What A Week!

It certainly has been a busy week at Capital Carousels!! Last weekend, our annual Capital Caper Weekend took place where we welcomed back our longtime instructors, Steve and Irene Bradt! We also had many Capital Carousels members, along with visitors from the Montreal area as well as some from Southwestern Ontario. Thanks to everyone who came. We hope you enjoyed your weekend! Things started off on Friday afternoon with a phase 3 quickstep called, Puttin’ On The Ritz where we had plenty of practice on our quarter turn and progressive chasse and also the strolling vine. On Friday evening, we learned a very nice phase 4 tango called After Midnight Tango where we had a lot of emphasis on technique. After a good night’s sleep, we got into foxtrot mode on Saturday morning with a phase 5 dance, Mommy’s Shoes where many of us were exposed to the continuous hover cross. After a nourishing lunch where we had a nice variety of sandwiches, cheeses, veggies and fruit along with some squares and cookies for dessert. Also a nice opportunity to catch up with some people we haven’t seen in awhile. On Saturday afternoon, we finished off the teaches with one which Steve and Irene wrote, a phase 4 cha called That’s What I Like About You. We finished off our weekend with a night dance where we got to enjoy dancing to Steve’s cueing. We also had a chance to view the Bradts doing the dance demos and then we got to dance them all twice. A busy weekend for sure! Capital Caper wouldn’t be possible without the tireless work of Pat Black on the basic structure of the teaches and dance program and syllabus, Gavin Currie for his work with registration and Ian and Ann Webb for their work on planning refreshments and the Saturday lunch. Also thanks to Brian and Ann Gibbs for their work on Friday’s refreshments, Arlo Speer for equipment setup and takedown and all of those who helped out with setup and takedown at Saturday’s lunch-including some of our visitors. Now, we go back to our club and review the dances for our future dancing pleasure. Thanks again to all who attended!
Not to be finished this week, Capital Carousels had a special milestone on Wednesday! Not only was it our Annual Ghostly Gala, but it was also our 5th Anniversary Dance. As you can see by the picture posted here with this blog, we continue to have some very creative people coming in costume! With the help of the song, Purple People Eater, dancers paraded around the dance floor showing off their costumes. I was judge this year and although the decision was tough, the prize winners were as follows: 2nd Runner Up-Joe and Gail Larabie (flower and weed), 1st Runner Up-Ziggy and Jenny Segstro (patient and nurse) and Winner, Pat Black and Charlie Stuart (hotdog and coke). After a frenzy at the 50/50 table, Robert Read won the prize. Congratulations to all! As always Pat and Jill Ivay did a fabulous job on decorations and Ian and Ann Webb did a superb job on refreshments along with two cakes-one for Halloween and one for our Anniversary. Be on the lookout for pictures which I will post in the gallery here when I get them. It was a smaller crowd then we would have thought, but the weather was not on our side with rain and wind. We thank all of those who came out and “braved the elements”!
Thursday was a quiet day as we had no dancing due to other events at the church, so it gave us all a chance to recoup! Starting this week, the Caper reviews will begin. On Wednesday, Pat and John will start the foxtrot review of Mommy’s Shoes. On Thursday, Ziggy and Jenny will be back with us in teaching mode beginning the review of the cha, That’s What I Like About You! Lots of good dancing ahead! See you on the dance floor!