Austin Open 2014!

Hello everyone!

I'm sorry I've been MIA for the past 2 weeks or so, but life has truly been absolutely crazy.  I'm graduating almost exactly a month from now, and just in this week alone, I have 5 performances... and it's going to be this way for the next 2 weeks!  AAHHH!  breathe... I can survive this...

Anyway, I just wanted to blog about our trip to Austin before the month passes by  haha  

so here is the story about how a 3 hour road trip to Austin from Houston became a 9 hour road trip.

It began like any other road trip to a ballroom dance competition.  We picked up our fellow dancers from Rice, and got on the road with lots and lots of snacks and other food stuffs.  Like some Kimbab.

I felt so much like my mother making these because every Korean child has memories of eating Kimbab on a picnic or a road trip, or really anywhere where you pack and bring food   haha.  My version was really simple though, a bastardized version of Kimbab, and it only contained rice and some seasoned Bok choy.  Very simple, but filling and yummy!  Last year I made ones with rice and seasoned kale, and I think I actually like the kale version better, fyi  ;)

Our road trip was quite smooth, actually.  We slept, took turns driving, talking, taking pictures of smiley water towers, and just having fun like any other group of 4 college students.

Things all changed when we got to the competition venue, however, with just a couple of words from David.  I can't quite remember exactly what it was word for word, but it was something along the lines of "Oh no, we're in trouble.. I forgot my costumes at home".  

And with those words, our 3 hour trip to Austin became our 9 hour trip to Austin.

It wasn't too bad though because David and I sang Avenue Q and Disney songs all the way back to Houston (btw, we found that when I drive, it only takes 2.5 hours to get back to Houston).  Don't worry, we dropped off the other dancers in Austin so they wouldn't have to endure 6 more hours of sitting in the car, and possibly worse, our singing.  On our way back to Austin, David drove (which look longer than 2.5 hours  =p) and we just talked about anything and everything.  The extra 6 hours really is not so bad when you have good company I guess  ;)

We met up with the rest of the dancers from Rice at our hotel around midnight, and went to bed after trying to come up with a few routines for our standard (Waltz, Tango, and Quickstep) categories.  You see, we had only focused on the Latin categories (Chacha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, and Jive) and didn't get any practicing in for standard all year..

The next morning, we fueled up with some Texas sized (and shaped) breakfast, and headed to the competition!

The competition began with some country dancing and some International Standard dancing!
Here are a couple of our Rice dancers tearing up the floor!  Woot!  ;)

Because David and I were only dancing the Gold division, thankfully we had some time to come up with a routine for our Standard dances during the Newcomer, Bronze, and Silver division competitions. I have to say though, it was uuubber stressful, and we should probably practice a little earlier than an hour before the competition next time...   

When we weren't dancing, we cheered on other dancers, operated video cameras, cameras, ate some food and goofed around.  After all, the point of being there is to have fun and be with your teammates, not necessarily to be hard core about competing.  =)

Then, finally, it was Gold and Novice level competition, and we got to dance!

So many of us from Rice ended up wearing blue gowns!  haha   yay go Rice!  (our school color is blue too! what a coincidence!  ahem, I mean,,, we planned that. mm hmm.)

Our whole team after the standard competition.

After the International Standard competition, we had a break for lunch, and then began the loooonnnggggg afternoon segment of American Smooth, International Latin, and American Rhythm. David and I were doing the Open level multi-dance International Latin so we were the last ones to dance, and that ended up being around 10:30 PM... way past my bedtime  haha  I'm such a grandma...  =p  but we spent the day doing some more cheering, camera-ing, and goofing off some more.

yay I'm-bored-selfies!

 and a few more pictures of our friends in Latin and Rhythm categories!

and finally!!  as I was about to nod off to sleep, it was our turn to dance!  let me tell you what, there's nothing like a performance to wake you up from your granny-bedtime-grogginess!

It was my first time dancing Open level, and it was so much fun!  Of course, there's a lot to learn and fix and polish and tweak, but overall, I'm happy with our first performance at the Open level  =)  After all, it can only get better from here, right?

oh, and look how tan I am!  ;)  unfortunately, I never got quite as tan as David, but at least I don't look like a ghost next to him anymore!  haha

and a quick video of a part of our cha cha!

I hope your week is going well, and thanks for stopping by!!
--Janny

Tanning for Ballroom Dancing (Dancesport) Competition!

