Ken and Barbie go to Dance Camp

Justin and I spent the past week at the BYU Ballroom Dance Camp. We took 5 hours of Viennese Waltz and 5 hours of Cha-Cha. Both of those dances were performed at the final banquet. We also took 4 hours each of Tango (our favorite!), American Swing, and West Coast Swing. There were 3 hours of the Quickstep, which is every bit as difficult as you've heard them talk about on Dancing with the Stars, but it was so fun! We also did a little Salsa, Samba, and Foxtrot. Overall, we held up very well. Our feet were sore and smelly, and at one point Justin had to ice his arm (he got a little excited on one of the cha-cha moves and pulled a muscle). But we didn't overdo it either. We ditched one or two dance classes and a lecture so that we could go see the final Harry Potter movie (fantastic!) and go to the temple. The last time we'd been on a trip for more than one night was 5 years ago, before we even had kids, so we wanted to work in a little relaxation, too. It was also great to eat out at yummy Provo restaurants together.



We were surprised to find very few other people our age. There were 280 "campers" and I'd say we were among the youngest. We joked that sometimes it felt like we were dancing at the senior citizen center. The youngest dancers were taking more advanced classes. Sigh... some day. A lot of these dancers have been to camp 20 to 30 times. And I hate to say it, but it doesn't show. Thank goodness they love it despite how well they may or may not dance. I was lucky to have Justin to dance with. He is a great lead. Many couples would switch partners, but we typically did not. We didn't arrange for babysitters and vacation time just to dance with other people! The one class that we did switch, we had several ladies saying afterward, "Oh, your husband is such a good partner! You are so lucky!" Believe me, I know. How many husbands would do this for their vacation in the first place?

One of my favorite parts was the morning warm-up. It had some components of jazz dancing, which I haven't done much since high school. Justin could tell I was having so much fun that he snapped a picture. The teacher, Mic Thomson, has danced alongside many famous people, including Michael Jackson in "Dangerous." He was in the first Pirates of the Carribean movie, Enchanted, and he does lots of work for Disney. He even choreographed High School Musical and Tarzan at Tuacahn. He was so much fun!



Our instructors were fabulous! They have won many competitions and some are even current champions. Here is a look at our Viennese Waltz teacher. She and her partner were recently on Dancing with the Stars as guest performers. Here are Urs and Agnes:






Click here if you want to see their amazing performance to Michael Buble on the show.


We also loved Ron Montez, who was an amazing dancer in his day, and can still hold his own on the dance floor. He was one of the choreographers on "So You Think You Can Dance" a few years back and is the host of the long-running America's Ballroom Challenge on PBS. Here's Ron:


Speaking of Ron, before the final banquet started he came over to us and asked our names. Uh-oh... we knew something was up. We started to fear that we would be asked to come out and start the open dancing or something. We enjoyed a yummy dinner and then they started in on giving several (mostly silly) awards. Well, they called us up and we received the Ken and Barbie award! The dance director, Lee Wakefield, said, "We have so many wonderful couples that come to dance camp and this year we'd like to give the Ken and Barbie award to them. Aren't they cute together?!" They gave us our own Ken and Barbie dolls. It was quite a fun surprise. For the rest of the night, everyone said hello to Ken and Barbie (no one knew our real names). We had thought that nobody would really watch our performances, but after receiving our award we were wrong. Before we began we could hear all the teacher assistants yelling, "Go Ken and Barbie!" So much for going unnoticed! The performances went well, and Justin and I had a fabulous time. We count that night as one of the most memorable since we have been together. It was fun to be dance partners all over again, similar to how we met as partners on the folk dance team more than 8 years ago. It was great to be at BYU and be reminded of the many memories we had on that campus.



So here we are driving to dance camp. Boy, were we excited!!!



And here we are waiting for the shuttle bus at our hotel so that we can begin classes for the day.


Here we are just after getting home... it was so great!



A big thank you to Grandma Sherri, Grandma K., and Aunt Jodi for watching our little rascals. We're so glad that our kiddos were in good hands. They had a great time with cousins and even went to the zoo!







One of the mornings, Grandma K. and Jodi couldn't find Nolan anywhere. They were started to get frantic and even check outside. Finally, he was found sound asleep sitting straight up in his closet. He had gone to the bathroom at some point and then returned to his closet without any bottoms on. This kid can sleep anywhere!