This month, January 2012, marks my two-year anniversary of being in the dance world, and I owe it all to Star of the North.
December of 2009 saw me reuniting with an old friend, who at the time happened to live with two Twin Cities ballroom dancers, Nic and Peter Westlake.
I met Nic and Pete a few days before the new year as they arrived home from a dance event. They told stories about people I didn’t know using terms I didn’t understand, but they certainly made dancing sound fun.
I spent New Year’s Eve at their house while they were out dancing. Nic brought home sparkling grape juice and we played Catch Phrase until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore.
A few days later, I had a voicemail from Nic asking if I wanted to take ballroom dancing lessons from him.
It was an immediate, “Why not?”
The following Sunday, Nic picked me up from my Northeast Minneapolis home and drove me out to Circle Pines to dance with the U of M Ballroom Club. I met Nels Petersen and Theresa Kimler for the first time that night, learned basic waltz concepts, and Nic thought I was irritated with him the whole time. Funny the things you remember two years later.
As we were changing shoes at the end of the evening, Nic assured me that I’d done just fine and sprung on me the fact that he was actually looking for me to dance with him regularly to prepare for a competition. A competition in February. The next month.
Again, “Why not?”
From there we began dancing together 2-3 days a week, either in Circle Pines or at Dancers Studio in St. Paul, and I had my fair share of, “No, really, I’m not crying...” moments of frustration trying to learn waltz, tango, and quickstep in time to compete in Bronze International Standard Mixed Proficiency in just a few short weeks.
I learned a lot in a very small amount of time. Nels and Theresa gave me great reminders about head and hip position, Marcy and Shinya McHenry welcomed me into their studio, Sehyun Oh and Pete offered some helpful insight on partnering issues, and Jessica Madson gave me a crash course in competition makeup and even sold me a dress for the competition. And of course there was Nic, who volunteered hours and hours of his time and his skills solely for the sake of bringing a new person into the world of ballroom dance—a new person who hadn’t even been looking to get involved.
The competition rolled around, and I did it. I have a ten-or-so-minute memory gap from the minute my foot hit the competition floor to when Nic, Jessica, and I were standing on the floor waiting for awards to be announced.
Nic and I ended up taking first in all three of our events (and Nic and Jessica took first in all gazillion of theirs). I was happy.
From there, I decided to stay involved in dancing. I attended variety dances and showcases and went to some of the U of M’s classes over the summer.
Just a few weeks before the 2011 Star of the North competition, Nic and I decided to do mixed proficiency again “just for the lulz.” I hadn’t danced in a long time and felt overall terrified about it, but again we did very well, this time taking first in waltz and tango and getting second in quickstep.
From there, I attended Dancers Studio’s college night every Thursday until summer. Then I became the proofreader for the Dancing Times. Then I got a full-time night shift job and could no longer make it to dance events.
Regardless, I agreed to be editor starting this month, an opportunity I am thrilled about. It’s great experience in a field I love, and I couldn’t have done it without that first foray into dance two years ago.
Star of the North’s mixed proficiency event was the open door, but it was the warmth, inclusiveness, and positive attitude of members of the Twin Cities dance community that made my entrance into the dance world a possibility.
I won’t be competing in Star of the North this year (so far as I know), but I am volunteering. I encourage all of you to check out what Star of the North has to offer you.
Go to www.starofthenorthcomp.com and check out the competition and volunteer opportunities available to you. And if you’re feeling as generous as all the people who helped me, find an outsider to bring into the fold.
