Cruise Control

Dear Madonna,

Driving back from Ottawa a few weeks ago (I was invited there to teach and deejay for Swing Dynamite's 4th Anniversary) and "picked up" a cute guy on the highway in black Mustang convertible. That is - he was driving at a consistent speed and positioned myself to follow at at safe distance.

It's a trick my friend, Dianne, taught me years ago: find someone driving the speed limit and cruise along behind - and it's a great strategy for someone with a (genetically predisposed?) tendency to speed. It reminded me of when I was working for Resorts Atlantic and I drove the Cabot Trail for the first time. I came across a guy on motorcycle, wearing one of those buckskin leather with fringe down both sleeves, and followed him for about an hour.

There's a dance analogy in there somewhere - keeping an even distance from the Leader, hanging back, but all the time controlling my own speed and power.

September was such a busy month, culminating with the Swing Niagara Dance Championships where I taught some classes and my dance team, "That's What I'm Talking About" competed. (The piece was choregraphed to Toronto Jazz/R&B singer Dione Taylor's song "Little Black Dress" and the girls all wore LBDs; the guys were in lavender shirts and skinny black ties.) We had a couple of really significant individaul wins (Yay Giselle! Yay Wij!) and as community we brought home the Pro-Am Challenge Cup. Go T.O.!!

Bye for now,

Julie