2 Weeks to Go!

Anna and I have been working on two new routines to supplement our West Coast Swing routine - a Hustle and a Cabaret routine. Our debut performance date this year is June 11, 2011 where we will perform all three routines at Stardust Dance Weekend in the Catskills.

The New Hustle Routine

One of our new routines is Hustle. For us, this might be the hardest challenge. When we picked music back in January, we knew that it was going to be a musical routine and a test of endurance. The song we picked was Ke$ha's Take It Off which is at 125 beats per minute. We liked the song for its party style energy, strong lyrics, and interesting compositional texture. During our first rehearsal, back on January 14, 2011, we choreographed a solid 45 seconds - which is a good amount.

That January rehearsal was our last until this May (Anna was attending New York University for her Doctorate in Science Education). Since that May 13th rehearsal, we have added another 2 minutes of choreography, including tons of hustle, lifts and tricks.

We actually completed the choreography last night, May 30 during a 4 hour rehearsal. It had taken us almost 5 days to create 20 seconds of choreography and a final pose. Once we were done, we began the process of running the piece and making changes along the way.

Our starting sequence (picture above), is a little different now. I won't be crawling on the floor. As much as I liked the idea of crawling, it's not good for the costumes and adds for a layer of complication that we're trying to avoid in competition.

The New Cabaret Routine

Anna and I loved our former Cabaret routine to Ordinary Day. As much as I will never want to retire that piece, we needed to choreograph something else. Part of the enjoyment of Cabaret is that there are almost no limits to creativity and musical choices. Anna and I decided to use a piece of music we heard during the holiday season that made us turn our heads to each other and say, "this would make a fun piece". We choice Favorite Things performed by Tony Bennet and the Count Basie Big Band Orchestra. We really loved the song because it was a swing-waltz - which give a sense of romance and continuous movement.

Our first rehearsal for this piece was also on January 14, 2011, when we choreographed almost 90 seconds - a huge portion of the piece. We felt very inspired by the music and really enjoyed our rehearsal. Our second rehearsal for this piece was on May 18 where we got through the middle section of the routine - a simulated tap dancing section.

We theoretically finished the routine during our rehearsal on May 20, but we were so tired we were not able to run it full through. Our first full run of this new routine happened yesterday on May 30, 2011 during that grueling 4 hour rehearsal.

Our starting sequence (pictured) remains the same as much of the original choreography has. This piece almost created itself in many ways - which doesn't happen very often.