Silver lining

Last year's medal testing experience was a rush of sheer adrenaline. I didn't know what to expect. I had worked really hard to get there. I had spent a lot of money. I really had something to prove.

This year was less about the amount of training I had put into the three dances I had presented and more about the training I have built up during a lifetime of dancing and performing. Since Larry and I were on different continents until ten days before we tested, it was a little difficult to put a lot of time in prior to the big day. We worked hard at Furudal, but a week of rehearsal doesn't build the same hunger and sense of entitlement to pass as six months of rehearsing.

The dance floor in Orsa was slick. Like ice. Testing on Saturday gave us a little time to get used to it. The evening dances were really fun, although I left them all early because I was pretty tired. I did a fair amount of practicing with Larry, although I mostly danced with David. I did get to dance with David Eriksson, always nice.

After I danced on Saturday, I was fairly certain that things went well for me. We danced cleanly, if not perfectly and we got good music. Larry and Karlyn got difficult music, so their Saturday night was a little more nerve-wracking. To smooth things over, David and I made a chocolate cake.

On Sunday they started with the certificates; the tensest moment was waiting to hear Larry's name when they were calling people who in the process of earning the Big Silver. Even though I was the last one of the Seattle crew to get called, I was relaxed after Larry and Karlyn walked across the stage. I knew that if they had passed with the difficulties they had experienced, I had passed. The word on my certificate is 'gott' (good or well). Not quite as poetic as last year, but perhaps next year will be better.