We are the champions.

Well…What a weekend this has been. Saturday was the Spring Ball and Dance-O-Rama for Victorian Arthur Murray Dance Studios, and a day Mel and myself have been working toward since our return from the honeymoon in April.
The day started off just like any other Saturday. Mel went out to run some errands at the shops and I stayed home to mow the lawns. Mels parents arrived at lunch time with some baby stuff, we had a bite to eat, and then left for the venue in Forest Hill.
After the pre-requisite meet and greet on arrival we stashed our bags of clothing in the change rooms and got ready for some serious dancing.
We had drawn the first heat at 2pm. The first heat for us was ballroom…Foxtrot, Waltz and Tango. This style is my favourite, and after some initial nervous stiffness we relaxed into it and did what we thought was a pretty reasonable job.
After about half an hour, and a full costume change, we were back on again for our Latin heat…Rumba, Cha Cha and Swing. These are Mels favourites, but they are also our problem dances. The comp we were dancing in is closed competition. This means you can’t use steps from levels above your current level, and doing so attracts penalties. This isn’t usually much of a problem, except that Rumba was our wedding dance and swing is our showcase dance. These two dances we have performed fully choreographed routines, and in doing so have learned steps above our level, and often use them accidentally. That said we did a pretty good job, and don’t think we did anything naughty, although in the heat of the moment we may have thrown some things in we shouldn’t have (just have to wait for the video to see). The only real stuff up we made was in Cha Cha in one of Mels favourite steps, but we are pretty sure the Judge missed that one.
After the closed heats we got a second lunch and then sat back and enjoyed the open heats and some really fantastic dancing in the scholorship category.
Now was the time for showcase performances. These performances and fully choreographed routines to music of the students selection, and usually look amazing…or better!
We had drawn position 23 out of 25 showcases so had a long and nervous wait.
We got on the floor, danced our backsides off, and exited without stuffing up at all (Cogs, if your reading this, the side pass wasn’t missed it was strategically replaced for better effect :D). It felt great t have it all over and done with and now we could just enjoy the rest of our night.
A bit of dinner, social dancing, drinking, and it was time for the presentations. Everyone had done quite well and we were no exception. We took home six gold and one silver (for our Rumba) and were quite happy with ourselves. We had worked really hard since April to do the best we could here and thought this was a really great outcome.
It was then a shock happened! “And the trophy for best couple goes to…Mr & Mrs Bell”!! Holy Cow…Thats Us…WOW!
Not long after that we headed home and fell straight into bed for a well earned sleep.
Today we took Mels folks into St Kilda for a fathers day brekkie and a walk though the Sunday market, and then home to get some more rest.
What a weekend.