Hello everyone!

Today, I want to talk about something that seems to be a bit controversial in the ballroom world; Tanning.  Now, I understand why it is so controversial because we all know being out in the sun for an extended amount of time to tan is not so great for our skin, and using the tanning beds is not recommended either.  Also, we are all beautiful, no matter what color skin we have, and we should all know that and embrace that and etc.  

However, in the world of ballroom dancing, where the women are supposed to be bronzed goddesses, and where how you look matters so much, it does help to be tan.  Being tan makes us look more toned, (I mean, why do you think body builders do it?) and when I'm in skimpy Latin dancing outfits, I will take all the help I can get! ;)  Besides helping us look better/more toned/etc, it is also just in the ballroom dancing culture to tan.  I mean, do you think this blonde beauty, world champion Yulia Zagoruychenko, was born with that bronzed, glowing skin?  No.  

and though I am not blonde or ginger, in fact, I am Asian so supposedly I should have some color, I tend to get quite pale, especially during and after the winter months (so right now).  And since my dancing partner, David, is blessed with naturally bronzed skin, I really felt that my skin needed some help.  For your reference, here is what we look like side by side.   yup.  I look practically albino.  shield thine eyes from the glare bouncing off of my skin.

Now, I have never tanned just to be tan, and the only reason I have ever tanned was for ballroom, so I don't have that much experience tanning, but I have tried 3 different products (Jergens and L'oreal), and so far this is the only one that is dark enough and doesn't turn me orange.  Plus, it doesn't have the really awful fake tanner smell.  Well, David thinks it still has a strong smell, but for me, it's nothing compared to the other ones I've tried!  So the one I recommend is this one::  Sun Self Tanning Lotion in Dark.

It comes out in this greenish/brownish lotion that smells a bit like chocolate covered cherries (very artificial one), but I think the green in it is what prevents us from turning orange.  I apply it at night after the shower (with good exfoliation all over the body) an hour or so before bed, and use latex gloves to apply it.  It recommends letting it dry for a little bit before going to bed, so that's why I give it an hour. When I apply, I use a very generous amount all over wherever my body will be exposed (so in my case for this competition, that includes arms, legs, chest, and majority of my back).  Make sure you cover everywhere evenly!  The first time I did it, I noticed that I missed a lot of areas where I couldn't see like backs of my legs and arms, and of course my back.  For the back, you may want to enlist some help from a close friend, a fellow dancer, or roomies!  Also, I would be very generous with the lotion because the first time I used it, I used it very sparingly because I thought it would look streaky if everything was not absorbed.  The next day, I found that it actually made things look more streaky and not quite dark enough. Having tried it 3 times now, I have discovered that you can just really lather it on, and even if there's excess amount of product, it won't leave you streaky (you can either brush off the extra product when it dries, or you can just take a shower the next morning and it will wash off).   It is a little scary when you see streaks everywhere, but as long as you rub it in well, the tan will not be streaky.  After it dries a little bit, put on loose PJs, and go to bed (on dark sheets).  When you wake up and take a shower, you'll be left with this!

Just for your reference, here is the before and after! I know the lighting isn't the same because we took these outside, but at least we have David as the control. =)   much closer to his skin tone, yay!  haha

While it is much darker than how I was (this is after my 2nd time applying it), it's still not quite dark enough, so I'll probably apply another layer before the competition.  It is recommended that you apply it no more than 3 times a week, so I am doing 3 coats of it before the competition.  I have also decided to do it every other day, so for the competition that is happening Saturday, I have decided to tan Sunday night, Tuesday night, and Thursday night.  I know there are tanners that you can literally put on right before the competition like you are painting your body (I think it's called ProTan?) but I don't mind doing it more gradually so I can walk around outside before and after the competition without attracting too many odd glances  =)

I would exfoliate every day while you are using this product (or while you are tan) so that fading of the tan is gradual.  no one wants patchy sort of tan/sort of pale skin!  =)

Now, having said that, if you don't want to tan for a ballroom competition, no one will force you to do so.  You can still dance just as well pale as you can if you are tan, and especially in the Syllabus levels, how tan you are probably doesn't really matter.  And really, in the end, how you dance is much more important than how tan you are.  However, I think by the time you are competing at the Open level, you would probably want to tan, and when and if you decide to do so, I hope this was helpful!

What types of tanners do you use?  any other ones you would recommend?

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

--Janny