sitting at the foot of the blues part I

Sitting at the Foot of the Blues in London two weeks ago - I had such GREAT TIME. Had hours of great dancing, hours of great learning, and about four life epiphanies. Phew! :)

Liam and I took the train down to London on the Thursday and started our weekend with cocktails.

The day after Liam worked remotely and I spent the day reading, disturbing him with kisses, and taking a walk in Hyde Park.

And then I met Annette for dinner. We all know dance life is weird - with some of your close friends spread out all over Europe, or the world - but it's also so lovely, to make time at events to spend quality time with them, to have just two hours in each others company, but those hours are worth so much, and it feels like you met yesterday, even though it's been six months.

Friday evening was Blues at the Ritzy and I took absolutely no photos at all. I just danced danced danced.

Saturday started with a history talk by Cara. I obviously love history and was excited to expand my knowledge about a part of US history that is essential for blues dancers.

Then I had two classes with Trisha. She is THE BEST. I was completely mesmerised and inspired, and I felt so much joy throughout my whole body while I was dancing, it was exhilarating!

Roundtable! The topics were interesting and the panelists well worth listening to, but this hour was not for me.
I realised: Few things makes me feel left out like a whole room laughing at things I can't hear or understand.
And also: Even people who speak clearly and slowly when they "just talk" will both lower their voice and speak faster when they're about to say something funny - even people who would normally be careful because they know you're not a native speaker. That is the nature of a joke, isn't it? It's a conspiracy between the person talking and the people listening; comments told with an air of something secret or a little bit forbidden.
The panel discussion, for me, was mostly that: jokes I didn't have time to decipher before they were gone, and everyone laughing around me. So I left, went back to the apartment and had a shower and a good cry instead, as I do when something makes me feel like I suck. Happens.

Dinner time! Yummy, yummy dinner time.

And then, a Saturday party at Merchant Moonshine. So good. So so good. I had SUCH GREAT DANCES. Obviously the dance floor was way too small for the amount of people there, but the trick is to dance as close to the musician(s) as possible - where there is often more breathing space - and just never leave the dance floor. :)

I wasn't on photo duty, but here's some stuff I captured: