So funny, Jet. I was supposed to go to a robotics competition on Saturday, but the robot wasn't working well, so the coaches decided not to go. My daughter was really sad about it. The competitions we go to are actually really fun. There's a lot of dancing in between matches. (Yes, nerds dancing.) No one does the Macarena properly (which drives me crazy) , and there's a lot of clapping on 1 and 3 (which drives my daughter crazy), but it's a fun atmosphere.

Good Morning everyone.  Wow, what a weekend !!!  SWAY, Triple Crown, Exciting personal stuff, all in all, it is one to remember.  LOL

CEK, would love to have a "girls night" Chat.   Should we take a poll on what night would be the best?  This site has a place to set one up.  Carrie/View anyone know how to set that up?

Hi VMMM !!  See you are online.

 

Well, getting a late start today, but real life is calling....See you later.

Recap - Part 1 - Thursday

Sway 3.0 proved to be an amazing experience again.   The show was so much more intense, more dynamic, more wonderful than in December with several new numbers.   I’ll start with my personal experiences and then post later about the show itself.

On Thursday morning, I walked to the studio.  Teresa, who had been there a month ago when I came for lessons, was there again along with Naomi at the reception desk.   Teresa had been so touched by my thank you notes.   I recognized her name, of course, but did realize how very much she is featured in the show (she is the dancer with her head on Maks’ shoulder where several of them are sitting on the edge of the stage).  She was awesome!   I gave her my camera and asked her to take random pictures during my lessons.  She got some great ones.   I also got a shot with the two instructors before I got all sweaty.

I did two hours of Latin with Andrei.   He is wonderful although not very talkative in English.   We started with samba, then jive, then cha cha and a little rumba.  People weren’t checking me out this time, but they were treating me like one of the gang.   The teachers all spoke to me, as well as Kosta (the other manager with Leanne, because she was off rehearsing Sway.  I didn’t figure out why Leanne was at rehearsal but Teresa wasn’t).     The Sway rehearsals were at the Glen Head studio as I knew they would be, but it would have been difficult to get out there, and I would have felt too much like a stalker. 

I held up well, but was hot and sweaty when it was lunchtime.  I grabbed Subway and headed back to the hotel to put my feet up.   I went ahead and just washed my hair.   When it was time to go back, I grabbed the quilt box.   I left it with Teresa, and I told her what was in it and what it represented, in case anyone wanted to know.
I had David as my instructor in the afternoon for smooth dances.  We started with quickstep which we hadn’t done a month ago, then did some foxtrot and waltz.   These dances are so tiring in a different way from Latin.  You have to hold your frame and stretch and really use your knees all while moving swiftly around the floor.  Plus David is tall, so we really moved.   It’s like running a marathon.   I never really got out of breath, but my heart was pounding and blood pumping.   David is exuberant and talkative.  I told him ultimately I wanted to have a conversation with Maks, however brief, but that would never happen in the context of Sway.  There are too many people who want a piece of him, and I wouldn’t impose myself. David said it might happen at the studio.  He said Maks and Peta had been at the studio earlier in the week, just to chill.  

At the end of my second lesson with David, we went back to the quickstep.   Steve, one of the other  instructors, picked the music.  It was supersonic!  I couldn’t keep up for the whole song.  My feet and brain just wouldn’t move that fast after so many hours of dancing.

Then I went back to Andrei for another hour.  Last time, my feet had given out, but I had better shoes for several hours of dancing.   I saw that he had been teaching Argentine tango to another lady, and I know that’s Maks’ favorite dance, and I had never done it.  So I asked him to do that.  It was very challenging.  The leads are so subtle, weight shifts and slight movements.   You have to wait until you get a signal to step or it just doesn’t work.   It was a good mental workout and a lesson in patience, but fun.

There were several other students there.  A lady from California, pretty much a beginner, was taking lessons at all the studios.  @allroads2Cfam’s daughter was there, but we didn’t know it until later.   There was a couple that Carmina had introduced me to at Sway in December, and I recognized them.   We chatted at the studio, at Sway, and then at the after party.   Carmina also was there briefly for a lesson.   Then there was the other Jane (there a month ago) who told me she lives in Glen Head but comes to Soho to take Argentine tango lessons with Andrei.  Seeing her is what gave me the idea to ask for that.  

I went back to the hotel and collapsed until Friday morning.  I took a hot shower, and then did some work.   I actually thought about a long hot bath because I was sore, but I decided it would be really embarrassing if I couldn’t get out of the tub by myself.

Last edited by tangodancer208 (6/08/2015 1:38 pm)

Recap - Part 3 - Saturday

For the matinee, I walked back and forth in the lobby.   Merv was there, and I gave him thank you notes for the cast.  I told him there was one for him as well.

