Thursday

I love Thursday nights. They are so much fun. It is the most fun I have dancing all week. Tim is always in rare form and it is the perfect end to a long work week. We will start working on my showcase routine soon. I can hardly wait!

Haiku

Cory and I were just talking about ways to fill up my day.

He suggested writing a Haiku. I have not yet done that. I will save that for after my meeting. But here is one Cory wrote for me.

Kimberly Driver
coolest church lady i know
love wise, hott dancer

Shoes

My ghetto-ified shoes got me through a practice session with Chris last night without too many slip-ups and they are still in decent shape for Thursday. But today, I got my new shoes in the mail. Yes, I have several pairs of dance shoes, but all are for showcases and comps. The regular practice shoes were completely worn out and I badly needed a new pair, I have waited for a month to order them when I had a little more room in my paycheck. They are here at last. And I get to break them in tonight. Now, I can wear my ghetto-ified old pair to highland and not kill my new shoes as quickly. Sweet!

Thursday

Thursday night was amazing!

First Dance Stop: Highland

Tim teaches at the Lincoln Center in Highland. He usually teaches really intricate stuff that you can't learn anywhere else, but it is filled with lots of interesting characters.


The Men

Joe: Consistently smells like he has not only showered in a week, but also as though he has recently soiled himself. His fingernails are thick and perpetually filled with all sorts of disgusting. Makes weird sexual innuendos to all women regardless of age and tells lame jokes. Also believes he is the best dancer ever and doesn't need to listen to what some teacher half his age is telling him.

Rich: Hasn't been around lately, but definitely worth the explanation. He is probably about 5'3''. And my best guess is that he is a stroke victim. His right side does not work as well as his left. He limps and cannot raise his arm above his shoulder. Also believes he is a fantastic dancer, but does listen to Tim. However, when there is a problem. He automatically blames his partner and begins counting (wrong) for his partners benefit.

Charlie: The seventies throw-back. I'm pretty sure he has not purchased an article of clothing since 1975. He probably weighs about 100 lbs and is about 5'3'' but 5'5'' with his platform dance shoes. He wears glasses with huge lenses. He IS a fantastic dancer and adores Tim almost as much as I do. He makes me laugh and likes to pick on me. He is the only other person aside from Tim that I don't mind dancing with.

Doc (Joe): I'm not really sure of this guy. Another shorty. 5'2''ish. He adores the ground Tim walks on, but also mine. He makes comments about how graceful I am and what a great dancer. Fine, no big deal. But then he says stuff like, I'm never gonna let you go, or I'll pay you to dance with me, or you are so beautiful, or no, I don't want to dance with my wife, I'll keep you. Last night, "Oh, you're not married huh?" Followed by, "you know that couple would get much better if they traded partners, but there in love, not like me and my wife." He literally holds on to my hand as I am trading partners every time, until I have to yank my hand away.

There are other males: The uncoordinated giant (Mike) and The wedding crasher, but they are less interesting.

The Women:

There are significantly less strange women characters, or maybe I just don't know them as well because I don't dance with them.

Beth: Always wears some sort of dress jacket. Seriously, every time. She also wears pointy toe shoes with extremely high heels. She is perpetually back-weighted, which means she doesn't move very smoothly. She flirts with all the guys, which is pretty slim picking. She is terrified of demonstrating with Tim. Avoids it at all costs. She loves me and is constantly in a state of adoration of my dancing ability, much to my chagrin. She is always telling Tim, that she'll just watch me to figure out her footwork. This of course is a blow to Tim's ego, which I usually pay for later. However, after finally telling her that I pay for her comments she is getting better at not making them.

Laura: Has that dumb person look on her face. The one that involves your mouth hanging wide open and a blank look in your eyes. She is a decent dancer. Has been doing it for a while, but she looks pretty much exactly like this guy. She wears a purple dress regularly because Tim wears a purple shirt regularly and he once commented about great minds thinking alike. She had never worn it before that day, but wears it frequently now.
Doc's Wife: She is a great dancer and always speaks kindly to me. However, she always hears what Doc says to me and then looks at me with this expression. Sad.

There are several other females none quite so interesting. Charlie has two different mouse looking women who he brings occasionally, but never together.


The Couples:


The Angry Couple: Really tall, thin, and severe looking woman and her short husband. Husband, refuses to learn any technique which would help him to do the moves easier. Wife, refuses to take any responsibility for any problems they have dancing as a couple. They get angry and walk away from each other. Leaving weird, awkward pauses in the middle of class. They argue loudly, which interrupts the class. Tim tends to change the class based on when they show up to make sure he teaches easy stuff so they won't fight. When they are there, I call him "Dr. Tim" the marriage counselor.


