I can’t…I have a dance competition.

Can you believe that it’s already March 1st? Right now, I’m sitting in my room in the Dale building with the windows cracked opened with a nice cup of Earl Grey tea and George Eliot’s Middlemarch in front of me. I think that’s a perfect way to start this new month! So let’s recap on my exploits from February, shall we? I really don’t know where that month went. I think I spent it all at ballroom competitions, actually. The first competition was on February 6th, and it was held in Sheffield (no, that doesn’t mean a thing to me, either. My knowledge of English geography is pretty limited to the southern region). Sam and I actually did quite well there; we advanced through the rounds of Waltz and Quickstep and actually reached the semi finals, which isn’t too bad considering that Sam dislikes the Waltz and Quickstep! Latin, as usual, was our stronger arena. We placed fourth in Cha Cha and second in Jive. The next weekend, we headed off to Peterborough, where the team competed at SUDC, which is basically the regional championships. We still did all right in the ballroom discipline, but, once more, the Latin dances proved to be our better dances again. We placed seventh in Cha Cha and second in Jive. After receiving numerous compliments on our dancing, Sam and I were determined to win Jive at IVDC, which is the national championships for UK University-level DanceSport. IVDC was this past weekend, and the results of the Beginners’ level proved to be…well, odd. Sam and I placed fourth in Waltz. I know, right? We were the only Oxford couple in the final, which shocked all of us because two of my friends, Pete and Georgie, are fantastic in both the Waltz and Quickstep. My other friends Jem and Sarah were the only Oxford couple in the Quickstep final, too. Then came the heartbreaker. Sam and I made it to the Quarters of Cha Cha and only the Semis of Jive. No one has any idea what happened. But, here’s the odd thing – Pete and Georgie, who are fantastic ballroom dancers, made it into the Jive final. The four of us joked that the judges must have mistook our numbers and switched them around! It really was an odd judging day for the beginners. But, more importantly, Oxford ended up winning the National Title. Woo hoo! There really was some fantastic dancing throughout the entire day, and I’m so thrilled that I was able to dance in the Winter Gardens, which is the home of British DanceSport. As for my beloved Jive and Cha, well, don’t worry – my journey with ballroom dance didn’t end on Saturday. I have some higher level competitions coming up over the March/April break, and then we have the Varsity Match against Cambridge in May. There’s a new beginner-level competition, and we’re already planning our domination of the dance floor. Okay, that sounds like a terrible dance movie title or something.

Anyway, I’ve uploaded some photos that my friend, Vivien, took from the various competitions. Enjoy!

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