I Got My Head in a Philly Jam

Every now and then I go through some kind of confusing down cycle in my dancing. Nothing seems to work right and I cannot follow anyone. I don't know why. I enter some kind of alternate universe where everyone else is having a great time but I cannot follow anyone. I hit one of these times at Philly Jam IV last Saturday night.

Don't get me wrong, The Philly Jam IV event was excellent. I had never gone before and the venue was really great. It is so nice to dance in a place with a huge floor. This is why I love socials. There were amazing social dancers there. I got a bit intimidated.

I had to leave early after seeing only a few performances (babysitter), and honestly, my down mood about this stayed with me a couple of days. It was most annoying to see all my salsa Facebook friends reporting about the great time they had. I was not at that party.

There were really nice moments, even from my bummed-out perspective. I was happy to see Choco there. For some reason, he always remembers my face and always graciously says hello. I have no idea how he remembers me when we only met last spring and he sees thousands of people through the year at these events.

Thank you to Nick DeKeiss Padin and Melissa Pabon for putting together a great event. And of course, I love Mario B. who was a great host. I hope to see him hosting more events - maybe even Congresses. He has really got a knack for the hosting thing.

I also enjoyed seeing my teacher, George Dennis and his partner, Jackie, perform. One of my non-dancer friends, after hearing that George is about 6 foot 3, asked me once “but, is he graceful?” Not only is Big George graceful, he has very creative, elegant, On2 leads and choreography. And I am sure his partner is happy he can catch her after he throws her about 10 feet in the air.Here is a link to a good picture of George and Jackie.

The lady dancer who knocked my socks off was Lauren Lopez, who performed with Raul Santiago. Not only is this young lady starlet beautiful, but she danced with style, heart, and athleticism, and she has amazing stage presence and poise. I think she is all of 18 years old. I am looking forward to see more of her performances! You can see Pics of Lauren and the rest of the event at this link: TriniJungleJuice's Picture Page

I had to leave somewhere in the middle of the 19 performances. Convinced that I danced terribly, I sulked back to my car and settled in for a few days of feeling sorry for myself.

George is a teacher who really cares about his students and how they represent out there in mambo world. I know this because George posted on his Facebook about how proud he was of his On2 students and how well they danced at Philly Jam (he did not see me there, so he was not talking about me.Ouch). So, I wrote to George and told him what an awful experience I had.

George is not one to waste words. He wrote back "Hey, I understand, let's work together to get you over the hump. Hang in there.”

The hump! It's just a hump? Hooray, it's not Mount Everest I actually might be able to do this. Maybe next year I will be able to go to Philly Jam and not feel like I got run over by a truck. So, my bad mood got ruined by George's encouragement and I am back in the saddle! I'll keep practicing and I hope to see you all at George's Salsambo social on Friday night, April 2nd. I'll be camping out with my camera; and I will be dancing (happily), and dreaming up the next blog post.

Thanks George. I really did need that encouragement.

Peace!

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