I Survived!

As many of you probably know, I have worked for the BYU event staff for 7 years now. I used to work everything from football, basketball, soccer, and baseball games to weekly devotionals and CES Firesides. One of our biggest events of the year (in regards to hours, not crowds) is The US National Amateur DanceSport Championship. Let me tell you, it is an experience like one you probably cant even imagine! 3 full days (7:00 am to Midnight) of nothing but dancing! My good friend (and boss) recently did a post about the "highlights" of the DanceSport experience and I wanted to do the same so I can remember it. She is so great with words though that I got permission to copy hers which can be seen a little lower, but first here are a few things she forgot to mention. : )

• The DEEP V-necks & Scary Makeup - This kind couple posed for us, as you can see, in the world of DanceSport almost anything goes. Apparently the Deeper the V and the uglier the dress, the better you are. The women cake on the makeup including fake eye lashes which are sometimes so big and heavy they cant even keep their eyes open. This girls is mild compared to most out there. You can also capture the essence of the fake-orange tan and the hair dyed black, which are also mentioned below.

Here is a nice shot of the entire dance floor. This looks like it was the Semi-final of the Standard ballroom where they do 5 different dances. On dances like this one, which appears to be the Waltz, all the couples are quite graceful, and it is fun to watch. But what is even more fun is when they get to the Quickstep and couple collide. Sometimes they have as many as 20 couples on the floor which allows for MANY collisions and much amusement on my part. They really do pick up quite a bit of speed, which can result in some hard plows. But for the most part they do well at keeping their space. It is fun to watch . . . for a while, but does tend to get old pretty fast.

The Intensity! - One of my favorite things is watching their faces especially as they switch from dance to dance. The Standard set includes Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, & Quickstep. The Latin set includes Cha-Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, & Jive. Each dance means a completely different facial expression. I think my favorites to watch in regards to the face are the Paso Doble, the Tango, and the Jive. They are all quite entertaining. As you can see by the two great example below.

Just look at that passion

"Your Stamp is Broken" - This is the most commonly heard phrase of an event staff worker during this event. Every person that comes to the DanceSport competition weather they area competitor, a team, a friend, or a parent all have to have a ticket. Since it is an all day event people are coming and going all day. To make things easy and efficient we stamp EVERYONE's hand with invisible ink. Why invisible you ask, because apparently a small mark on the wrist is equivalent to death if you are a competitor. So invisible ink it is and then we use a black light to check it when they return. The comments and facial expressions seriously crack me up! "Um . . .I think your stamp is broken" or "It didn't work" are heard at least 100 times a day. I never new that a plain old rubber stamp and ink pad could "break."

Here is a glimpse into the life of DanceSport according to Suzanne: Click HERE to see her original post in full.

Along with the event's redundant title, there are many things that I definitely "love" about this event. I felt like i should document them...If you haven't been to a ballroom dance competition before, you are definitely missing out. Just think of your feelings regardingg Ice Dancing during this past Winter Olympics. You'll have similar ones for this.

People of all ages participate--from the teeny tiny kids with JonBenet-type mothers, to the seniors who win a "national" title after beating out only one or two other couples. (Picture Stanley Tucci's character in the movie Shall We Dance.) This event makes me want to whip out my iPhone at every moment to capture the fabulousness I'm seeing everywhere I turn.

And here are the top reasons why I LOVE **gag** DanceSport:

• Apparently if you're into the ballroom dancing you're supposed to dye your body orange. Kind of like the little guy to the right. I'm not exaggerating. Some of the dancers are that exact same color. Just a tad extreme. Now, if they all knew where to find a good fizzy lifting drink, I'd say more power to 'em, but that's not the case. And the sunless tanning lotion makes their hands appear an even darker, more pumpkin shade of orange. Looks totally natural. Blech.
  
  
• As far as smelly locker rooms go, basketball players have NOTHING on ballroom dancers. Instant gag reflex, people. By Saturday, just opening one of the doors will be enough to make someone dry heave. It's a fantastic bouquet of aftershave, perfume, hairspray, foot fungus, Bengay, burnt hair, body odor, and Doritos TM.
  
  
• For the team formation events, not only does everyone have to be in line on the floor, but their appearance has to be as well. Usually everyone has their hair dyed black. And again, they all look like friends of Willy Wonka. It's like a cloning experiment gone awry.
  

• Ballroom Dance classes are huge here at BYU. Ironic considering some of those Latin dances are just one or two fabric layers away from a Bishop's interview. Thousands of students enroll in them every year and most of them compete in this competition as a class assignment. When we have the competitions for the beginning dance classes, sometimes there are ten heats in the beginning round, meaning you have to listen to the same song for each heat. It's particularly awesome when the song is "Who Let The Dogs Out" for the ChaCha.
  
  Ballroom is actually huge in Utah in general. A lot of the stars from SYTYCD and DWTS are from here. Just like Ms. Hough--she and her brother Derek are from Provo. Quite a few of the high school teams have ballroom teams. Yeah, just like REAL sports. I bet they have letter jackets, too.
  

• Man thongs have been sighted here during this event. Thankfully I've never personally seen one up close and personal, but other reliable sources have.
  
  
• Divas! Divas everywhere! And they learn it YOUNG, too. Witnessing partner fights in the hallways is actually quite classic, though. And when two couples crash on the dance floor, that's pretty great. Especially during the Quick Step when they have some speed built up. The men will try to flip each other off using just their eyes, but still with a smile. Then there's this weird breathing face the guys do. They open their mouths really wide, trying to breathe in quickly, but they're smiling and their eyebrows are lifted up really high. I just can't explain it. And how do the girls hold their necks at that impossible angle?

Honestly, I do enjoy working this event and am kinda sad it is my last time. But don't worry, I got 40 hours of it in only 3 days which is enough to last a lifetime!