This week-end we danced in the regional USABDA dance comp in Baton Rouge..... My impressions...

Living in New England, we always find dancing in the south to be a pleasure....

In New England, it is just about dance, and not much of a social aspect. In the south, the people that we dance with on the floor are so freindly, and this sits well with us....We find in the south, they always go out of thier way to give the participants( sp) a warm welcome.... I know this may seem minor, but upon arrival for check-in, they had a small buffet of all home made goodies, and maps of the area.. We right way felt welcomed... This is important!!!

The first morning of the comp, they asked all of us to assemble on the dance floor... They explained that some had registered in Novice, Pre champ and Champ... They explained that you could not dance three levels, and if your entry was missing from the program, it was because you could not dance all levels.... As a result, we found that the comps that we were registered in, we were dancing against couples that were at our level, and was a fair comp..... We were so thrilled with the organizers taking this position...

As a wrap up, we were so happy with the professional manner in the organization of the comp, and especially loved the hospitality ...

As a plus, for all of you following my posts, my husband and partner, had a leg injury, and thought this may be our last comp.... We danced novice for the first time, and made the final cut, with a final placement of 4th..... AUHHH, it felt so good....We would certainly attend this comp in the future....

Janet

So you're going to be able to keep dancing? That's great! I'm so glad you had a good time and that you did so well in Novice. Perhaps I'll see you next year at Nationals!

Hi Laura,
Would it not be great to meet you at the nationals!!!... We wont be going this year... We just about used up all our vacation time traveling to regionals.... And then of course our annual visit to Aruba(non dance)...

Perhaps next year... Frankly, the nationals scares us.... We are just now to the point of being called back for finals at the regionals, and that took a few years!!.....

It really is a whole other world dancing USABDA, than say NDCA.. It requires different training to dance on a floor with say 20 others, as opposed to 5 or 6.... Yet, now most of the comps we do are USABDA, as even if we score less than desirable, we like the competiton and incentive to improve...

Nick is doing pretty good... I initially was quite concerened for his physical condition, and thought we should stop dancing.... Nick on the other hand said OK, I have to put an icepack on my leg after a comp, but that is better than giving up something that is so much a part of our lives... I said OK!!...

The boys came to the comp.... It was great fun having them there.... Danny immedialtey got into the whole cheering thing..... Hey, I felt like the Chinese version of "Shall we dance"... As we danced I could hear him yelling, go Mom.... Great week-end!!