The Day Before the Music Died

The BYU Ballroom Competition is a big one. It goes for several days and is the highlight of many team performances. Daisy was especially looking forward to dancing there. Ivory danced mid week and Daisy was scheduled for Saturday. Spoiler: The Corona Pandemic hit and social distancing began immediately that Thursday. Saturday's performances were canceled. Daisy was so sad. Ivory made it in just in time, although she didn't know it at the time.

She had been doing the ballroom class in her Junior High. You get all sorts of skill levels in there, so it is a bit of a hodge podge, but still lots of fun. During the day, they offered the Newcomer Swing, but as far as I know, Ivory and Isaac were the only ones to participate. (It was optional.) So I got them out of school and took them over in the morning.

It is fun to sit and watch all the performances while I waited for my kid. I really enjoy the team dances. When they are in sync, it is really beautiful to watch.

Ballroom is all about crazy costumes, but even I would say 'NO' to some choices. These futuristic outfits are way out there.

Then it was time for the Newcomer Swing. They have so many kids participate. I think there were nine original heats. Ivory and Isaac did a great job.

While we were waiting for callbacks, we watched some other latin competitions. I do enjoy all the sparkly dresses, but I had to laugh when I saw two that were very similar. And they happened to be dancing in the same heat.

In fact, almost next to each other at one point. I'm guessing there were some glares afterward. It was like a 'Who Wore It Best' article.

Results came back on the Newcomer Swing and Ivory and Isaac didn't advance. They did such a good job, but perhaps they didn't stand out. It was okay. I got a picture of them and then I took them  back to school.

We all came back in the evening for the team competition. This was the usual competition where each couple is assigned a dance and then they get a surprise dance. Ivory danced the Foxtrot first with her partner Gabriel.

Her surprise dance was the swing, but she already knew what she was doing.

While they tally scores, they do the social swing, where all the guys choose a new partner from another school. A nice looking guy found Ivory and he even taught her a few new moves during the dance. Sadly, it wasn't long enough to really figure it all out, but always fun to try something new.

Finally, it was time for awards. I wasn't holding my breath. They got bronze at the last competition. Granted, it was totally different girls. Ivory was the only girl to compete in both competitions. But they did great and got gold! I think their coach was a little surprised.

But imagine her surprise when they got first place overall, and the trophy! (I was super surprised myself.)

Not sure how that all worked, but it is always great to feel like you did a good job! Congrats kiddos.

Here is Ivory with her partner Gabriel.

It was definitely an exciting night and a good end to Ivory's ballroom season. Definitely better than Daisy's end. But you can't choose when a pandemic will hit.