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Yes, yes, I know this was supposed to be up here several weeks ago. I got busy. Hush.
So when we last left our intrepid triad, we were headed to the opening dance in the Temple for the Arts, aka the old Masonic temple with a Starbucks on the ground floor and a ballroom on the top floor. We got ourselves registered, hooked up with the rest of the Omaha group that was there; Ruth, Jose, Jacqueline, Nicole, Ben, Verity, and a few others. I got to see people I haven't seen since Cowtown which was rather exciting, as was meeting brand new people. The ballroom was gorgeous and had a neat upper gallery, not to mention a super cool ceiling, and the dance floor was great but boy was it crowded. The day had kind of taken its toll on me, plus I was full of noms, so I danced but not too much, even if it was Grand Marquis. That really was okay with me because watching other people dance was almost more entertaining than dancing myself.
Afterwards we trekked our way back to the hotel, I was feeling moody and cranky, and Eric and Jillian were kind enough to put up with me, as well as convince me to go to after hours, but I decided I wanted to wear pants because the wind was no fun at all, so I changed and we headed out again to Java Joe's, which Eric advised us not to wear our good dance shoes, and described the place as "interesting". His mysterious air about the place was a little dramatic, but it was a really cool place. We couldn't get in to see the burlesque display, but the cafe itself was fun to look around. The dance floor was definitely unusual, because there were two, one lit and one unlit, which is a different selling point I guess. Eric and I danced a little blues in the unlit room, and then I went and sat down and had a baby hot chocolate, and chatted with people.
We did not last long at after hours, and upon returning to the hotel, my roommate discovered my unfortunate high maintenance before bed pattern. I can't help it, I usually need a half hour to wind down unless I'm really exhausted, and being in a strange place with all my stuff scattered everywhere makes it even harder, but eventually sleep was had by all.
None of us made it to our warmup class, but we did make it up in time for me to shower (if I can't have half an hour the night before, I better get my half hour to wake up), and everyone was up by the time I was dressed and pressed. Eric, being exceptionally prepared, had brought raspberry muffins for breakfast that were very tasty, and after wrapping and gathering ourselves together, we took off for the Temple. Luckily we were all in the same first class, Fabulous Fundamentals with Kevin and Jo, and despite its simplistic lessons, I think the class was freaking amazing. Nothing like a class to sharpen your basics to make you better all around. Plus Kevin and Jo are adorable. Jo endeared me at once when she came over to correct my partner, and tucked in the tag on my shirt.
Yes, I am a little weird.
After that, Jillian slipped off to her second class while Eric and I took Jon and Mandy's I am Lindyhop and SO CAN YOU! class. Yes, I will say it just like that. The class wasn't quite as enlightening as the fundamentals, but Jon did get us all to loosen up and do some fun things. I liked the class a lot, because I think I get uptight about my dancing, and you're supposed to just have fun anyway. Eric and I managed to come up with our signature swing out mess around, which looks suspiciously like our signature complicated bowling high five fist bump...
After class we broke for lunch, went back to the hotel to drop a sore and sleepy Eric, and catch a little nap before Jillian and I went to Blues class with Kenny and Tiffiny. I liked that class a ton too. We had to get uncomfortably close to each other, and bend in not quite natural manners, and it felt awesome. I actually liked my female partners best, though I was wearing my Jitterbug t-shirt which people kept mistaking for a bumble bee. Really, swing dancers?!
Jillian and I stuck around long enough after for me to buy a hair flower pin, since I was promised vintage clothing and found none. Then we headed back through the eerie Skywalk to find a sleepy Eric and stretch out. We spent many hours trying to decide what to do for dinner, and finally gave up and just snacked on Eric's supplies and sat around the room talking. It was quite enjoyable and required no shoes, so I was perfectly happy with it. Then we got dressed up for Vintage Night, (hello, new cherry print dress!) and made yet another trip to the Temple through Le Skyvalk. We actually had the path down pretty well by the fifth trip through it. It helps that there are maps at pretty much every intersection of Skyvalk.
The dance was more of the usual, amazing dancers, new people to dance with (one of the best parts about class, new people who will dance with you!), a super band, and the lovely Miss Heartland contestants. The Jack and Jill contest made me want to practice even more, though it was hard on such a crowded floor. My ankles are not happy when they get tread upon. There was also a really cool exhibition by some ladies doing traditional African dance accompanied by drumming. Freaking amazing! And being the dork that I am, I could see a little bit of Charleston and swivels in their style. They had great energy and the crowd just ate it up.
After hours continued on a bit down the road, and we continued on, pretty psyched for it, and not at all exhausted, or at least we weren't going to admit it yet. The guy on setup was thrilled when twenty people showed up suddenly and helped him finish setting the room. I lost my energy for a bit after I sat down, but once I started dancing again, I caught my second (well, maybe fifth or sixth) wind. They played a lot more duwop and fifties' swing which was awesome, and I bounced around to that. Eric observed sometime during the evening that whatever I did that day had done something to improve my swingout, and I was allowing myself to do swivels again, so I felt pretty happy. And even though I was wearing a pair of yoga pants and knee socks under dress, I could still manage to dance properly.
This post huge. I'll break here and continue on the next one. I promise to do it right this minute.