There are seven of them. Seven beautiful and lovely dancing ladies that inspire Hubby and I by sharing our passion and making our dreams come true. Without their hard work, their remarkable dedication, their outstanding efforts and their very clever input, Ballroom Health would be just another humdrum studio like any other. They are all amazing troopers that sometimes dance through their aching knees, feet, hips, shoulders and necks. They dance as if there is no tomorrow, and put all their heart and soul in every step they take.
Last Saturday, this incredible team competed in the 2011 Spring Dance Sport Challenge held at The Winona Vines Estates, in Stoney Creek, Ontario, and performed four challenging numbers. Two of them, a Rumba and a Mambo choreographed by other studios, took Gold and Bronze Awards in the Line Dance Category. The other two dances, Dol-Cha Vita and Quick Horse, two dances choreographed by Hubby, myself and “OUR” Girls with their invaluable input, took Silver and a Bronze Awards in the Canadian National Group Routine Championship Division. They made us so proud that it is almost impossible to express our feelings with mere, simple words.
In order to win such wonderful awards and bring home 4 trophies, the team had to rehearse constantly. They always showed up snow, rain or shine, no matter if they had had a rough day or a good one. We had rehearsals on week nights, on week-ends (afternoons and/or evenings) and even on Mother’s Day. Some of them lasted 90 minutes and others, more than 2 hours. They never complained, always smiled and brightened the studio with their sparkling personalities. They have become the best of friends and created bonds that only a team that believes in each other can understand. They have also become the very best team of dancers, friends and sisters any teacher could ever dream to have.
Our Team is also blessed to have its own Mother, a wonderful, warm, kind and witty dancer named Rita. She is most probably the “Lovely Rita” who inspired The Beatles to write their famous song. “OUR” Lovely Rita has been taking Dancing Lessons with us in our Basic Classes and is the Team’s Number One Fan. She watches some of our rehearsals, comes dancing with us at the West-Way Ballroom Dancing Club in Toronto and was very present to cheer us on at the two competitions in which we took part (May 2010 and May 2011). We have just learned that she has won a Bronze award for Line Dancing and were stunned when she told us she was 67 years old at the time. Rita will celebrate her 80th Birthday on July 18th and dances as if she was a teenager! A truly remarkable woman whom we love with all our heart.
Last night, “OUR” Girls showed up at the studio for their regular classes and we all started babbling about last Saturday when suddenly, Hubby and I were told no one would be dancing, to pack-up our sound equipment, remove our dancing shoes and follow them. Wondering what on Earth was going on, we did what we were told and were taken to a lovely restaurant where they treated us to scrumptious food and savory wine, and where peels of laughter and tears of joy were shared between all of us. And as if that wasn’t enough, they offered us a superb bouquet of flowers and a beautiful bottle of wine. The card on the bouquet said “Rosemarie and Tom, Thank you so much! Love, Your Girls”. Another beautiful card is adorned with cute mini hot-air lovely balloons with little Thank You boxes on the front of it, and on which “OUR Lovely Rita” and “OUR” Girls wrote their names. The inside of the card is loaded with warm and delightful sentiments. Needless to say I cried and Hubby tried not to…
Since this wonderful surprise was kept very secret, Hubby and I did not have a camera. Therefore, we took a picture of these wondrous gifts when we got home which I will share with you, faithful readers, along with our Dress Rehearsal Videos and other shots taken at the competition.
We are still waiting for the videos shot by professionals at the actual competition and as soon as I receive them, I will post them on my blog so that you can feel the thrill of the crowd and see with your own eyes why “OUR” Girls are so very precious to us.
Thank you for being you, Ladies. Thank you for giving us a purpose. Thank you for sharing this dancing adventure with us and for being our second family. We absolutely love you with every fiber we have.
Standing - From Left To Right: Tom (Hubby), our Lovely Rita (who is actually Carol's Mum who is sitting right below her), our Christabelle, our Laura and me.
Sitting - From Left To Right: our Sylvia, our Carol, our Wendy, our Lorraine and our Clara.
These videos were shot at the studio during Dress Rehearsal on Friday, May 13, 2011. They are self-explanatory and state which award was won. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed dancing them!
The Trophies OUR Girls brought home!
The lovely gifts "Our" Girls and "Our" Lovely Rita gave us last night!
