a solid knowledge of basic technique, so suck it.

After Competition Rituals

November 10, 2015

There's a few good ways to put a competition to bed. Here are my top 6:

1. Book the next competition. Both as soon as possible and… as soon as possible. Can I book my travel plans as I walk to the ladies' dressing room after awards? YES. [Smartphones!] Is there a comp tomorrow? No? Is there a comp next weekend? YES.

2. I like to crack open my planner and start revising goals. And making new ones because I CRUSHED those previous ones. There are charts and spreadsheets and calendars and graphing paper involved.

there are also quills involved

3. I have a stare down with my costumes. I have a chat with them, "How dirty are you reeeeeally?" I've hung them on my door to easier gauge the possible yuck factor and I have an existential internal monologue each time I walk by them.