Weekend Report or, How to Enjoy a Regional Dance Competition
Yesterday’s To Do List:
1) Wake up (always the toughest part, I find).
2) Drive to the ‘burbs for day two of the Susie McSusie’s Regional Dance Competition. (Have you ever seen Little Miss Sunshine? Well picture the beauty pageant at the end, add approximately two hundred students, six hundred pairs of shoes and various assorted tutus, sequined bras, diva meltdowns in the dressing room and—no I’m not exaggerating here—thousands of rhinestones and you’ve got yourself a regional dance competition.)
3) Take a break from the Susie McSusie extravaganza to go shopping run errands. (Because really, how many times can you watch teenage girls in “African jungle” outfits gyrating to Waka Waka ? And don’t even get me started on the number of air shuffles, air wings and air paddle rolls in those tap pieces I did not choreograph. Paddle rolls are one of the most basic tap steps. How can you fake a paddle roll?)
4) Take a break from running errands to get a drink eat lunch. (Dance competitions, I’ve learned, are best enjoyed with a slight buzz. Now I know why my dad usually had a drink before taking my brother to Boy Scouts.)
5) Blitz through H&M to buy a new dress. (Date #21 is taking me to Fork and there is no way I’m going to Fork without a new dress.)
6) Return to Susie McSusie’s just in time to grab a cup of coffee, cheer on the last of the 18-and-up entries (thankfully there were no more Shakira impersonators) and take myself and my official Susie McSusie “Teacher” name tag to the back of the auditorium to await the judge’s results with my colleagues. (Our girls kicked butt, by the way. Not that I’m biased or anything but the studio took 2nd Overall High Score, 1st Overall High Score and Best in Show. Way to go, ladies!)
7) Remove my official Susie McSusie “Teacher” name tag, drive home and reschedule my date with He-whom-is-not-taller-than-me-in-heels. (Because everyone deserves a second chance right? Besides, I’m dating professionally now. I can’t restrict myself to men who read Flaubert and choose Fork for a first date.)
As for today’s To Do List? Well, it consists of ironing my new dress, teaching my morning classes at The Preschool, touring the Philadelphia Flower Show with my mother and grandmother (the latter of whom took the wine tasting a little too seriously last year) and then attempting not to freak out on my way to meet He-whom-reads-Flaubert.
Fieldwork in Stilettos 
8 Responses to “Weekend Report or, How to Enjoy a Regional Dance Competition”
I am armed and ready to deal w/Abuela and her penchant for over doing it at the wine tasting; water bottles, crackers and chocolate. To be fair to the old gal, it was the first time she had ever done a wine tasting, but she needs to listen to my advice this year! Good luck on the date, by that time Abuela will be safe in bed 😉
I loved Little Miss Sunshine!
I used to judge dance competitions simply because the money was good. I had trouble stomaching them, though. My least favorite aspect: the way the jazz kids are trained to animate their faces by shaping their mouths into “oo” and “ah” and “ee” while dancing. Add the overdone make-up jobs, the shimmying of the non-existent breasts, and the gyrating of their tiny little hips and these sweet little girls suddenly look like a batch of whores in the making.
Hmmm… remind me to pick your brain about this at the PWC this year 🙂 But yeah, I think my dad would have had a heart attack if I’d EVER performed in the sort of routines I saw this weekend! Granted, some girls are very talented and the competition scene is great exposure but it gets so over the top sooo quickly…
Dear Kate,
Everything is better with a drink or three, or at least thats what I tell my AA group. But honestly sounds like you had a fun weekend, you always have to enjoy competitions, especially when you win!! I get the chance to judge a JROTC competition for the first time on Sat, and I’m stoked (mostly because I was a JROTC nerd in HS too) to help these kids out and reward them for their hard work.
I googled Fork and suggest you try the Crispy Lamb Confit appetizer to start, and then the Lightly Smoked Duck Breast as an entree, likely with a nice white wine… at least thats how I would roll… *shoulder shrug* LOL
Hmmm… I’m not generally much of a duck fan but maybe I’ll give it a try. Thanks for the recommendation!
I have to compliment you for giving He-whom-is-shorter-than-you-in-heels a second chance – if someone treated me so … oddly, I guess is the word, I think I would have let it be. You’re definitely showing up all of the people that cried “shallow!” I’d say you even have the right to rub their noses in it…
“Oddly” is definitely the word!
My to-do lost for today is getting ready for office,work in office,go back home and to chill . This is in fact a daily routine for me leaving the weekend aside.
Day’s Peak Hours
Which part of day you love the most?
http://www.3smartcubes.com/pages/tests/peak_hrs/peak_hrs_instructions.asp