The World is Full of Wonderful Things
Cute baby animals. Great television and films. World-changing books. Delicious food. Hilarious jokes. Stunning landscapes. Gorgeous music. Beautiful people (body and soul). The world is full of wonderful things.
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Photo reblogged from Ballroom Blitz
There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them. ~ Vicki Baum
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Decho Kraev and Bree Watson, American Rhythm champions
Cinema Ballroom Dance Extravaganza, 10 March 2012
photo credit to Stephen Marino (stephenmarino.com, stephenmarino.tumblr.com)
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Damn I miss dancing with professionals.
That is such a spoiled, bitchy thing to say, but I can’t help it. I am spoiled. I spent the first six years of my life as a dancer primarily dancing with a professional who danced 30+ hours a week and became a national champion. There are four other leads I danced with regularly at various times in my adolescence who were national champions in various professional and open amateur divisions and who were excellent social dancers. Besides those leads, a significant portion of my other social dances were with the teachers at my ballroom and the other studios I frequented, because I was such good friends with them.
Certainly, I danced with other students much of the time, students of all levels, and it’s always enjoyable. But dancing with someone whose job it is to be a good dancer… it’s like what I imagine sex with a skilled prostitute (with whom you get along very well/have great chemistry) would be like, without the ethical concerns. The basic moves and techniques are completely effortless, and creative, exciting innovation becomes the focus. It really is a kind of intercourse, moving together, challenging and leading and following each other, and it’s really fun and stimulating and relaxing, all at the same time, to do it with someone who’s better at it than you, so they can teach you and inspire you to be better just by leading.
Don’t get me wrong; I love my dance partner. We’re great friends. He works really hard and is improving very quickly. He inspires me to get better just because he’s so damn driven himself. We have a ton of fun. But it’s not quite the same.
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Video reblogged from Ballroom Blitz
JT Thomas and Tomas Mielnicki
I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS NUMBER. I was in the audience when it was filmed and it was absolutely electric. No wonder they shot from sixth-place finalists that year to national champions the next.
(Source: funkasarusrex)
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Photo reblogged from Dance and Live
Katusha and Arunas, champion Standard dancers.
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I should be choreographing, myself, but instead I’ll post one more picture: Katusha Demidova and Arunas Bizokas. She formerly danced with Jonathan Wilkins and they were also a dream, winning the national title (he and Hazel Newberry placed second to Katusha and Arunas at worlds in 2009). She is one of the most powerful, stunning Standard women I’ve ever seen. Completely graceful, flawless technique, absolutely beautiful and very strong movement. It’s no wonder they’re U.S. and world champions.
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Victor Fung and Anna Mikhed, second in the U.S. and third in the world in Open Pro Standard. They were completely fantastic, absolutely magnetic to watch live. The first time I really fell in love with Standard was watching their tango to Beethoven’s Fifth at Ohio Star Ball in 2004, and their show at WI State in… ‘07? ‘08? Somewhere around there… was stunning. So sad when such a great match splits up, but they had six fabulous years together.
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Dance to the point of exhaustion. Dance until you are so out of breath that your organism is forced to obtain oxygen some other way. In the end, this will cause you to lose your identity and your relationship with space and time. ‘Now at that certain moment, your eyes will close, and you will begin to see a light come from within. A light that answers your questions and develops your hidden powers.Paul Coelho
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Photo reblogged from The World is Full of Wonderful Things
Ben Ermis and Shalene Archer. Winners of Open Professional American Smooth at Ohio Star Ball several times over, among many other honors. This isn’t a great photo of him, but it’s hard to find blog-able photos of dancers online, especially ones haven’t been around much in the last few years when the internet has really cemented itself, and I care more about her. :P
Anyway, Shalene is another one of my ballroom idols. She moves with strength and power, and she emotes intensely, but is never hard or unpleasant to watch. She fascinates me.
Reblogged to add—
prettytoughdancesport said: She’s just Shalene Archer since she and Ben recently split.
Thanks! I thought that was probably the case, but it’s hard for me to keep up on these things since I’m not currently on the pro/am circuit. Duly noted.
