I had no idea there was such a thing!  But there’s always a huge crowd for the parade itself - some people camp out to get the best spot! - so giving them some entertainment is a good idea.

We gathered at the start point at 2.30 - it was a very last minute invitation and we hadn’t had time to rehearse, so we needed some run-through time.  We were ready at the starting point at 5.30 as requested, but didn’t get the go ahead until 6pm.  The Brazilian samba group ahead of us kept us amused with their drum playing - we were tired out before we started from dancing to their music!

Because of the late start, our main performance was cancelled - which I have to admit, I didn’t really mind as we had to dance all the way along the parade route, which was quite long enough!

We had a disaster only 2 minutes in, though, when the generator powering our music blew up!  Unfortunately the samba band were too far ahead to use their music so we just had to dance to the sound of Saphirra’s zills - which wasn’t quite the same.  It was hard to keep the motivation going with no music.  Occasionally we’d pass someone with a ghetto blaster, or a pub whose music was spilling out on to the pavement, and we grabbed it gratefully and did what we could!

Once we reached the end of the pre-parade route, we still had a long walk to the rest station where our bags had been taken for safe-keeping.  Then, because all the roads had already been closed for the main parade, we had an even longer walk to meet up with our friends and families.  I was exhausted and sore, and as for my feet…..

It was fun, though, but I would have enjoyed it so much more if we’d had some music.  We may do it next year too - if so, I’m going to take my own zills!

I came across this clip of Jack (last season’s winner) talking about his life since he won.  It doesn’t sound like anything spectacular has happened but hey, a dancer’s life is not an easy one - sounds like he’s made a good start anyway.

The story involves dancers staging a ballet 20 years after it was choreographed, and stars Patrick and his wife.  Given his current battle with cancer, the title of the movie is poignant.

In searching for a clip on Youtube, I also found this clip of him dancing with his wife in 1994:

What a shame he didn’t get to make more dance films, as he always wanted.  Dirty Dancing gave only a glimpse of his dancing ability.  He was the original star of Grease on the Broadway stage - I so wish he had been cast in the movie instead of John Travolta, who is a nice mover but not really a dancer.

You can see why they close down – it’s a busy time for most families so attendance at classes would be bound to drop. If you’re in the Northern hemisphere, just think how busy you’d be if you had to cope with the festive season and the summer holidays all rolled into one! It’s hard to find time for writing, either – so this blog may be a bit thin on posts for the next month or so!

Examples I’ve heard of recently are a ballroom dancing cruise, a flamenco holiday in the Spanish coastal hinterland, and a tango vacation in Argentina.

Below are some links to dance holiday operators that I’ve come across. I’ve never tried any of them myself – though I’d like to! – but one of my friends did a Carmen de las Cuevas holiday which she loved.

Club Dance Holidays

Carmen de las Cuevas

Let’s Dance Vacations

Thomson Dancing Holidays

Like Wearmanyhats (who nominated me for the award), I don’t know who started this tradition but I’m wondering if it was an Aussie.  Here in Sydney it’s about 25 deg C (nearly 80 Fahrenheit) so it’s the perfect time for me to kick back with a glass of ice cold lemonade.   I’m not so sure my fellow bloggers in the Northern Hemisphere will enjoy it quite so much - maybe you could compromise with some mulled wine or egg nog.   Both taste yummy with lemon juice and zest added, so you can stay in the spirit of the award!

And the winners are:

1.  Australia Today
2.  Greenburbia
3. I Hate My Job
4. Adventures in Freelancing
5. Entrepreneurs Today
6. Healthy Lifestyle Today
7. Treasure Hunting Today
8. Rolling Traveller
9. Pop Culture Girl
10. Telecommuting Today

If you’re a winner, please:

1.  Create a post including: 

• the Lemonade Award logo
• a thank-you to the person who nominated you, with a link to their blog
• a list of blogs you feel are worthy of the award (ten, if you can, and they don’t all have to be Today.com blogs).  Make sure all the links work!

2. Place a comment on each of the blogs you’ve chosen, telling them they’ve won the award and telling them where to find the instructions on your blog.

My task now is to pay it forward by choosing at least 10 blogs which “show great Attitude and/or Gratitude”. I want to choose carefully so I doubt I’ll be able to find 10 worthy winners today, but I hope to get it all done by tomorrow’s post and will list the successful blogs then.

But first, I’m going to sit back and enjoy my glass of virtual lemonade and toast Wearmanyhats for being so kind as to nominate me. Good health and happy blogging!

OK, I admit it – I’m probably way behind every one else, but I’d never seen this video.  Of course, it’s not really about the evolution of dance, only about the evolution of dance since “pop music” was invented, but it’s funny just the same.  Not sure that it’s good enough to rate the “most viewed” or “most discussed” on Youtube - it’s amazing what will catch people’s imagination!

I’m not quite sure what Judson Laipply is famous for, other than the video clip.  He seems to be making a career for himself as a speaker and comedian.  I assume he can do more than just this!

It was a fabulous workshop - she has such a terrific technical knowledge as well as a fun personality - I didn’t realise how hard I’d worked until I got home and collapsed on the sofa! 

Her new venture also sounds interesting - Human Fusion is a fusion of dance and aerobic exercise.  Looking forward to hearing more!