Dancing Through Life

Last Thursday, Gary and I celebrated our nine-year wedding anniversary! It's just mind boggling to me that the time has flown by this fast.

We met one another thirteen years ago at the very start of our freshmen year at USC; we were both in the marching band and had a couple of classes together. We were just seventeen years old!

After realizing we both had a passion for dance, we joined the USC Ballroom & Latin Dance Team, and competed as dance partners in numerous collegiate ballroom competitions throughout California. The first dances we learned were rumba and east coast swing, but we soon found that our talent was for waltz and west coast swing, our favorite dances to this day.

After a year and a half as best friends and dance partners, it was time to take our relationship to that next level. We dated for a year, got engaged, then married right after graduation. (Guys... take note - there might be something to this! I can think of at least four other couples that were dance partners first, and eventually got married!)

The rest, shall I say, is history. We haven't competed much lately, but still take the opportunity to dance at weddings, and have been known to waltz around our living room should a good song come on the radio. I consider myself blessed to have such a great partner for the dance floor, and for life.

I love you, Gary!

Gary & Katherine: the early years

Hip Hop Chess Federation

"Using chess, music, and martial arts to promote unity, strategy, and non-violence..."



ht: YS Update

Our night on the town

So, to continue my story from last night...


We arrived at the church, dance shoes in hand, and stepped into a beautiful fellowship hall that seemed just made for dancing! A nice smooth floor, beautiful woodwork ceilings, little cafe tables in the corner, and a disco ball all complemented the ballroom atmosphere.

We joined a group of people in the center of the floor just in time for the instructor to begin her lesson. This is the point at which everything began to fall apart. To spare you the gory details, let's just say that when you hire a dance teacher at the recommendation of a senior center (who as we found out later, usually only teaches private lessons and never in groups), and you hire a DJ that uses MIX TAPES(!), well, you're gonna face some challenges. Like, half the people may leave.

Fortunately Gary and I are not such party poopers, and we had a ton of fun just being there. The small crowd made it easy to get to know everyone: there was a group of Christian high school kids (cute as could be), a sweet German lady (she was 66 yrs old but looked 50!), a nice blonde with a husband from Africa (still kicking myself that I didn't get to chat more with them), the pastor of the church, her husband (yes, that's right), and a gaggle of church grannies (I SO would have taken Thelma home with me!).

It's strange... In many social situations I can feel really awkward. I usually dread having to make small talk. But last night, my hidden extrovert unexpectedly popped out of hibernation, and I just had a blast going around and meeting everyone (why oh why can't I do this on command???)!


At one point the DJ accidentally played a song that was west-coast swing-able (I think it was supposed to be a cha-cha), so Gary and I took the opportunity to dance our favorite dance. (West Coast Swing also happens to be the official state dance of California, FYI) Immediately, the entire ballroom stopped to watch us. It was crazy! Though I felt very flattered by the attention, I was somewhat conflicted - I wanted to do my best for them, since they were taking the time to watch me, but I didn't want to be a "show-off"! (hmm, that was an internal struggle I didn't consider when I was a competition dancer in college!)

Anyways, all that to say that even though we may not have been at the hippest nightspot in the East Bay, Gary and I had more fun than we've had in a long time. Yeah, I'm out of shape and my moves are totally rusty. I don't have the energy to dance every single song. But, I made some new friends. I got some good exercise (swing dancing totally beats the treadmill). And Gary and I got to revisit a part of our relationship that we'd almost forgotten about. So was it worth it? Yeah.

I think I'll be back.

No Baptist Jokes, Please.

After a two year hiatus, Gary and I have returned... to the ballroom dancing scene!


Well, sort of.

A few weeks ago, I received a postcard in the mail announcing a new "Friday Night Dance Club" right here in Concord. As I looked closer, I saw that it was actually a ballroom dance, with lessons and a dj, hosted at a local church. Gary and I talked about going to check it out, and tonight we finally made it over there.

Those of you who know us may remember that Gary and I have danced quite a bit of ballroom together. Before we had ever dated, we were competition partners on the USC Ballroom & Latin Dance Team (affectionately known as the USCBLT). Dancing was seriously my life and identity. But then life changed, as it is apt to do. We got married and moved to Sacramento, and dancing just wasn't the same. It became less and less a part of our lives until I began to feel guilty when people would refer to us as "dancers".

Anyways, since Gary has become a full-time youth pastor, what was once our former hobby has now become our whole life, and though we LOVE youth ministry, we do miss having other things to talk about! So, with a new opportunity at hand, we decided to give the ballroom dancing another whirl. (haha)

We dusted off the old dance shoes. We donned our gay apparel. (ok, I was just wondering if you were still reading... actually we just changed out of our jeans). We googled our directions and OFF WE WENT!

To be continued...

So You Think, What???

So, have any of you heard of a little show called "So you think you can dance!" ?

In the absence of Survivor, American Idol and America's Next Top Model, this show has been our summer time reality-show fix, bringing us back to our dating-dancing days with the USC Ballroom & Latin Dance Team, when Gary and I would rock-step, whip, and sugar-push our way from competitive ballroom dancing partners to best friends (awwww).

This season has special meaning for us, as one of our FORMER COMPETITORS in the swing world is now a contestant on the show! Lacey Schwimmer and her brother, last year's winner Benjie, are the children of a popular dance teacher in the Southern California area. We used to see them all the time at West Coast Swing conventions when their father, Buddy, was teaching. They were immensely talented, from a very young age, and when Gary and I competed against them, about nine years ago, they totally whooped us (they would have been like, ten years old)! We never had any doubt they would grow up to be big dance stars, and now it's fun to root for their success on this televised dance competition. (If you're also a huge Lacey fan, you can check out her myspace fanpage here)

My only disappointment with the show is that my most favoritest dancer, Jessi, was sent home after she collapsed from dehydration and had to go to the hospital. She missed the live performance, so she wasn't able to be protected by America's vote, but she came back for the judging show, and after she danced for her life with the bottom 3, was dismissed by the judges without explanation.

Did the judges really think she had the worst solo? Were there extraneous details to her collapse that prevented her from continuing on the show? The world may never know... I understand not keeping a dancer on if they can't perform, but I don't believe they can really award the winner the title of "America's FAVORITE Dancer", 'cuz that was Jessi.

Word.