Doc & His Wife: Really nice to me, no real connection to each other. Doc is overly involved in my business. His wife is really kind to me and complements me regularly.


On to what happened this Thursday:


Charlie had come to the party at the studio last Friday and wanted to do the Cowboy Cha cha so his partner could learn it. Apparently, he asked Tim to teach it this Thursday.

So we are learning this dance, Joe, smelling like feces as always is making up his own stuff, as usual. The women, mouse #1 and Beth are really struggling because Joe keeps throwing them off, and Charlie is struggling to lead them. Tim and I are cracking up watching the characters work together. Then Tim starts playing around with the dance changing the tempo and feel of the dance. I match him perfectly and he starts laughing and thanks me for helping keep him entertained... Then he turns around and notices that the people behind us are trying, unsuccessfully, to match what we were doing. He then starts laughing again and we switch back the way it is supposed to be done.


What are the odds that a such an odd combination of people could all meet up in the same 100 sq ft every week. It's like all of the strangest people from all of the surrounding times flock to the Lincoln Center each week. Silly.


Second Dance Stop: Premiere in Schererville


Ray's lesson went really well both nights. It's a big ego boost. I was the only one besides Eliza (the one demo-ed with) who remembered the cha cha exercise from last month. It was amazing. Ray watches me a lot more than he used to. I used to be sort of invisible, but now I am attracting some of his attention. I hope that it is due to skill and not lack of it. Oh well. Either way, I'll learn more that way.


Time to clean and do some laundry.

Back

Well, between the stress of the last month, being in a dunk tank on Sunday, and dancing, I have hurt my back. I know, I know, old news right? Nope, it hasn't hurt like this since high school. I took some heavy medication last night to get to sleep and try to relax the pain. It quit working by 3 AM. I was up the rest of the night.

This morning, my concerned mother, who was disgusted at the amount and type of medication I took last night, asked me if I wanted to make an appointment with my doctor today. My totally irrational dancer brain answered, "no way, Ray is in town tonight and tomorrow and I don't want him to tell me I can't go."

So what am I doing to ensure that I can go tonight? I packed my heating pad to take to work. I am leaning on it as I type. I will not move much today or spend any time off of it, other than my education commission meeting. As soon as I am done here. I am going to go rest horizontally at home, until the time comes to go to dance where I can damage myself further and repeat the whole process tomorrow.

Totally irrational, but totally worth it.

Ode

- Ode to Tim
- King, Lord, Master of the Dance Floor
- My Dance Nazi
- The only person I know who can frustrate me without a single word
- Can challenge me WAY beyond my limits and lead me to success
- Builds up my ego and then completely puts me in my place
- Can make me laugh at myself when I am failing
- Is slowly eliminating the word "can't" from my vocabulary because he will completely stop the lesson until I rephrase to, "At this current point in time, I am unable to do that"
- Can simultaneously make me feel like a woman and like a football player
- I can read him, his moods, and his intentions like a book
- Makes me the best dancer I can be and yet reminds me just how far I have to go to be as good as him
- Can moves his hips (cuban motion) better than any woman I know
- Is a bigger diva than I can ever hope to be
- Takes a special interest in me as a dancer and goes above and beyond to help me improve
- Fascinates me with his knowledge of local and national and international dance history and continues to talk to me about it well after the lessons have ended
- Can make my whole body hurt after merely twenty minutes
- Can rip my shoulder out of socket weekly and I still long to dance with him
- Can make me feel totally comfortable and completely out of my skin intimidated
- Yup, that's Tim
- King, Lord, Master of the Dance Floor (or so he likes to be called)

Songs

I love it when Ben and Danno play worship songs at night. However, something in me is always tugged upon when this happens. I don't know what it is, but instead of feeling sure of my direction, I am always thrown into a muddle of confusion. This does not occur any other time, with any other worship. I just don't know. Anyway. So in my state of confusion on my drive home, because I decided to run from the confusion rather than dwell in it like normal, I listened to two songs. One that Dawn and I used to talk about a great deal. The other, is one of my favorites, and actually one that was played during VBS this week.

Well, the internet seems to be disagreeing with me so instead of posting links or lyrics, I will just post of the titles and let you look it up, if you so desire.

The first.
Surrender by BarlowGirl

The Second.
Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus) by Chris Rice

Alive

I have resurfaced.... Finally.... I'm starting to feel like a normal human again.

