Ballroom dancing for kids

Dan's gone to see Placebo with his sister tonight, so I'm having a quiet evening on my own at home (the kids are here, obviously, but asleep in bed, thank goodness!). Actually, I'm amazed that I'm still awake since this time last night I was fast asleep on the couch (and then I woke up and stumbled upstairs to bed... not an uncommon occurrence these days!).

I just watched a documentary on the ABC, called Ballroom Babies. It was the story of a bunch of kids who compete in ballroom dancing competitions at quite a serious level. The eldest was a 15 year old girl, who looked like she was twice that age when she was on the dance floor, all dressed up. The youngest was a 6 year old girl.

Oh, it was such a delightful show to watch! I spent the entire time grinning. The kids were absolutely gorgeous. They were enthusiastic and happy and cute. Of course there were the expected pushy parents, but not all the parents were pushy. All the parents were incredibly supportive, but you'd have to be when your kids are training several times a week and going to competitions all the time. The show culminated in the Australian Championships where some of them won or placed and some didn't. I thought it was quite well done. A good show to watch.

And it reminds me of when I did ballet at the local RSL club, many many years ago. There was a ballroom dancing teacher and class, and I'll never forget the "star" couple of the class who were brother and sister, I think. Maybe they were twins - they looked very much alike, anyway. I was fascinated by them and they were always getting their pictures in the newsletters and in the local paper. I can't remember their names anymore. I also remember that the mood was very intense. I was just mucking around with a bit of ballet but these other people were so serious! Hey, I also just remembered that there was a girl who did rhythmic gymnastics in my ballet class. She went on to compete for Australia in the Commonwealth Games one year. I don't know how she went. She was an amazing contortionist.