It’s 4:30 a.m. and the beat is still pounding from the speakers next to the dance floor. I thank my current partner and make a beeline for another, and as the music starts and we begin to dance west coast swing, the wave of tired hits me. We finish the dance and I head for …
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 …
I’ve been thinking about my bookshelf for the past few days. For Valentine’s Day my girlfriend got me not one, but two books. They were both Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. One is for my place, the other is for hers. The idea is we can read them together, take notes, and become better …
“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; …
I want to talk about starting new adventures. As many of you may well know, I’m moving to Los Angeles, California in July! We’ll actually be in a suburb just northeast of it but that’s basically same thing, really. I say ‘we’ because I’ll be moving there with my Autumn, my girlfriend and adventure buddy. …
When I dance, I’m usually not alone. You may not find that surprising, given that ballroom generally involves two people, but I’m talking about something else: a sometimes comforting, sometimes obnoxious little presence that I’ve become acquainted with. Let us, for sake of narrative, call it an elephant. Have you ever tried dancing with an …
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 …
I just lost. Like they tell you to do all through middle school, I’m going to try to get something positive out of the experience. I’m going to write about it, and if you read it, fine. I’m going to think away all the negative emotions, right? I’m going to come out the other side …
After my recent trip to Thailand, where I studied tiger conservation and related issues, I became interested in conservation as it relates to ballroom. Global overcrowding and demand for resources increasingly push people into marginal land areas, while poachers and poor hunters continue to over-exploit the few resources tigers have left. Though seemingly far removed …