Contra Dancing at Glen Echo, MD

I went Contra Dancing on Friday night. According to a source, contra comes from the French "contre" meaning "opposing"*. Your partner is always opposite you. You stand in long lines and dance dizzying shapes with almost everyone in the line, as well as a little with your partner in every movement. The caller gives the basic steps in the beginning and everyone falls in line pretty quickly.
And when I say dizzy, I mean, the entire world is spinning, except the shape that happens to be my partner's face. It was glorious! I wore the wrong shoes, so my feet were killing me in about an hour into it, and do not wear a sweater, no matter how cold it is outside, unless you've got a thin t-shirt underneath, so you can peel that sweater off!
It was amazing, it was so quick, I didn't have time to be nervous. Plus I get to meet almost every person in the room. Must have helped courtship and marriages in the day!
It reminded me of the time at my friend's wedding. She loved the Scottish dance "strip the willow", so we did it at her reception. I'm proud to say that I think I've improved since then.
For those of you who'd like to learn, here's a simple, somewhat grainy video on "strip the willow" It's great fun, I highly recommend it!

I felt like I was in a period piece, those fancy dances where the ladies where the long frocks with not much bodice, and all the gentlemen are done up in cravats and shiny shoes. So much for my turtleneck. Glen Echo was beautiful at usual, the Spanish style ballroom has a blend of romance and color. Here's a picture from the website. I hope you can all make it out there at least once, you won't be disappointed!

http://www.glenechopark.org/dancing.htm

*http://dancefl.us/contra/history.php

Balance

Balance, you must find the balance!
But because pier posts in the sand on a beach where I can practice the crane are hard to come by in Northern Virginia, I look for other techniques. Below are a few websites the offer some info on working on balance.
This one is pretty good. 
http://dance.about.com/od/adultdancers/qt/Balance.htm
http://www.danceadvantage.net/2011/01/19/better-balance/
http://www.dance-forums.com/threads/developing-good-balance.5352/
Hope these help! I would like to be able to do the Argentine Tango without falling like a klutz.

Skyfall

When I hear the music for Skyfall by Adele, I knew it would be the perfect platform to build a dance on. When I was in college, I took several theater classes. I was never very much good, but I did learn somethings about preparing to play a scene. One trick is to take your lines and with each line, assign an emotion. It's harder then it looks, but it helps to understand what you are trying to express, and it helps the internal to become external. Skyfall to me is about overcoming something that should have destroyed you, and being stronger for it. It's about not betraying yourself and having the kind of confidence that comes from belief in the truth, not knowledge in the perception of truth.
Assigning emotions are key to dance. One of my favorite dancers, Angel Corella is so adept at it, you could almost say he dances with his face!