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.

NM i folkemusikk og folkedans

We were sleeping in a classroom with eleven people, most of whom we'd never met before; that is, I'd met one of them before and David had never met any of them. Since we were the last two to show up, we got the spot right by the door and the sink that everyone had to walk by. Needless to say, it was not comfortable. Fortunately that was the only real downside the event.

The other downside was that I had too many friends competing at the same time. I managed to see very few of them dancing. I did however get to see and hear lots of very good competition. The results of the week's competition were exciting - especially in dance! As usual with such a competition, there is now some debate about the criteria the judges used, especially in the vocal categories. As a spectator, the event was a success - lots to see and hear during the day and lots to dance to in the evening. As usual in Norway, going to a dance with a steady partner is a lot more fun.

We left early to get back to Rauland in time for the opening of the summer art exhibition. We drove the short way over the mountains and took lots of photos from the car. We stopped at a mountain stream for lunch. David played on a rock out in the stream; I was too chicken to jump out there and the rocks were too slippery to wade out on. We made it home just in time to take a shower, eat dinner and drive to the gallery opening.