VBS was this past week. Power Lab was the theme. It was science-y, which is right up my alley. 150 Kids. I worked 70 hours the week before. This week I was totally burned out but still managed to work almost a full week. Falling only two hours short. Which I more than made up for the week before. I think the week went really well. But there definitely needs to be some reorganizing of people according to their strengths. And better organizing all the way through. It will be much easier when it is my project from the very beginning.

Tim has been gone for both of those weeks. Dancing with him helps me to unwind, so he was SORELY missed. He was back on Thursday and challenged me like I haven't been challenged in weeks. It was amazing. I love having to think that hard. I love watching him do something and think there is NO WAY I am going to be able to do that, then he continues to challenge me and never slows it down or thoroughly explains it and then I get it. It's an amazing feeling. I can't wait to have a lesson with him next week. Group lesson on Tuesday. Group in Highland on Thursday. Private Lesson on Friday. So exciting.

The guy that I practice with each week and I danced a viennese for the first time at a party. It was scary. I have never successfully danced a viennese with anyone other than Tim at a party. We were both rather exhilarated at the end of it because we not only survived but did pretty well. So much so that we even got compliments from others who were watching. One guy said he was watching our silhouettes and they were perfectly in sync. Which is an incredible feat especially as two students dancing together.

To further clinch how dancing obsessed I am, I bought a book. I had been waiting for this book to come out since January. It came out this month and I have been completely engrossed. It's scary how reminiscent it is of everything I think and feel. It is an autobiography of a ballroom dancer who competed at a champion level back in the 70s. Quit, and then restarted in her forties. It would be totally boring to anyone who does not understand the dancing world or sympathize with what she undergoes in her lessons. I think it is supposed to be geared to being a self help book, but I would say it is very low quality in that respect but to read her experiences dancing is common to all dancers. It's amazing.

The Liskeys are home. At least for another two weeks. I miss them when they are not around. It's hard for me to have a real job right now because I am unable to spend time with them like I used to. I would love to have gone to Michigan to spend time with the kids the week before last, but I just couldn't take the time off. I love being a part of that family. I want to have a home like theirs when I have one of my own. I want an open house in which people feel comfortable being a part of. Amazing. I love them.

Ray

Day Two of Ray:

First of all my skill level is much higher in rhythm dances because that is my instructors forte. So my technique is much stronger. Yesterday was rhythm. Tonight was smooth. I have a terrible frame. I know that and admit to it willingly. We worked on heel turns. This requires perfect balance for both people, yet another weakness for me. So I am struggling through the combo he is teaching, there are two heel turns mixed in which a bunch of shaping and directional changes. Then he says, "now I know you girls know this" and walks towards me. It scares the poop out of me to be singled out by Ray because he is so amazing that he intimidates me. (Dan, a former teacher says, "I pray to Ray") He pulls my left hip back to proper frame. This is the first time anyone has ever done that. Physically, put me in the right frame. Allow me to assure you, that my extra vertebrae which is fused on that side did not appreciate the movement. Right as he pulled me into place, it pinched a nerve. I just nodded at his instruction and continued to dance maintaining this frame. Then practiced with Chris for another hour afterwards to make sure I had the heel turns and the weight shifting and the frame down before I left and it went out of my mind. All the while forcing myself to use the perfect frame that Ray had just shown me which puts me in excruciating pain. I am telling myself that eventually my back will get used the position and the muscles surrounding it will get stronger and it will not hurt anymore. But, just in case you were wondering about the physical demands of dancing. I am now laying in bed, having taken four ibuprofen, laying on a heating pad at my back, and with my feet strapped to ice packs. Tomorrow, I will be far far far far far sore-er and will go back for a private lesson and a 3 hour dance party. Crazy? You bet cha! I love it.


FYI: The person who wrote Strictly Ballroom, was a ballet dancer turned ballroom dancer. His innovative steps were repeatedly snubbed by judges because they went too far outside of the cannon. In the 1960's Ray Rivers competed against this man several times. Every time Ray won, the man would say, "This is rigged. I am going to make a movie." Thirty years later, Strictly Ballroom was created.

Success

Ray Rivers was at the studio tonight. He taught for many many years. Complete professionally. And is now paid to judge competitions. He comes to the studio once a month for two days. He is an incredible wealth of knowledge. Tonight, he was teaching us another part of a cha cha drill that he started last month. I really focused in on what he was teaching and figured out the math in my head and practiced the parts I knew would be hard for me as he was going over easier parts. I ran through it while everyone else was watching him. Then when we all ran through it, I did it without watching him. Low and Behold, while we tried it with the partner, I was the only one who was able to finish it. John, who owns the studio was impressed, with a "wow, check you out. This is a really hard step. No, seriously, a really hard step." We did it three more times and I was still the only one to finish! Amazing ego boost! I rocked it.