Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Waltz 101

It has been quite the busy couple of weeks leading up to Christmas break here in Bologna so I have not really had any time to do much traveling this month since going to Venice. Yet even amid all the readings, papers, economic problem sets, and presentations I managed to find some time for some fun tonight!

As you may remember in February I will be going to a Venetian Ball! Well if one is to attend such a ball one should be properly prepared! It really would be a tragedy if someone spent the time and money to go to a ball in a palace in Venice and did not even know how to Waltz! Lucky for me I have had some experience Waltzing in the past in high school shows and theater classes, but that was quite awhile ago. So tonight the ball committee here offered the first of two crash courses in Waltzing! So I of course attended to brush up my skills and learn some new moves! The teacher for the evening was actually a student here who used to do competitive dancing when he was younger, and he did a great job. We learned several different step types, including the Venetian Waltz (which is much faster and more difficult), as well as how to properly ask someone for a dance and escort them onto the ballroom floor (apparently you must do it properly), and how to properly thank them after a dance. All in all the event was a lot of fun and at least we can all say we have some idea of how to do things properly when the ball arrives in early February.

Here is a video of our teacher dancing with one the girls who attended. Enjoy!

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