White Paint

I know a man that paints.

Every day, all he does is paint the hospital white. It's his job. He goes around with cans of white paint, in all white clothes, and paints the walls Toby Cosgrove's favorite color. As long as there is a Clinic, he says, he will be painting it white.

This man keeps a sense of humor about things. As he paints the baseboards, he scoots around on a little wheeled board, zipping down the hallway at the level of your knees and smiling up at you. We've chatted many a time in the hallway about the changing weather, about where we're from, about our careers. I thanked him one day for painting the walls white. He thanked me for fixing bodies.

In the end, how much does it matter whether we are painting the walls or fixing bodies? Or serving french fries to patients' families, or fixing the phones when they break? In the end, we all work at the Cleveland Clinic, and the place wouldn't run too well without every one of those positions filled.

I wonder, though, if he ever wishes he painted at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital across the street.  :)

More dance

I've finally gotten back into dance competitions after a couple of years of being too busy!  The preparation for the cancelled February competition did not go to waste. I actually went to 3 comps this spring with my awesome, kind, wonderfully compatible partner Ian Wong. We competed USADance collegiate. It was relatively cheap and relaxed. I miss open competition, but the time will come for that.

But talk is cheap, so here's the photos:

Doc Opera Sneak Preview

The dance Will Fisher and I choreographed for Doc Opera was on the local news today!! Check it out!


*Edit: The link died of old age.  But it was a pretty sweet swing routine.  If you want to see it again, you'll have to borrow my Doc Opera DVD.

Ballet

Well, It's been a while since I've posted. I really should do some homework, but Thursday is my mini-weekend and I feel like I should look outside myself and write something for all my devoted blog readers.

*cricket chirp*

Whatever.

I'm taking a ballet class at Cleveland City Dance. It keeps me moving, works my brain in ways med school doesn't, and can be a little bit of an ego boost sometimes. Like when my teacher told me yesterday that my feet looked like I'd done pointe. At least I haven't lost everything since my pointe achievement. :) I'm back to always being told to tuck my tummy in and not let my back sway, though. Dang it. Maybe running more would help. Or crunches. *shivers*

Also, lest us graduates forget, NDCA NATIONALS ARE NEXT WEEK!!!! Woohoo! Sad to not be there.... This is my first year in five years that I haven't been out on that floor. Sad day. I'm sure lots of videos will pop up on FB, but it's simply not the same.

Thought I Had Found Something

Several months ago I wandered in to Cheek to Cheek Ballroom Dance Studio and was promptly offered a job. Paid to dance? Free training? Who could pass that up? The studio was just getting off the ground, but growing fast. And, all the other active instructors were guys!! Partner possibilities.

I started dancing with a standard partner with whom I meshed comfortably and immediately. I built up a group of really fun students. Life was great. We even had a showcase where I performed with students and with Chris, and it went swimmingly.

But after the showcase, I never really seemed to get to dance. Or coach. My partner and I never had time to practice anymore, and my best couples disappeared. I was just teaching one-on-one private lessons, mainly to beginners. It wasn't what I had signed up for. I don't want to compete pro-am. I want to compete amateur, or else compete rising star and coach amateur couples. But that's just not the dance scene out here. Amateur couples (especially good ones) are few and far between.

My dancing developed in a world where dance was a sport practiced by starving students. We worked hard and we scrimped and saved to keep up with shoe expenses, and when we competed, we were tough about it.

Here, dance is something enjoyed only by those rich enough to compete pro-am. They hire their teachers to dance with them and enjoy weekend vacations at competitions. And to studio owners, it's all about the money, the lesson prices, the travel packages and showcase fees.

It's just not my world.

So I gave them my notice.  I quit.

I'm off to find something new. Until then, I'm still trying to dance with my partner in the mornings and I'm coaching my favorite little 9-year-old (see picture) until someone else can come in to fill the gap. I hope, though, that something will arise that will let me fulfill my dance craving without interfering with school or making me feel like I'm ripping people off.

Mutual

I had two very contrasting experiences today. The first occurred as my mom was channel surfing this morning and happened upon a Japanese ballroom dance showcase. I got to see Brian & Carmen, as well as Katusha and her new partner, Arunas. As Arunas and Katusha danced, I wasn't just watching. I was feeling what I imagine each movement must feel like when you're absolutely impossibly amazing at them. I breathed with the couple and tried to keep my head from twitching.

At church, later, I was asked to teach dance to the Priests and Laurels (16-18 year-old boys and girls, respectively) in the ward this Wednesday. Their prom is coming up, so I plan to teach them some basic American waltz. I don't have a partner or TA to teach with, so I was teaching my brother some of the basics so that he could demonstrate with me. As we clomped along awkwardly, I thought about just how different the two ends of the ballroom dance world are. You have the uniquely stylized professionals that take an experienced dancer's breath away, and then you have social dance, where you're expected to be social and maybe even make conversation. They're such separate worlds, and yet most enter the former through the latter. How on earth are so many of us led, cha-cha step by foxtrot step, so far beyond the original social dance experience?

And are the politely awkward interactions in social dance classes and events really the predecessors to the little-understood, immensely committed long-term competitive dance partnership?

Seize the Beat

The end of the world has passed; Concert is over.

The ballroom concert was the last of the big mid-semester crunch times. The first was finishing my honors thesis in January. Next was Dancesport, and then Concert. It was way stressful to keep up with classes while preparing to perform in front of thousands of people. In fact, I was in tears Friday morning after 3 hours of practice, only 4 hours of sleep, and almost a day with no food. But the stress didn't get to us. All our performances this year went so well! For the second time ever, I've managed to be on a team that actually impressed Brent. Our lines were great, nobody fell, and people actually said that our performance level was better than some of the tour team numbers! Shhh, don't tell. Admittedly, it's probably because we only have one number in the whole show, while they're dancing for nearly 2 hours straight.

Concert highlights:
- Mike's face when I found him in the audience afterward.
- The random lady that stopped me to feel the furry shoulder of my dress (our finale dressed were these bizarre black and white affairs with fur and feathers.
- Being introduced as "U.S. National Formation Dance Champions, the BYU Ballroom Dance Company!" even though I have nothing to do with that title.
- The Wendy's napkin that fell out of one of our girls' dresses ON STAGE. (To protect the innocent, I'm not giving names.)
- The CELL PHONE that fell out of one of the 10:00 team boys' tail suits. And opened on the floor. Honestly, now.
- The roses our partners gave us. Awww.
- Finally getting to dance in dresses that were actually flattering. Kristen said that from the audience all the girls looked tiny in them. I like being tiny. :)
- NOT having to gel my hair and glue rhinestones on my ears and down my part come Sunday.

(Note: The picture above is tour team, not us. I don't have any of us yet.)