I always find it easier to write when I am in the zone.....not after the fact. So I am just gonna lay it out for ya....
The Pros....
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| Damon and Lisa D'Amico, Robert Cordoba (minus his partner Deborah Szekely - she was ill), Arjay Centeno, Sophy Kdep (minus her partner, Jason Miklic - he was with the baby), Ronnie Debenedetta, Myles Munro and Tessa Cunningham. |
In Action....
Robert and Deborah
Lisa and Damon
They are frome Houston, Texas, and are so incredibly nice. The West Coast flash mob is their creation, just a little diddy they had no idea would take the west coast world by storm! Would love to see them again and visit their Studio. Michael filmed me dancing with Damon....if I can upload it successfully I will put it at the end of the post.
Arjay Centeno
Had some funky dances with Arjay - sometimes the first one is always the best....again, second cruise night at The Vault, it was just a good night! We went there for a dance, just a regular shake your booty dance....(I needed a break from being "led" all the time :)...and a couple of the dancers were there. For some reason on that night (and that night only) my sandals were awesome and slidey on the dance floor, Michael and I rocked it out for a while on the empty dance floor (this was about 1am-ish, could have been later, not sure, I was still in a time warp!)....The music was awesome and we had a cool vibe going....then Arjay cut in (he did a class later that week on the art of partner stealing/swapping or something :). My first dance with Arjay and it was pretty damn awesome!!
Myles and Tessa
Just the reason why we ended up on the cruise. Tessa (who, by the way, is the most awesomely stealth winker I have ever seen! - no part of her face moves, just her eyelid!) is Michael's favourite dancer - and it was through her facebook page that we found out about it. (I don't know if we would have travelled to the otherside of the world for a dance cruise otherwise! *wink*) They were a really awesome couple....super down to earth (maybe its cause they are Canadian? hmmm). We had dinner at the same table on quite a few nights - and really enjoyed getting to know them as people. I had some fun dances with Myles - he is a super cool guy, and good to dance with, considering the height difference! :)....
The highlight, I think, of Michael's cruise experience was his first dance with Tessa - she did the whole "come here" gesture with her finger...I think he died and went to heaven!! hahaha
Would love our next trip - (I have a plan to go overseas every five years for some dancing, I think Michael is on board with that....will give us something to work towards and look forward to!) to include Canada to see them again, and to catch up with the other awesome Canadians we met on the cruise.
Jason Miklic
The clip doesn't have Sophy in it because I wanted to get one of him freestyling, not doing a choreographed routine. Erica Berg is one of the few tall followers I have come across in West Coast Swing.
I had never heard of or seen Jason dance before the cruise, but he ended up being my favourite pro to dance with. I wish I had a video grrr....:) It just felt stupid running to get the video camera every time I danced with someone. He is so engaging, and always looks like he is really enjoying himself.....and he does the awesome move where he some how (using is hip/leg....I don't know) flicks my leg up....I can't explain but I did a little "woohooo" everytime he did it...haha. I think Damon did it once with me too. Best move ever! :)
The only pro I didn't get to dance with was Ronnie Debenedetta....which was a little disappointing cause it wasn't like I didn't have any opportunity. Although he wasn't around as much as the others, I didn't dance with him mostly because, for some reason, I found him intimidating....and I don't really know why. Oh well, maybe there will be another time. I heard he does a mean county 2 step. Here is an example. I want to learn to 2 step soooo badly....because A) I love the country music they dance to, and B) it just looks so freakin cool :) I had a couple of tries on the cruise...definitely harder than I thought.
Other dancing highlights....
The awesome country band that played on the ship, had some great dances.....seriously, I have never been exposed to much "real American" country music......and I love it!
Cruise Party by the pool - Michael and I rocked it out on the pool deck for ages by ourselves, had people coming up and telling us how fun we were to watch - was actually a little embarrassing though....cause seriously, we are absolute crap compared to the amazing talent that was on board with us! Still, it was heaps of fun, I love dancing with Michael.
Flash mob - both learning it and performing it.
Had a three way dancing partner swap with Myles, Jason and Arjay.....it sounds waaaay cooler than it actually was *wink* only because we were dancing on the carpet in The Vault (terrible for spinning) and the music wasn't that great so I couldn't find my dancing mojo....but it will always be an awesome memory. :)
Michael and I running into Myles, Tessa, and Tom (who, as it turns out is an old school pro - he is a dude, hope to run into him again somewhere) in the casino late on the last cruise night, and talking all things west coast.
......and finally, my first youtube clip - me dancing with Damon D'Amico....go here
Love it! You look great :D
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