A Weekend full of Dance!

Hello everyone!

Last weekend was so busy, but also so much fun because it was full of dance!  =)
First, we got to attend BU Ballroom's Montage, which is a showcase of not only BU Ballroom Dance club, but also many other performance groups on campus.  It was so much fun to see different groups like Irish step dancing, hip hop, and some acapella groups as well.

BU Ballroom Dance club had 3 different groups (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) and I was amazed at how many beginners we have in the club!

Look at all of these new ballroom babies!!  and they did so well!

David and I don't get to attend team lessons for beginners because of our classes and work, so we don't know the beginners very well.  We did get to know a few of them a little this night though, so that was really fun!  =)

The Advanced piece was a mashup of chacha, rumba, and jive which David and I choreographed along with the other open couple on the team, Jim and Charlotte.  We had been working on the piece all semester, so we were so excited to see them perform!

Wooohooo!  Lookin good!

Aww they did so well!  made my little heart so proud =)

 David with the boys!

All of the groups did so well, and we left with our hearts full and ready to practice our own routines right after the show. We had initially wanted to go celebrate with some members of the team after the show, but we were feeling rather unprepared for our competition the day after so off we went to practice  haha

On Sunday, we headed off to Brown for their 21st Annual Ballroom Competition!

BU had a pretty good representation there, so we cheered on our team through standard rounds and the syllabus latin rounds before we started our own warm up for the open Latin round.

Ballroom babies!!

with my partner for so many different aspects of my life =)

This was our first open level competition together, and I was pretty nervous about it.  We did have a few funny things happen here and there, as it always happens during the first performance, but overall, we got through all of our routines pretty well!  

As an added bonus, we ended up getting 3rd place!  This was basically our reaction when our number was not called for last place haha

We have been working with Helle, who is the BU Ballroom coach, to get ready for this comp, and we are so thankful that she was so patient with us as we struggled to learn 5 new routines while juggling our work/school responsibilities.  I don't think we had time to practice as much as she wanted us to, but she was always so patient!  =)

love her! =D

If you want to see our Paso Doble routine, I'll link it right below!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!
--Janny

Houston for a few days

Hello everyone!

Snowmageddon is here in Boston!  BU has cancelled school for this evening and all of tomorrow, and everyone is prepping for 2-3 feet of snow and hurricane speed winds.  I have never experienced a blizzard before, so while I know that it's extremely dangerous, I'm also rather giddy to see a completely white world tomorrow when I wake up!  

outside my window a few days ago  =)

Being stuck at home for a full day and a half also gives me time to catch up on my blog!  I know it's been awhile, but since I got to Boston, I've been so swamped with school and my new job as an orchestra manager that it's been difficult to even find time to eat sometimes.  Needless to say, this snow day could not have come at a better time.  I'm looking forward to baking cookies, maybe drinking some hot chocolate, catching up on some homework, practicing, and just enjoying this God-send day off.

Now, to catch up on a few events before my life became incredibly hectic...
I spent a few days in Houston before school started, and though I couldn't see everyone I wanted to see due to lack of time, I still got to pack in a few adventures  =)

The first one, of course, (I mean, it's David and I haha) was going dancing!  We used to love going to Second Saturday Dances put on by USA Dance, and my visit coincided with the Second Saturday Dance for January, so we got to go!

It was before school started in Houston, so we didn't see all of the Rice dancers, but we did see a few of our old Rice friends + an adopted U of H dancer   haha.  They had a little 'photo booth' there, so obviously, we had to take the awkward dance family photo  ;)

Then, our old apartment reunited!!!!  

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you would be familiar with seeing Amulet around here since we were roommates for 2 years!  

it was really great to catch up, have some lunch, and some coffee to warm up in the frigid(?) Houston weather (little did I know what I would be facing in Boston)

Later, for tradition's sake, the double daters got together for some game night!  We used to do this so much, and Chris (Amulet's bf) has quite an extensive collection of board games, so we had to get together again while I was visiting  =)

We played a Polish game (I forget what it's called since it was in Polish) that was a cross between the game 'Dixit' and 'Clue' that got us all warmed up for a night of non-stop laughter.

we were joined by our favorite four-legged friend, Houdini!!  such a charmer this one  =)

After two rounds of the first game, we proceeded to build our castles with the game 'Castles of Mad King Ludwig' which was so much fun!  Chris built the fattest castle, Amulet had the most well-balanced castle, I had the sleepiest one, and David had the creepiest, strangest castle full of dungeons and other questionable underground rooms  haha

It was so good to be back hanging out and catching up with our favorite double date couple, and I hope that we get to do it more as we visit each other in our respective cities  =)

If you are in the New England area chillin with the blizzard Juno, I hope that you will stay warm and safe, and if you are enjoying the balmy weather in the 50's (like in Houston), then... well...  harumph.  haha  =)  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

--Janny

Big Apple Dancesport Challenge

Hello everyone!

Last weekend, we (the BU Ballroom Team) went to NYC to compete at the Big Apple Dancesport Challenge hosted by Columbia!

It was a crazy weekend full of dancing, getting absolutely no sleep, and lots and lots of team bonding. I didn't compete, but I did get to watch a whole lot of awesome dancing, and help out with hair and makeup =)

PC: Jimmy Chau

I didn't take too many pictures of the dancing because we have 2 dancers on the team who are amazing photographers, but I did snap a few of the awards ceremony =)

and there were many photo opportunities because everyone did so well!!
aww I was so proud of the team!

look at the BU team representing!  =)

It was an incredibly exhausting weekend, but also a really fun weekend!  I did take some videos of the evening, so if you want to see a few videos, head over to here to check them out!

Also, here is the showcase of Pasha and Daniella  =)  They were so. incredible!

I hope you enjoy the video, and thanks for stopping by!
--Janny

Harvard Beginners Ballroom Competition!

Hello everyone!

Last weekend was the first ballroom competition for Boston University Ballroom Dance Team!  It was just across the Charles River at Harvard, so I went to help dancers get ready and go cheer the team on during the competition!

I had forgotten just how early the getting ready process started... (after all, my last competition was like... half a year ago...)   but waking up at 5:45 am was definitely necessary since we still couldn't get everyone's makeup finished until we got to the comp.

Photo Cred :: Sarah Wu!

Dancers getting ready!!   

and the lovely Christi doing hair!

and then the dancing began!

stellar form everyone!  =)

I thought all of the dancers danced so well, and I was so proud of everyone!  =)

It was kind of hard not getting to dance since David is still in Houston, but I loved being around so many people who are so excited about dancing!  I can't wait till next year when David will be in Boston and we can dance together again!  =D

Photo Cred :: Sarah Wu!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

--Janny