At this year’s Classic, I had 3 students competing in the Pro-Am categories- Suzanne, Rumi, and Etsuko. Two of them were competing in American Smooth and two in Latin- American.
Since I had American Smooth students, the competition for me started early, on Thursday. Also, after the competition, I was leaving straight for Europe, so I had a long day of lessons on Wednesday and headed to the airport afterward.
I got to my room in Vegas well past midnight and was fast to go to bed because I had to wake up in 5 hours to get ready to be at the ballroom at 7 am.
Here are some before and after hairstyle and make up photos.
No breakfast, only coffee; little sleep, and good mood, Sue and I are starting the last competition of the year with her quarter-finals in the American Smooth Single Dances categories.
She did great! Made finals in almost all single dances from 1/4 final round and made it to the semifinal round in the C category while competing against younger ladies. Sue is an inspirational 74 old lady and a true athlete. She swims and works hard, never gives up. Technically she is in the Senior (61+) category, but for Bronze level, there is no Senior category only C (51+). She danced beautifully and improved a lot for the short 6 months she is dancing with me, so I was really pleased.
After dancing with Sue, there was time for a coffee run and before I finish my coffee it was time to get back to the ballroom for the second part of my Smooth day- dancing the Silver category with Etsuko.
After dancing the first two Single dances with Etsuko, I knew that she will do great. She danced very strong from the very beginning and this helped her reach the final in the very strong Silver C Championship where she placed 5th. She danced the Scholarship as well but missed the final by two marks. Honestly, she did not dance the Scholarship as well, so I was not disappointed. It was an amazing way for her to end the 2019 competitive season.
At 10:30pm, we were finally done. I had been in the ballroom for 12 hours today, time for bed.
I was so exhausted that decide to sleep with my hairdo since my first heat on Friday was at 7 am. That gave me an extra 30 minutes of precious sleep.
Friday, 7am Sue and I went on the floor to continue with the Latin day. She danced well again and made almost all the finals in her single dances but unfortunately didn’t make the final in the Scholarship. Gotta work harder on those hips hehe.
After finishing with Sue, it was Rumi’s turn. She had a tough year, broke her arm and then got a frozen shoulder, had a slow recovery but whats inspiring is that she didn't stop dancing, kept pushing and did one competition. This was her second. She had a new dress, perfect tanning, hair and everything and was very excited. She danced quite well but didn’t manage to secure a place in the final for the Scholarship. Next time!
I was very pleased with how my ladies danced and it was a great way to finish the competitive season. Now it was time for vacation, but not before I watch my competitive couples dance.
My American Smooth couple Adam and Rachel were to compete in the Pre-championship and Championship events. Rachel had a new dress and looked gorgeous.
They made the final in the Pre-Championship and placed 2nd. They were very close to winning it, it was decided by Rule 11. It is a very common situation in American Smooth because the competition program is comprised of 4 dances instead of 5 like International Standard.
They danced beautifully, unfortunately, the judging panel changed right before their semifinal round in the Championship event and I think that caused them not to make the final in favor of some other couples.
Adam and Rachel’s videos from Holiday Dance Classic
Now sitting at the airport, ready to board my flight for Europe, I'm reflecting on the last few days. I think Holiday was a successful and fun competition, especially the get together with students to go and see the Christmas decorations at the Bellagio, to shop around and get some fun dinner at an Asian fusion restaurant. Cannot wait to be back next year and for the 2020 adventures with my students at New York Dance Festival , The Royal Ball , Ballroom Beach Bash and Emerald Ball.
