ISTD National Grand Finals that is!

In the lead up to any dance competition there’s a hype of what dances you’ve got, where you’re dancing, making sure you’ve got enough lessons booked in and making every effort to dance as much as possible!  Add to that the necessities of costumes, shoes, tan, make up, hair style, jewellery, all in a bid to look the part – the part of a Ballroom and Latin Dancer.

I almost see it as ‘putting on a uniform’ – as I’ve been told before by my Dance Teachers….to be the part, you have to look the part.  Lessons and classes, I always have my makeup done and hair up, dance skirt or smart trousers and in doing that I ‘feel’ like I am a dancer.  Yes, I am a dancer, I can dance a number of steps in 10 different dances, but in jeans and a t-shirt, dancing the same steps wouldn’t feel the same!   It isn’t just about restricting how the body can move in jeans, its the overall look – looking in the mirror and having someone who ‘looks‘ like a dancer staring back makes me ‘feel‘ like I can do the job that I am putting on the uniform to do.

In the competition environment the look is something different!  You have to stand out!  You have to be noticed!  I need the judges to see me, then watch me dance and take note of MY number!  Using any means to get their attention to say ‘Hey, look how good I look, now watch what I can do!’

Two weeks from now is the most important competition of the year…the ISTD National Grand Finals, held in the remarkable Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.  Events during the year are all in the build up to this wondrous event!

These next two weeks are all about the final preparations.  The two week countdown filled with excitement and apprehension mixed together.  Trying to mentally and physically prepare for the competition, trying to turn the nerves into excitement yet remembering things you’ve been taught not just in this year, but over the years since the beginning.  One of the best things I’ve been told is that Dancing is a journey, not a destination….never a truer word said…looking at videos and photos from competitions from one year to the next, or even from one event to the next, development and progress can be seen even in the smallest details.

So!  Hotel is booked, Last lesson is booked, Tan is booked, Dresses are being stoned and a whole list of things to get ready is complete.  Lessons to false lashes, there’s a lot to prepare for the one day of dancing….but in such an iconic Ballroom, with an incredible atmosphere, what a day to be preparing for!

To be continued…………xx