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Originally posted by Curvedfeather:
Harold, where have you been? Come on back and tell us about the holidays.

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I'm afraid I tend to retreat during the holidays. Oh yes, there are round dance parties. Fellow dancers at our club tried hard to talk us into going to the Holiday Ball at Myrtle Beach, SC, but I didn't have the energy (to some degree, it's a "bah, humbug" thing).

Is it true that ballroom dancers are relatively social people? And do the holidays bring it out more? I see ballroom dancers sitting with each other, talking, maybe food and drink. They share their partners. I'm not in this to party. I want to dance. Actually, this is one of the little conflicts between my partner and me. When we go to a dance, I want to dance them all, maybe 30 dances in the evening. We might have driven 4-5 hours to get there. Come on, let's dance. But she likes to sit one out every now and then. Of course, I'm the one who gets to wear the comfortable shoes.

But folks here don't dance to socialize, do they? Competitive dancers or sports dancers must be very focused on figures and execution and looking good and feeling good. You know, one of the threads I enjoyed most here was the discussion of how the various rhythms felt. Do you remember it:

Foxtrot - a nice girl with a naughty secret. "Damn, I'm gooooood!"

Tango: You may want it, but you're not going to get it!

Quickstep - the adult equivalent of skipping down the sidewalk on a wonderful spring day for the sheer joy of it.

Waltz - true romance (of course!). Floating and tranquil.

This is what I'm dancing for, to feel something good and to show it. I?m looking forward to a weekend clinic, this coming weekend, over in Chattanooga. We?ll dance Friday evening, work on figures and learn new dances all day Saturday, dance again Saturday night, and finish with an afternoon dance on Sunday. The last time we worked with these teachers, we learned a really nice west-coast swing called Java Jive. Is this a recognized ballroom rhythm? The signature figure is maybe the sugar push. There is the sugar bump, sugar tuck and spin, and a lot of other jive figures. Java Jive features side passes: the left side pass, right side pass, and travelling side passes. It?s slow and smooth and easy-does-it. I don?t know how to shag, but I think it has that feel: dancing with your honey on the boardwalk. I?m looking forward to doing that dance again.