It's over...

So...yesterday was the winter dance showcase for my studio...I had two dances; a cha-cha formation (group dance), and a foxtrot with my dance instructor. This is what I'd been waiting for since I started dancing at the studio a year ago...I mean, there's a summer showcase, which is nice, but it's a small, understated thing...it was held at the studio, not a whole lot of people...you get the idea. The winter one is a big deal...it was at the Sheraton in Columbia, had a buffet dinner and dessert...and not that people don't put a lot of work into the summer showcase (cuz I know I did), but there's something that's just a little more special about this one...it makes you really want to try even harder.

Anyway...the night was bittersweet for me...I had a wonderful time dancing, even though I think our cha-cha was a trainwreck, and I know I've danced my foxtrot routine better in practice than I did last night...but I had fun, and that's what's important. The end of the night saw me getting a little misty-eyed...but I did a good job holding it together, until I went to say goodbye to the studio staff, and my instructor piped up that it was my last showcase. Thanks buddy...I appreciate that. :( I lost it after that, and just started crying like a little girl...because it hit me that I was officially no longer his student...my lessons are over...the showcase is over...and I'm sad.

I feel like I'm losing part of my family...and although I'm still here until the end of January, I no longer have a lesson plan, or anything like that. If I come into the studio, it'll be for parties and things...not my regular weekly getaway. This officially sucks. I'm sitting here wiping away tears as I type.

Yes, I completely understand that there ARE, in fact, dance studios in Jersey...and I'm sure there are very good ones, but...it's not the same...it won't have the same people...and more important than anything else; it won't have my instructor. At this point I can't fathom being taught by anyone else and enjoying it even half as much as I do now. Part of the joy I have when I'm dancing is the personal connection I have with him...and for me, it's hard to make connections like that. We have such a good time while we're dancing, laughing and making jokes...it makes the most boring dances (like the waltz, which usually bores me to tears) fun to learn. It's rare to find a teacher like that once in your life...let alone twice.

Thanks for letting me get all that out...I have a feeling I may not be my usual happy self for a while...but I'll get through it.