Back to Basics

I can’t believe that I forgot to write about this before. You can tell that I’m on break when…

Anyway, since this year marks the (alleged. It’s still a very controversial issue in the realm of manuscript studies. Believe me, there are a lot of controversies in that world. By the by, the Brits say “controversy” completely differently. We say ‘con-tro-ver-sy. They say con-‘tro-ver-sy. Just your random fact for the day.) 1,000 anniversary of the Nowell Codex being transcribed, which means that we get to sing Happy Birthday to the Beowulf manuscript! Due to this landmark event, the British Library has hosted a wide array of events related to the Beowulf manuscript, including having Seamus Heaney speak back in October (which was magical). After my parents left on Tuesday, I decided to spend the day roaming around London (such a tough life, I know). I decided to spend some more time at the British Library, since they have a permanent display of some of their manuscripts. As I walked into the dimly lit room, I had no idea that the first manuscript I would see would be Beowulf. That’s right – to celebrate its birthday (again, alleged), the British Library has put it on display. It’s not an attractive codex by any stretch of the imagination, but it is open to the first page of Beowulf, and it was so wonderful to see the infamous “HWAET!” opening the first line on the first page. Of course, I couldn’t actually touch or sit down with the manuscript, but it was a wonderful surprise nonetheless. They also displayed the working pages of Seamus Heaney’s translation; it was fascinating to see all of his revisions. So that was my nerd outbreak of the day…

And now for something completely different (any Monty Python fans out there?). This past Sunday, I danced at my first dance competition that wasn’t at the university level. My goodness – it was so different than the typical university-level comp! See, at the university level, as a newcomer, you’ll dance maybe six times (if you’re lucky enough to get to the final) per dance; since we dance four dances, that’s a total of 24 times over the space of twelve hours (approximately. And who can do Math! Woo hoo!). This style of competition was completely different. The day started with a solo competition; I danced my Cha Cha with my coach, Neil. I honestly had no idea what was going on; all I remember is him grabbing me and bringing me onto the floor. I made it to the finals in that event (yay!). Then came the fun part – the couples events. Originally, I was going to dance with Sam; however, he broke his foot on the last Friday of term. Neil was then going to partner me with a dancer from his school; unfortunately, she broke her ankle about a week before the competition (yes, I think that I’m a bad luck charm). So, on Wednesday, Neil decided that I was going to be a leader. One major problem: I had never led before and I didn’t know the leader steps. Neil partnered me with another beginner from Oxford. We practiced for about a half hour on Sunday and then headed off to the competition. The results of our efforts were a pleasant surprise, though! We ended up placing seventh in Bronze Cha/Jive and Silver in Cha/Rumba, which isn’t bad considering the circumstances! We were also the only couple from Neil’s school to make it into the Bronze final, so he was pleased with our results. It was definitely an experience, and, honestly, I think I enjoyed it more than the university level competitions. I ended up dancing about thirty times in three hours (quite a difference than the university-level!), and I really just had so much fun. So, I placed fourth in my solo, and seventh in two couple events. I’m quite pleased with those results! My next competition with Neil’s school is on April 25th, and apparently I’m dancing two dances that I’ve never danced before. Hm. This could be interesting…

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