Walzing Into The History Books
The Big Guy goes . . . Ballroom Dancing???
By Ceridwen
(cath_dc@yahoo.com)
S
Hercules "There's a lot of warriors who take lessons with Widow Twanky. It's exactly the same, you know. We can jump and kick as well. I think it's exactly the same and personally, I think it's even nicer to see people dancing than to see people fighting."
But unlike fighting the Gods or slaying monsters, ballroom dancing seems to have an image problem says Widow Twanky, herself trainer of many successful competitive couples, including Hercules and Althea. What the public usually sees are the splashy colours, the glitter, the feathers, the fame. But underneath all that, Twanky says, ballroom dancing is a highly athletic activity.
Widow Twanky "In order to do these competitions you have to be extremely fit because it's usually 5 dances. Why, you have to do so many rounds, you end up dancing 40 times in a night. And the energy that's expended in doing these things is equal to any monster slaying or killing warlords, and you have to train for fitness as well as for the artistic side."
If you look at the dancers at this Pan-Athenian event, they seem to move with effortless grace. But catch them during a break and you'll notice the sweat on their foreheads that reveal the expended energy that went into every movement. Supporters point to a study by Greek physicians who strapped heart rate monitors on the country's top ballroom dancer and top runner. They found that a 2-minute quickstep required more physical exertion than an 800-meter run from a charging Hydra!
Seven days a week Hercules and Althea practised all day at Widow Twanky's small dance studio just outside of Rhumba. Hercules is a half-god and hero, who's now won his first national title in ballroom dancing.
Hercules "One of the things that's so wonderful about ballroom dancing, is that there are people who are competing into their 50s and they're fabulous and it's really terrific to be part of a sport where you're not excluded because you're over 20 or the son of Zeus."
Hercules says ballroom dancing is no different from other sports; it requires extensive training and is physically demanding. As with gymnastics or figure skating, he says ballroom dancing has its own set of compulsory routines and dances.
Hercules "You know what the timing will be, you know the speed of the music, you know the approximate length of the music. You would not have heard the music, you don't know what music you'll be dancing to, so part of the skill involved is in being able to interpret the music immediately. You know what your guidelines are, but you've got to be able to move within those guidelines effectively and quickly. It's like fighting a Hydra really."
At the moment ballroom dancing is listed as a provisional sport. That means it's on a waiting list along with surfing and curling until the Olympic Committee gives its blessings to become a medal event. When the big day comes, Hercules says he may consider competing if demi-gods are allowed to enter.
Hercules "It's uncharted territory for me and I find myself in a similar position with a national title in ballroom dancing now and wonder whether or not I could go that next step and at this point anything can happen."
But would ballroom dancing draw enough competitors from all over the world? Widow Twanky, one of the judges at next years Pan-Athenian Championships, thinks so.
Widow Twanky "I'm going to Sumeria actually next month. They have several competitions there. The Sumerians have always been high up in ballroom dancing; people just didn't know about it."
But the day when all the nations of the world send their best ballroom dancers to the Olympic Games seems far away. An official in Athens estimates that ballroom dancing won't get its day in the Olympic spotlight until the year 2004 AD at the soonest.
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