Riot and Frolic

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

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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.

Month: December 2015

  • The Get Smart Book Club: F*ing Anna Karenina

    You guys.   You guys.   YOU GUYS.   I finished Anna Karenina.   Now, to refresh your memory, a million years ago, I figured up 91 books to make me smarter and then started the ill-attended, virtual book club (there's even a pseudo-book report to fill out for The Princess Bride!).  And then, THREE F*ING YEARS AGO,…

  • Adventures Time : Part One

    Okay, I'll admit.  I haven't been present for a full half of the ADVENTures this year.  But I've liked all the ones I've witnessed.  And that is something.   Day 1 : pinecone ornaments Is it just me, or does anyone else say "pinecorn"? I grabbed some pine…coooonnneees, a few jingle bells, a couple sticks of…

  • Parenting and Perfectionism

    In past years, I put together a list of ADVENTures (get it?  PUNNY) for the Christmas season.  The girls, doing that whole growing thing, have better hand/eye coordination, so we're totally upping our game this year.  But along with all the FAMILY TIME and CRAFTING and HOLIDAY SPIRIT, this mama is learning about PATIENCE and LETTING THE…

  • Adventures Time

    It's that time of year again, where I put more pressure on myself to create fun, family memories for the gang and create extra work, less sleep, and more to do for myself.  But I LIKE IT!  And FUN! And CHRISTMAS!  So, DO IT! If you haven't been here before, I make a list of neat things…

  • Dancing Downer

    There's a concept of "dancing down" in competitive ballroom that I get asked about. A LOT.  There's a couple ways I see it, one of which is okay and one of which is a bummer.   The Bummer Let's say you see someone dancing a bunch of Silver freestyles and multi-dance events and also dancing in Bronze…

  • Things I’d Like to Yell

    I'm a loud person, but you'd be surprised how many things I say quietly, or even keep to myself.  These outbursts are generally directed at my kids or my students or bad drivers.  Hopefully you can tell which is which. Here is a partial list of spasms: IT'S NOT INTERNATIONAL SMOOTH! USE YOUR TURN SIGNAL! I…