USDanceXchange.com

[dancingblur]

Happy anniversary to.....myself??
Well I have to confess I have never been one to “blog” but I thought I would take a moment to recognize a personal achievement in my life. Yet is not about “patting myself on the back” but more about maybe it will help someone, like myself, step through “that” door.
The Anniversary? Well its been one year since I have been dancing, and what a year!
Maybe its all of the graduations I have gone to this month that makes me want to reflect, that makes me want to highlight this milestone, I don't know.
This is really a dual purpose, soapbox sermon, about doors of opportunity and education. Last year I walked through a very difficult door, the door to the ballroom world. You see I am a single white male, 45yo (at the time) without a partner, wanting to learn structured dance, full of preconceived notions. I will be the first to say “Dancing with the Stars” had a little influence, but I have always loved to dance and loved music in general. I will not say I am shy, but I did have my intrepidations about the perceived social structure of Ballroom dance. I could never have been more wrong in my life.
What I found was a great group of individuals who made me feel so at home, so much part of the crowd, that my anxieties never came into play.
I found a click of friends, with common interests that are truly a joy to be around, both on and off the dance floor. They are the souls who show up on Wednesday's to dance, that show up on movie nights, that dance with me to music I can't dance too and yet say “yes” to dances I know and they don't (hey this could be a Budweiser commercial). Why do I and they do it? Because of love for the music and enjoyment of the dance.
I salute you, Anne, Andy, and all of Swing Springfield, who have made my year so remarkable. I have grown from wanting to learn, to learning, to competing, to wanting to compete more. Yet it would be all for nothing if I had not met the people I had met on this journey.
Like Dorothy on the trip down the yellow brick road, I fought the lions, the tigers, and the bears, and I found all I had to do wish...and my dreams would come true.
This is a wish granted, thank you all and those on the fence..please jump in the rewards are endless!

[Dancin'Anne]

Thank you for the kind words and

H A P P Y A N N I V E R S A R Y ! !

It's been a pleasure for me as well to watch you grow and to share the love of dance!

You rock!!!
_________________
Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?
-Lewis Carroll/Alice in Wonderland

[Dancin'Andy]

Happy Anniversary Terry!!!

I have to say myself, Anne, and our fellow dancers in Swing Springfield, and even just the dance community around Springfield in general are lucky to have a dancer like you in our midst.

We are proud of the efforts you have put forth in continuing to grow in your own dancing and in sharing your love of dancing with others.

Dancing is indeed a long and sometimes arduous, but very rewarding journey and people like you make the voyage both fun and worthwhile!

Congrats! May your next year of dancing be better than the first!
_________________
"Dancing, much like life, is not about what steps you know, it's more about what you do between the steps you know."

[dancingblur]

Thank you, I could not be in more capable hands. Without you's (thats Yooper lingo) I don't need a safety net, just someone to whisper (1,2,3&4) in my ear! LOL

[Dancin'Prodigy]

Congratulations, Terry! Ditto to everything you said. The people have made all the difference in the world. As I have told Andy and Anne more than once, Ellen and I were looking for something other than going to a studio to take private lessons each week, and then going to that same studio to dance. We didn't know what we were looking for, but that seemed more like work than fun. This has been a lot of work, but way, way more fun than we expected. We thoroughly enjoy the people, and hope that those friendships continue to develop.

Glad you remembered your dance anniversary. Now, if Ellen and I can only remember our wedding anniversary. I'm not kidding. We have forgotten to even mention our anniversary far more often than we'd like to admit. We rely on some friends in California to remind us, as their anniversary is eight days after ours.

[liltbird]

Congrats on your 1 yr anniversary!!

and thanks for being such an inspiration to us newbies!!