--11:00 PM, and I'm already ready for bed?! What is the world coming to?!--
The above is how I felt a half an hour ago. I've never slept so much in my life -- and yet I've never been so tired!!! That's some irony for you.
I can hardly believe I haven't written for 4 days. Maybe because I keep thinking in my head, "Oh, I"ll write that down," "Oh, I'll write that down," -- and it's either written on paper somewhere, or I have to hope I'm going to remember it…
2-14-10
I was thinking that I would get a nice purse/bag while I was here -- and I was especially thinking I should pick one up before I go to the dance competition -- But damn, if these things aren't expensive!!!
I could barely find any that were under $30 USD at the one store I ran into!! I'll keep looking around. Geeze. But if I ever want to go out dancing, I really would hate to have to have a bag around to have to hang onto. At least I know I have a pair of jeans with a front pocket my Passport can fit in securely. = @_@ = Registration is a Pain!
The important part of today was really the Competition!!
First of all, I have to say, thank goodness for having real Russians around to handle the phone with…!! Irina called me when she was on her way, but of course, it's hard for me to understand everything in the first place, let alone over a phone! So, thankfully, the first go around, Olga took the phone from me to give directions, and the second time, Polina took the phone to make sure just how long I had before they would arrive.
As it turned out, I didn't just go with Irina, but with two of her dance students also! (Andrei and Yulia) Once at the competition, we also met Irina's friends (Katya and Katya's husband).
Something fun: in true Maslenitsa fashion, Andrei brought blini to the competition!! So, I had a blini filled with salmon at one point. Ha ha ha -- it was certainly weird for me to be eating in the middle of a dance competition!!! (When I compete, normally I have breakfast, and try not to/don't like to eat anything else until I'm finished dancing for the day.)
Even though it was a little weird to be at a competition completely as a spectator for the first time in my life -- it was good to be back around everything. Is it weird if I'm really excited, because maybe now, I'll finally get to find out what the dancers all use to get their hair so damn shiny when it's slicked back?? XD
I'm a little bit disappointed, because I got to tape the professional (I think?) Standard final, but we LEFT before the Latin final!!!! I didn't want to tape during the Semi, so that I could watch and enjoy everyone. Now I'm sad I didn't tape then…
The style in Latin did seem different from what I'd seen at home, a little bit; and I wasn't quite so swept off my feet as I have been at the OSB (Ohio Star Ball) before -- but the people who were competing at the competition did seem a bit younger; and maybe it wasn't the professional rank? I actually was reminded of how I felt at the last OSB I'd attended, where all the big names were missing, and so we were not as impressed with the Latin round. Don't get me wrong, everyone was all still better than I am, at this point!! Ha ha ha. It's just that some things didn't seem as polished. It was still very fun, and quite interesting!
One big thing I noticed, in almost everyone's routines, is that being a bit "off balance" for the guys seems to be really in-style right now. There were a lot of moves that involved the guys taking a sort of step/jump onto one leg, with the other held behind them in an "attitude" type position -- trying to "float" there for a bit, before going into something else; or else they would be doing something that involved their partner counter balancing them quite a bit.
Jive, as per usual, was a hit for me -- and all the guys are still on springs!!! There was one guy, who I REALLY wish I had taped -- he's the reason I most regret not taping -- because his style during jive… Ha ha ha, I don't even know what to say about it!!! In parts of his routine, he looked a little bit like a cross between John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever" and a little bit of Michael Jackson, from some of his later, newer-style locking moves. It was pretty priceless. XD
Concerning the coaches: we actually didn't go speak to ANYBODY!!! But, it seems that Irina knows exactly who she'd like to take me to: the club that was putting on the competition. She told me that the people who owned it were very, very good when they competed, and that it is a really good, big studio/club today. I'm not sure if we'll go later in the week, but hopefully, soon!!
I would be remiss if I didn't chat at least a little bit about the music at the competition!!!!!! There were quite a few I didn't recognize (being that they were Russian/in Russian/a few other languages), andI was certainly surprised to hear others!
For a bit of a rundown, here are the kinds of things I heard:
Russian copies of US songs (Lyrics in Russian):
*Slightly different Mambo #5
*Pop Version of "Sway"
*Bee Gees' - "How deep is your love?"
Other Foreign Versions:
*"Once Upon A December" -- In Italian (?)
Songs In English - But Different Arrangements:
*Tango - Autumn Leaves (I'm so used to the beautiful Rumba version Annie and Johnson did a showcase to, once.)
*Tango - "Moonlight" (One of the Hit Songs from "Cats")
Instrumentals I Just Couldn't Believe I Was Hearing In Moscow:
*Monty Python's Flying Circus (slightly remixed, not much) -- It was the song they used to announce 1st place!!!!
*Rocky Theme (slightly remixed) -- The song they used for couples to enter the floor to (In Latin)
The next day, I put a post about the competition and the music up on facebook, and one of the AY kids in the program commented:
"Where do you find time for all this??"
I replied:
"I *make* it! … Or steal it from hw…."
Speaking of -- still haven't gotten into the mood for doing it. Seems like we'd have all this time to do it in, and then suddenly, nope…
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