On Saturday, December 11, 2010 my son and his classmates competed in the Ballroom Dancing Competition Fall 2010 Semi-Finals.
Here is how it all began. . .
Earlier, this year my son came home and told me that instead of having gym, him and the entire 5th grade at his school would be learning ballroom dance. He was quite unhappy. Fast forward two weeks, he comes home saying, "Dance with me Mommy." The ballroom dancing seemed to have quickly grown on him.
In November, the school held a presentation for the parents in the school gym. There was so much cuteness watching those "babies" dancing. My son did well not a professional by any means but, hey they/he had only been doing it for two months.
When we were at the presentation, the instructor explained to us that 6 couples (12 children) would be chosen to represent the school in the competition. Honestly, I knew my son was not one of the chosen.
Fast forward a few weeks later, I received a call my son was one of the young men chosen to compete (I really believe someone else dropped out but, so what he made it back-up or not).
So, we get to the place where they are holding the competition and once we get inside, I realize I have no clue about what is going on and how serious it is.
*1. I thought it was just a competition among city public schools . . . it wasn't. Other schools were also there.
*2. This was the first year that his school participated however, some of these schools had been there before.
*3. I think his teachers and principals were a little surprised by how serious this is to some. When I got the call I was told that the boys would wear white shirts and black pants and the girls a nice dress or skirt. Well, that was just OUR school and one other school that thought that way. The other schools had the girls in matching dresses and the boys in matching shirts. Because, the schools were identified by colors the young girls wore sashes. Our school also, gave the boys matching bow ties and cumber bands.
*4. The parents of these children were serious. They wore the colors of their schools teams. They brought pom poms, signs, and noise makers.
Here I naively thought it was all in fun and we would be all proper-like. Silly Rabbit.
Well, I quickly caught on and my big mouth did plenty of cheering and screaming for my son and his classmates.
Here is how the competition went. There were six couples from each school. For the first round each couple was assigned a dance to do. My son and his partner had to do the Foxtrot for the first round. For the second round, the were assigned a dance that was randomly chosen from a box. My son and his partner were given the Merengue.
My son at ten is short. His dance partner was just about as tall at me. I tell you that made it all the more cute (I am sure the judges were cooing about it too).
In the end, my son and his school were on of 4 gold teams to move on to the finals in April. If they win the finals, they will go on to the state championships. I am so excited, but first we have got to practice, practice, practice because this is serious.
I am now learning the dances to help him.
Lastly, afterwards when they were taking team pictures and we were all celebrating, I felt so bad for the children crying who lost. I guess in the end it is all a valuable lesson.
First Dance: Foxtrot
Second Dance: Merengue
Congrats to my baby boy
Here is how it all began. . .
Earlier, this year my son came home and told me that instead of having gym, him and the entire 5th grade at his school would be learning ballroom dance. He was quite unhappy. Fast forward two weeks, he comes home saying, "Dance with me Mommy." The ballroom dancing seemed to have quickly grown on him.
In November, the school held a presentation for the parents in the school gym. There was so much cuteness watching those "babies" dancing. My son did well not a professional by any means but, hey they/he had only been doing it for two months.
When we were at the presentation, the instructor explained to us that 6 couples (12 children) would be chosen to represent the school in the competition. Honestly, I knew my son was not one of the chosen.
Fast forward a few weeks later, I received a call my son was one of the young men chosen to compete (I really believe someone else dropped out but, so what he made it back-up or not).
So, we get to the place where they are holding the competition and once we get inside, I realize I have no clue about what is going on and how serious it is.
*1. I thought it was just a competition among city public schools . . . it wasn't. Other schools were also there.
*2. This was the first year that his school participated however, some of these schools had been there before.
*3. I think his teachers and principals were a little surprised by how serious this is to some. When I got the call I was told that the boys would wear white shirts and black pants and the girls a nice dress or skirt. Well, that was just OUR school and one other school that thought that way. The other schools had the girls in matching dresses and the boys in matching shirts. Because, the schools were identified by colors the young girls wore sashes. Our school also, gave the boys matching bow ties and cumber bands.
*4. The parents of these children were serious. They wore the colors of their schools teams. They brought pom poms, signs, and noise makers.
Here I naively thought it was all in fun and we would be all proper-like. Silly Rabbit.
Well, I quickly caught on and my big mouth did plenty of cheering and screaming for my son and his classmates.
Here is how the competition went. There were six couples from each school. For the first round each couple was assigned a dance to do. My son and his partner had to do the Foxtrot for the first round. For the second round, the were assigned a dance that was randomly chosen from a box. My son and his partner were given the Merengue.
My son at ten is short. His dance partner was just about as tall at me. I tell you that made it all the more cute (I am sure the judges were cooing about it too).
In the end, my son and his school were on of 4 gold teams to move on to the finals in April. If they win the finals, they will go on to the state championships. I am so excited, but first we have got to practice, practice, practice because this is serious.
I am now learning the dances to help him.
Lastly, afterwards when they were taking team pictures and we were all celebrating, I felt so bad for the children crying who lost. I guess in the end it is all a valuable lesson.
First Dance: Foxtrot
Second Dance: Merengue
Congrats to my baby boy
Comments
Ahhh, you must be so proud! CONGRATS to your baby boy!
Now for you, dancer mom, keep on 'im! We are not mediocre! We are great! We are winners! --Ok, that was my attempt to get you pumped, you know, like your hype woman. LOL
You know I LOVE dance - tell him to keep it up. There are so few men of color who learn to dance :-)
Kudos to you for learning with him!
(((HUGS)))
Maybe I'm biased, but some of the other kids didn't look as fluid and you could tell from their expressions that they were counting in their head.