In general I try to explore the different feelings and experiences I have when dancing. I’m also curious about what goes on when I’m not dancing. When I won’t dance can be just as interesting as when I will. Tennessee, ‘The Volunteer State,’ provided my girlfriend Autumn and I a wonderful spring break to remember. We toured …
“Well, I’m sorry you had to experience that,” she says as the song ends and we prepare to part ways. We’ve just had a fun foxtrot, a little rough around the footwork edges, but overall quite enjoyable. “No, no, no, that was great!” I respond. She shakes her head at the floor and turns away; …
How comfortable are you with your dancing? I’m not speaking in terms of reviewing your competition footage and feeling good about yourself; I’m asking about your experience within your own body as you dance. Are you complacent? In ballroom, and in life more generally, there are two types of mistakes: passive and active. We want …
After two and a half months in Kenya, I’m back! That also means I’ve had a two-and-a-half-month break from dancing. Uh-oh. That’s bad, right? Nope! 5 Reasons to Take a Break: 5. Passion for Partnership The work is long, bent over the 1.5-million-year-old soils all day in the equatorial heat. Sometimes, as today, I like …
Is ballroom dancing inherently sexist? If so, can anything be done? Few questions trouble me more as a person who thinks of himself as a feminist and an anthropologist. It truly is an elephant in the ballroom; it can be hard to get people to discuss it frankly. My real question here, the one I …
I couldn’t be more proud of my team. Sure, we did a fabulous job at the USA Dance National Collegiate DanceSport Championship, despite the facts that: Over a third of our team are new to the team Over a quarter have never danced competitively Exactly half of our leads are new But that’s not what …
“What do you miss most about it—about ballroom?” I asked. “I don’t miss competing,” she said immediately. “And I guess I don’t really miss teaching, either.” She glanced at the pool, full of elementary-schoolers strengthening their swimming skills, to see how her daughter was doing. “I do miss the practice, though. It was nice to …