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Friday, July 27, 2012

My Ballroom Fantasy.......

I have always loved ballroom dance and as a young girl I dreamed of floating across the dance floor in the arms of my prince wearing a beautiful sweeping gown.  
All of my life I've always been involved with some kind of amateur dance or dance related activity, but other than gymnastics and ballet lessons as a young girl and belly dance lessons as an adult (and later, teaching belly dance) I had no extensive formal training. 
In high school and for several years after, I danced and acted (BUT NO SINGING!) in theater department/group musicals.
I really wanted to study ballroom dance but my parents didn't believe it was practical.   I was a very petite girl and was subject to some antagonization by junior high and high school bullies, so my parents wanted me to study Karate.  I did for two years.  Karate was a big confidence booster and I LOVED it, but it never replaced my love of dance.  
Years of raising children (mostly as a single parent), going to school and becoming a paramedic delayed my pursuit of dance.  I did continue belly dance, which I enjoyed immensely, but it was not the deepest desire of my heart.
Being single also kept me from ballroom dancing; I didn't have a partner, so I thought I was excluded.
I was wrong.
In 2007, I finally begged, cajoled and persuaded my husband to take an introductory ballroom class.  I was so happy, I couldn't wait for Tuesday nights to roll around each week because we were dancing.
My husband was OK with it mainly because he knew at least ONE night a week I would be looking up  at his face and smiling at him.  
Then my husband's job required him to do an intense project that required 21 days on and 1 day off for about 6 months.  I thought I was not going to be able to continue.  
My instructor gave me the joyful news that I didn't need a partner and my passion for dance accelerated.  Oh was I a happy girl.
I haven't looked back since. 
I have since left the high pressure chain studios and moved onto an independent instructor (the highly regarded Marcel, who I mention often.  As you know, I compete regularly on the pro-am circuit with my instructor.  I practice often, study hard and am trying to be the best dancer in my category and level.

The video below is a pretty slideshow that I have made of some of my ballroom pictures and set to music.  I intend to change the music soon, but this is what I have for now.  I'm really proud of this slideshow!







Yesterday....I got the idea to make this ballroom slide show after I had made a slideshow for a friend of mine.  My lifelong friend D has wanted to do a pinup/budoir photo for her husband for some time.  It's out of her budget right now so she asked me to do it for her.
I agreed...what girly fun!
I chose most of her outfits and styled them, did her hair and her makeup and styled the poses.  I edited the pictures and set them to music (Dangerous Mood--a bluesy seduction song) and made a slide show with the same theme as the one above...using her pictures.
D did agree to allow me to share two of the more sedate photos here.......


This is D.  I've known here since we were 13.  

We were going for a retro 40's style.


I'm pretty proud of my work!  It was a fun day....and I'm sure her hubby will be pleased with his anniversary surprise.

16 comments:

  1. Lovely! Lovely! Lovely! I can feel the passion in your words and video that you have for dancing. Beautiful images! I'm sure you'll be vividly remembering those moments when you are 80:) How fun to do a photo shoot with your friend!!

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    1. Thank you..it was fun to do both..the pinup session I did for my friend and the ballroom slideshow!

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  2. You are so clever. What a wonderful moving mood board.

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  3. I enjoyed your slideshow! And, you did an outstanding job styling your friend D! The glimpse we got of her look is stunning.

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    1. Thank you...I had a very good time doing this! Glad you enjoyed.

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  4. Love the boudoir photos, Lisa! You're so talented. I did a series of them a few years ago, and I wasn't that happy with them - I wish you'd been my photographer! :)

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    1. I think when we do this kind of thing we have an image in our head that we want to bring to our photos. I'm just an amateur photographer and didn't even use my good Canon camera to take these pics. We had time, space, lighting and backdrop limitations..be we made it work. I wish I could show her other pictures because they are fabulous and her slideshow puts my dance slideshow to shame!

      I'm very lucky that D came to the table with complete faith in me and no major expectations. She let me steer the ship and trusted my creativity. I have a bit of an obsession with pinup/boudoir so I had some ideas ready. It was a lot of fun.

      Thank you for your kind compliments!

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  5. Good for you for following your passion. My husband and I have also taken some beginner's lessons...and that is where it stopped. :( It is a beautiful sport.

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    1. Maybe you can convince him to restart. Mu coach tells me that many couple try dancing together to get closer, but often, one partner is into it more and they fight. To be perfectly honest, I think my husband was relieved that he had an excuse to stop...he liked it, sort of, but he wasn't as interested as I am. I have taken it to a whole new level...beyond couples and social dancing.

      I also want to THANK YOU...for your last sentence; "it is a beautiful sport". Many people don't recognize dance as a sport, but it is! I'm thrilled that you understand this!

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  6. Oh, I love hearing about this "dance history" of yours and the slide show. I was MADE to take ballet, tap, and jazz as a little girl and my father drilled me on shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, ball-change. He inadvertently ruined dance for me, until I took a continuing ed course in belly dancing several years ago. As for the pin-up photos, they are so good, they may be the start of a new career!

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    1. Thanks Terri;

      Belly dance is so much fun isn't it? It's such a feminine dance. I miss it, but I love ballroom even more. I'm glad that you found a dance to renew your interest in dance!

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  7. I have always been more of a hip-hop girl than a ballroom girl - so not feminine enough for that kind of dancing - but I would like to dance in a ballroom sometime.

    http://www.glamkittenslitterbox.com/
    Twitter: @GlamKitten88

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    1. Bonnie, you would probably be great then at Latin or American Rhythm dances.....they are also ballroom. Cha cha, Samba.....the precursors to hip hop...!

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  8. What a wonderful slide show - what a great idea with all the pics and the collage!! And you did so good for your friend too! Her hubby is going to love those boudoir pics!!

    xo, sam

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    1. Thank you Samantha! Thanks for checking out my blog; I love your blog; you have fabulous taste. I especially love the vintage dresses.

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"When you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect"--Mark Twain