Hey guys! So it’s been a crazy, whirlwind summer. In my last post, which was – admittedly – almost a month ago, I described how busy and crazy my schedule has been. However, August has been even worse! I just wanted to take quick second to give you our August 2018 update.
Week One – Seattle Star Ball
In week one of August, we had our local major comp here in Seattle, aptly named the Seattle Star Ball. Like always, our local comps are packed full of busy moments. From managing students’ entries, to double-checking spectator tickets, to competing in our own events, it’s four sleepless days of hectic-ness.
But it was fun. Really, we had a great time! It’s always fun when all of us teachers get together with our loopy group of students and tear up the floor! Our job might be tough, but we love it! Want to see a VLOG post via our YouTube page? Check it out below! And if you like the video and want to get notifications of new VLOG posts, subscribe to our YouTube page. It’s the best way to see what life is like as a dancer!
And just in case you’re wondering how we did, we won! Both events! Woot woot!
Week 2 – The Calm Before the Storm
Seattle Star Ball finished on Sunday, and we had Monday to sleep in and get some laundry done. The day off was much needed, because on Tuesday we were off to L.A. to get some training in! On the docket for this trip? Paso Doble and Jive in the Latin, Waltz and Tango in the Standard! It was just a quick day-and-a-half trip. Teach and fly down late Tuesday night, lessons and practice on Wednesday, lessons and practice on Thursday, fly back in the afternoon, teach on Thursday night.
We did get the weekend off, though. Not from practice, of course! But from travelling and teaching. On Friday we had a going-away party for one of our students, who is moving for university. On Sunday we had a bunch of people over to our house for a BBQ to celebrate Simeon’s birthday party. We had a blast! It was so nice to kick back and act like normal people for a day. We like doing that.
Week 3 – The NV Ball
Monday through Wednesday were almost like normal days again! We practiced hard, taught, and slept. It was pretty much relentless devotion to our training. On Thursday we had a great practice and taught our daytime lessons, but when 7:00 rolled around, we zoomed out the studio door! We had a flight waiting for us!
First we flew to L.A., as we had some practice and lessons planned for Friday morning. After our training session Friday morning, we hopped in our rental car and drove the 4 hours it generally takes to cross the Mojave and get to Las Vegas. Waiting for us in Vegas were Kora’s parents, who have a house in Vegas, and Simeon’s brother and sister-in-law, who met us there after work for a fun-filled weekend.
But not yet. Actually, the first thing we did in Vegas was get ready and compete. Friday night was the Open Professional Standard, and we rocked the house! Honestly, our dancing didn’t feel great, but the feedback from the coaches we had there on sight was extremely positive. We also had a great result – 5th place! We were very happy with that result. And, after watching the video, even we had to admit it looked pretty good. That’s the way it goes in ballroom dancing sometimes. It might feel terrible but it looks fantastic!
On Saturday we caught up on our sleep and had a generally lazy day. There is a Bulgarian restaurant in Las Vegas, so of course we piled into our huge rental car to get some tasty Bulgarian food! Lunch was good. 🙂
That night we danced the Open Professional Latin. Unfortunately we did not make the final, but we have to admit, it was a packed event! The other competitors were very good, and we were happy with how we danced. Even more so, our coaches were happy, too. So even though our result was a little disappointing, we were happy with our progress.
Sunday was an all-day birthday celebration for Simeon and my dad. We had a great time, relaxing in the sun and playing water volleyball in the pool. Dinner was amazing and accompanied with great friends, and we were lucky enough to be able to get to bed early.
The next day, we hopped in the car at 8am and made the trek back to L.A. We had coaching sessions planned for Monday afternoon, then an evening flight back home. We can promise you, fun weekend though it was, it felt good to jump into bed Monday night.
Want to see the VLOG post I made? Check it out below!
Weeks 4 & 5- Training, Training, Training!
We woke up on Tuesday morning after our trip to Vegas and thought, “Here we go, the two-week-countdown!” Nationals loomed large around the corner. Our goals for Weeks 4 and 5 were clear – training, training, training!
And train we did! Non-stop, every day, we were in the studio running rounds, making videos to send to our coaches, working through difficult sections, polishing our routines. We didn’t even take a day off this week.
Right now we’re on our ways back to L.A. to compete at the Embassy Dancesport Championships. From there we’ll make a quick trip up to NYC to spend a day training with our Latin coach, then jump down to Orlando to fight for the Gold at our national championships!
Keep your fingers crossed! To find out how we do at the United States National Dancesport Championships, make sure to subscribe to our email list. Prefer to watch a video? No problem! You can subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep on top of all of our newest VLOG posts!
Wish us luck!
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