2012
This was the first time that we went to the DanceVision(TM) dance camp in Las Vegas. The camp was at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas. My kind of camping. There was an opening banquet on Sunday,  classes from 8:00am thru 6:30pm on Monday thru Thursday, and a closing banquet on Thursday night. We also heard that there would be an ‘After Hours’ program from 7:00pm thru 11:00pm. We heard about this after we got there and decided that we were already taking on a lot and would probably burn ourselves out too quickly if we did that.
We filled up the calendar with dances that we wanted to learn more about and some that we knew nothing about.

There are dance routines that people perform during the Thursday banquet. This year there were 2 dances: Foxtrot and East Coast Swing. Each dance would have 4 performances: Beginner, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2 and Advanced. We went to the first Beginner East Coast Swing routine class to see what we were up against. I was intimidated as all get-out so we decided to look into that in later camps.

There was about 6 or so pairs of instructors. Our favorites were Carolina Orlovsky-Telona & Felipe Telona and Tomasz and Izabela Lewandowski. We only had the Telonas for a couple of lessons. They usually taught more advanced classes. We seemed to find the Lewandowskis everywhere as they taught the lion’s share of the beginner classes.

My problem with the other instructors was that they weren’t careful to make sure that everyone knew what was going on. They would introduce a step and build upon it even tho others (me) didn’t catch what they were trying to say. They failed in 2 ways. They didn’t make sure that the students could even see them and they didn’t check that the students could perform the step.

Felipe Telona would always make sure that everyone could see him and could repeat what he showed us. He watched us as carefully as we watched him. He also established a rotation so that unmatched people would still get to practice the steps. While this doesn’t seem like much, single people lost out on a lot of practice because most other instructors didn’t do this.

Tomasz and Izabela Lewandowski both worked hard to make sure that they were understood and brought a lot of humor to the class. They got Pam and I to do a lot of moves that we thought that we would never get. They also encouraged questions and made sure that we understood our answers.

At the banquet, we watched the routines that folks had learned during the week. Pam was pretty sure that we could have done them. I kinda regret not doing them but I’m not convinced that I needed the stress of that in the first camp.

2013
This year we wanted to attend some of the ‘After Hours’ lessons. These were West Coast, Night Club 2-step, and Hustle. These classes ran from 7:00pm thru 11:00pm. We figured that we should cut back on the lessons during the day if we wanted to survive the week.

We also wanted to do the routines. We wound up spending a lot of time on the routines, Waltz and Rumba. I hated having to learn the choreography. I knew all of the steps but I’m not used to anyone caring about what I do and when I do it. The focus had always been on how well I make the moves. Each day, Tomasz and Izabela would add new steps to the routines. I’d watch them and be convinced that I’d never figure the routines out. Then we’d have the class and we’d be doing the steps that I thought we’d never do.

Note to Brits: Please don’t get too impressed that we got to perform. This is completely unlike European dance conventions were we audition and compete. Qualifying for this consisted of paying for the camp. If you’re going to be impressed, be impressed that we risked making asses of ourselves in front of a lot of people.

We met another couple during one of the first routine classes, Tony and Barb Something-or-Other. They were from the Canuck side of Sault Saint Marie. They were beginners. They had taken very few lessons and this was their first time at dance camp. They were with their daughter and a couple of her friends from school. The daughter and friends were attending the dance camp as part of their master’s program. Tony and Barb were doing a lot of stumbling as they learned something completely new. We spent some time with them learning the routines outside of the classes.

On the last day, Tomasz and Izabela had us practice the routines in the room where we’d be performing that night. This was a lot bigger than where we’d been practicing before. The other room was so small that we wound up almost in a dog-pile when we got to the end. Now we could do the routine without stepping on each other.

The instructors decided to have half of us watch while the other half performed. Then we would reverse roles.This was interesting to us because we didn’t know what we looked like. Usually we were too busy performing to look around.

While we were watching, I noticed that Tony and Barb had really improved. I made a point of letting them know that afterward. Part of my motive was that new dancers need encouragement in general but also because Barb had looked so worried as she and Tony practiced. My heart melted watching her struggle with the routine.

For both routines, Pam and I were in the second row. Tomasz and Izabela had asked for volunteers who were very good with their timing to be in the front row. Good timing was needed because everyone behind them would be basing their movement on what they saw in the front row. Where this all fell down was that the couple in front of me were always a step behind everyone else. Fortunately, the couple to the left of them were always keeping perfect time.

On Thursday night,  we performed the waltz and rumba routines twice each. We made a mistake in each performance but never the same mistake twice. I guess that the lesson to be learned is that we’re not going to perfect a 1 minute routine with 4 lessons and 2 hours of practice. We really did need to take notes. Pam did notice that the more advanced performers were making the same kinds of mistakes as we were. Maybe they should have taken notes too.

After the performances,  we found ourselves sitting at the same table as the man who I depended on for timing. (The good one. Not the one who was always one step behind.) His name was Toshi. Toshi was from Osaka, Japan, and had taught international dance styles for 27 years. That explained why his timing was so good. He had come to the dance camp to work on American dance styles. We spoke for a while. When Toshi figured out that I was originally from England, (apparently, my accent is obvious even to folks whose mother tongue isn’t English) we started comparing notes on the differences between American and British English. Toshi also compared American and international dance styles. According to Toshi, the international styles are based on the British standards. Toshi also mentioned that I had a beautiful wife.  I agreed. 

In the first dance camp, we both felt too intimidated to dance with everyone else. This year, that wasn’t a problem. I guess if we can perform routines in front of these folks, we can do our regular dance stuff without embarrassing ourselves. At least, that’s what I told myself to get on the floor this time.

2014
Next year’s dance camp will be at the Gold Coast instead of the Paris. That will be a bit of a let-down for us since we’ve gotten pretty spoiled hanging out at the Paris, Bellagio and the strip. (#firstworldproblems) Pam and I went over there to see what it’s like. It’s OK but not as glamorous as what we’re used to. Maybe we won’t hemorrhage as much money on next year’s trip.