By Mary Serico
I hope everyone enjoyed their summer and have gotten back into the swing of all the fall activities. This blog was originally scheduled for the summer, but my laptop decided to retire and take the draft of the blog with it.
July always brings memories of our first dance lesson, all the dance friends we have made, and all our great showcases. It all started with a bribe to get Joe to take dance lessons — I would go on a cruise with him if he started taking ballroom dance lessons with me. I don’t like cruises, and Joe was not into dance lessons. I thought that if we were diligent and really practiced, we could master this ballroom dance stuff before the end of the year. Of course, Georgi listened to all this and didn’t laugh, at least not during our lessons. We discovered that Joe and I both favored the cha cha, rumba and swing, but felt like two bulls in a china shop dancing the waltz and foxtrot. We also found that many of the songs we liked could be used for a showcase, and we started choreography for our first showcase which was “Dance in my pants.”
From that point, there was no stopping Joe from coming up with a song, and Adi and Georgi developing a showcase that was both entertaining and challenging. For instance, when Joe turned 64, of course, we had to dance to “When I’m 64”, complete with Joe and Georgi as grumpy old men with a cane and umbrella. They both hammed it up and were a hit at Dance A Lot Ballroom Studio’s Annual Holiday Ball.
We have danced at some of the competitions which really helped to point out areas for improvement. For my 60th birthday, instead of a party, I wanted to dance at Millennium Dancesport Championships in Orlando, Florida. Of course, if I was traveling to Orlando to dance, I might as well do 3 showcases — all Georgi’s idea. Practicing 3 very different showcases was mental gymnastics at the highest level, and the dancing at Millennium was a pleasant blur of dancing and running to change my dress and shoes.
During the last 15 years, I have been Tinkerbell, Alice in Wonderland, rock and roll chicks, Joan Jett, and a Bond girl just to name a few. As a joke I wanted to dance in my pajamas, and was able to do that as Cindy Lou Who with Joe as the Grinch. Each time, I am in charge of the props for the showcases and am so glad Amazon is around for blond wigs, blow up guitars, blow up turkeys, etc. The props and costumes are great for Halloween.
Even after 15 years, there are still steps to learn, coordination of the arms, body, feet, and head to master. We have danced such a variety of showcases during the past 15 years that I can’t go a day without hearing one of our showcase songs and remember some of the steps — I have gotten a few stares while waiting in line and dancing a few steps.
For the Holiday Gala in December, I have the ultimate dance partner — Santa Claus! I better get back to my practicing so I stay on Santa’s good list.
Happy Fall everyone!
About Mary: Mary has been dancing since 2006. She loves dancing Cha Cha, Rumba, and Swing, but her favorite thing is to do showcases. With her husband Joe, they spend their time enjoying the retired life at the Jersey shore, golfing, traveling, and attending rock concerts.
