Can-Am Dancesport Competition - 2013

One of the judges described me as beautiful to my teacher, Yanna Samkova after seeing me compete in the rhythm dance events this past week at the Can-Am Dancesport Competition held at the Westin Harbor Castle in Toronto, Canada. Well, if that didn't make my day, nothing did.  But I'm sure her description was meant to convey the relative difference of my performance this one lucky day as compared to the fractured, off balanced, inconsistent, mistimed, and tortured appearance and performance of the past.  Nevertheless, it set a good sign for things to come for an overall satisfying performance of any dance competition in the recent past.

The Can Am, short for Canadian American Dancesport Competition - August 1-4, 2013 was the first comp that I participated in outside of the US.  Meant to combine a compilation of American and Canadian students, teachers, professionals, etc, it appropriately included the four kinds of dances: rhythm, standard, smooth, and Latin.

Toronto is a lovely city, sitting north of Lake Ontario. The location of the Westin Hotel on the lake front provided a lovely serene panorama of silky glass to the south, and the imposing skyline of what felt like hundreds of towering skyscrapers to the north. Found in varying sizes and shapes, glass encased monsters reached toward the sky, some partially clothed surrounded by construction scaffolding, some more modern and fragile in appearance, strewn haphazardly in the labyrinth of this major metropolitan city.  And commanding this legion of towering concrete and glass jungle was the tallest structure on the face of North America, the CN Tower. Reaching to the ski, from the street level, it looked like an ice pick piercing through the heart of a flying saucer. And that is where Yanna and I had a celebration dinner the night before returning home. Sitting in a rotating restaurant aptly called Restaurant 360, it entertained us with a full panoramic view of the Toronto skyline as it rotated around its ice pick axis while we simultaneously enjoyed what was surprisingly a fabulous dinner.

Arriving in Toronto, i didn't know what to expect.  Our packet included the usual paperback schedule of heats and other information, but there were also a number of nice touches like the individualized Can Am Comp Plaque with my name on it with room for individual result tabs.  Other inclusions were a Can Am Comp towel to use during the comp, and a fruit basket including a small bottle of champagne which I inhaled the moment I reached the room after my last event.  A welcoming reception that served wine and various snacks, a sit down banquet dinner on the last evening, a final reception complete with cocktails and various appetizers which I was too tired to attend all rounded out the amenities and festivities.  Cold water was found in the ballroom at all times. The judging panel was all friendly and attentive. 

As expected, the competition was filled with Canadians from Ontario and other provinces.  There was also a smattering of Americans from around the country but we undoubtedly traveled the furthest distance to attend the event. The competitors included a good balance of youth, amateur couples and Pro Am. The organizer somehow greeted me without introduction as he was apparently happy to have competitors participate from such distant locations. As expected, most of the competitors were unfamiliar to me since they represented students from Canada and the US northeast. This added a level of excitement in not knowing what to expect from the level of dance that I was about to encounter. One exception was my friend Ram V, another old man like me who lost his wife, and is now filling his time honing his dance skills. He is also enamored by, and was very chatty with my dance teacher, Yanna Samkova who also stole the attention of other students during the three day event.   

As I surveyed my male competitors, I noticed that all were in good shape, sans pooch belly, tall, and all experienced dancers. There were no freebies as in some competitions when I see older, frailer, out of shape and flat footed competitors.  In all, there were three gentlemen competitors, one during the rhythm dances and three competing in standard ballroom where I experienced the most traffic on the competition floor.  Next to Latin, standard is my most challenging dance style so I was not expecting to do that well, knowing that standard is the style that most Canadians concentrate on.

About 70 dance events later not including the five - 3 dance scholarships and one - open 4 dance championship, all stuffed into three days (I am used to 4 day events), my feet and legs were aching and in pain, my mind fatigued, and overall I was truly wasted.  But there were many moments of joy and others not so pleasant – punctuated by missteps, brain farts, dancing faster than the music would dictate, and frame collapses that occurred in traffic. In the end, the moments of joy greatly outweighed my lapses in performance and it was all worth the effort.

From the final tally, I was awarded a top twenty student award, the bronze international male student award, and my most coveted win was the silver smooth male student award.  Fortunately, these wins included modest monetary prizes, and medallions and plaques that were easy to pack rather than bulky plastic trophies that would have mandated another cheap suitcase purchase from some Walmart lookalike in Canada.

The Tufts 

Having completed my competition events, I looked forward to enjoying the last evening's festivities with a drink in hand.  The professional show on Saturday evening was a compilation of dances performed by some of the professionals competing in the event.  I particularly loved the solo performance of Travis and Jaimee Tuft, a truly unforgettable, elegant and fluid Theatre Arts performance that I have seen several times including in Blackpool. But I also thoroughly enjoyed the preceding group of dance competitions showcased on this final evening.  From flowing gowns during standard and smooth competitions to the tight, crisp, sharp movements of the Latin dances, I particularly was impressed by the imposing talent of a couple of 11 year old's (at least this is how old they looked to me) competing in the Junior International Latin Championships.

This prompts my last thought in this brief composition. There is no other venue that I can think of that successfully brings together and combines the talents of such a broad spectrum of youth to senior citizen than ballroom dance competition.  Truly, just think about it! It’s truly a wonderful feeling to be engaged in such a generation span activity. Every age group offers a unique set of skills, all enjoyable to watch, including the washed out senior citizens like myself who work very hard every day to stay in shape and remain healthy and flexible in order to perform to the best of their ability.