The competition was pretty big: there were 17 couples dancing the championship standard level, including us. We made the semi-final round but not the final, which was somewhat disappointing, especially since I know we can dance better than several of the couples who were in the final. But we did get a positive comment on our timing and musicality from the young hot-shot pro Victor Fung, and more positive comments on posture and footwork from another guy who said we just needed to spiff up our "look" a bit to get the judges' attention over the others on the floor (sad that he'd say that, since my hairstyle actually turned out better than usual this time, and my makeup was more extreme). I was happy that Alex, my teacher from Seattle, placed second in the Rising Star competition (an event for new professionals), and Bay Area Latin pros Vaitodas and Jurga, who we were sitting with when the awards were being announced, thought she and her partner should have placed first.
After a midnight dinner at Denny's, my partner, a night owl, decided he wanted to drive back to Berkeley that night. He drove and I slept fitfully as rain inundated the car throughout L.A. and the mountains to the north, sometimes so thickly that all but the tail lights of surrounding cars were obscured and the road was six inches deep in water. The storm mingled with my dreams in surreal and sometimes terrifying ways, and more than once I jolted awake, certain we were sliding across the road out of control. But my dance partner dropped me off safe and sound at my place at about 7 a.m. and I crawled into bed to sleep an additional five (much more restful) hours.
The rest of the weekend was more uneventful. On Saturday