For the matinee, I was front and center, with my friend Carmina about 4 seats to my left.   The show was again wonderful.  The audience was quieter, but the proportions of response (ie. who got the biggest ovations) were the same.   As we were waiting to for the show to start, I turned around to look at the theater and spied Lizzie 4 rows behind me.   I took a couple of pictures, like I was shooting the theater itself, to get her in it, so I could make sure it was her.  (In fact, she was at the M&G later)
As I was walking out to the lobby before the show after having found my seat, Val came in with Nicole.   They stood talking to someone at the merch table, and then Val headed into the theater.  He took some ladies’ tickets and showed them their seats before heading backstage.   Needless to say they were flabbergasted.

A few minutes later, it was quiet at the merch stand, and I called Nicole’s name.   I told her who I was.   When I told her about the notes last time, she remembered.   I told her we missed her dancing in the show this time, but she said she had a lot going on in her life.   I told her congratulations.   She said she’d be back for Miami.   I also told her I liked her food pix on Instagram.

I went out into the lobby at intermission.  On the way out and the way back, I ran smack into Grandma C (like face to face, I needed to step to the side to go around her).   Someone got a picture with her, but I know she speaks even less English than Mama C, and she was alone with no one to translate so I would never feel right putting her on the spot.   Andrea, the other manager from Glen Head, was at the merch table, and he also recognized me.   I told him I had taken lessons at Soho, and that I had told Somah, the other manager,  I felt like I was cheating.  He responded that as long as it was all in the family, that was fine.

At the opening of the second act is the dance off between Alex’ team of hip hoppers and Henry’s team of disco dancers.   They get the audience involved, and then Tony comes out and breaks it up and discos off the stage.   This time, Merv preceded Tony onstage like his bodyguard.   He’s so huge and imposing but funny.   He just stood there, and then when the others left the stage he did a few dance moves, then puts his straight face on again and goes off.   It was one of the most hysterically funny things I’ve ever seen, especially since we know Merv.   I’m sure half the audience had no clue who he was, but it was still funny.
When Maks came through the audience, he took the person at the far left of the center section.   He still walked right in front of me.   That man just oozes magnetism and sex appeal.  He is so gorgeous.   He dances with Virginia at the beginning of his segment, and I think they are very well matched.  She’s tall and seductive like him, without Peta’s hard edges.  

There was a new number in this act with Henry & Jenna.   I think it was supposed to be Henry & Amy, but when Amy dropped out they decided to do have him do something with Jenna.   So I had only seen it for the first time the night before, and it wasn’t in the program, because Amy dropped out too late.   So when Henry, Artem & Serge came out, I didn’t really realize what was happening.   Then they all jumped off the stage and into the audience.   Artem landed right in front of me.  We made eye contact, and he pulled me up to salsa.   We did a few steps and he twirled me so he was behind me.   He said, “You know what you’re doing.  I’m going to get someone else.”   They each danced with 2 or 3 ladies from the audience, and then finished up the number on stage.   I was speechless.   Stefan, the videographer, assured me they got in on film.

Afterward, I raced downstairs and was almost the first person in line.   The person who went through M&G just before me and ended up monopolizing Maks.  He even moved away from the group so she could tell him something.   I’m there waiting, standing between Val & Tony.   Val put his chin on my shoulder and asked it I wanted a pic.  I had on my Street Couture T-shirt.   I looked over at Artem and said, “I bet you didn’t think I could salsa!”  He laughed.   You can barely see me in the photo.  No interaction with Maks at that one.  Val kept calling Maks to come back, and then said something to him in Russian.   I said to him, “I speak 4 languages, but Russian isn’t one of them.”  So that was my moment with Val.

As I was going through the lobby, I passed Virginia.  She’s one of the dancers who has a beautiful solo dance with Artem, Henry, and Serge, and I told her how much I loved it.   She used to manage one of the studios, although she’s not listed anymore.  I told her I was tangodancer, and that I had written the letter to Alex that was shared.    Realization dawned on her, and she said, “Oh, yes! Maks read it to us!”  I almost lost it.   I was pretty certain that he must have seen it, but had no way of knowing for sure.  This was proof.  I didn’t think to ask if she meant the cast, but I assume that is who it was.   I know Leanne had read it to the staff at Soho.  The important thing for me was that Maks had definitely read it.  

The evening show was dazzling.  The audience was great, full house, and the cast was on fire.  Every last one of them.   Maks really plays to the audience, and at one point, he pointed at me & smiled.   Both of the people on either side of me looked at me.   That was a thrilling moment, too.

We went downstairs for the M&G.  I was about the 8th or 9th person in line.  It took forever.  They were very late coming down. There was a large crowd of guests who seemed to be there for Tony, and Lina was there, too.   While we were waiting, Meryl’s parents came down the stairs, but turned around and left.  Grandma C also came down and was waiting, and someone brought Sir Sleep through.

The cast were all dressed formally for the after party, and they took publicity shots.   I figured this was my last chance to achieve my goal, and I wanted to tell Maks who I was and that I was the one that wrote the letter.  The problem was (like the very first M&G back in December) that he wasn’t really listening.   And because I hadn’t had time to formalize things in my mind, I was too insistent on my name.  Really what I wanted to communicate was that I had written that letter.   Don’t know if it every dawned on him. 

More to come this evening, specifically about the show, with a couple of pix.