Stories form our students during the COVID-19 Lockdown
Phil & Louise Green:
When the shock of the lock down crashed down upon us, a second shock followed closely behind: the end of dancing. In the last four years since we joined the BlueHeel Family, as Caroline calls it, dancing entered our lives like sunshine. We needed to keep it shining through the lock down to make the isolation bearable. We couldn't let the virus shutter the windows and throw us into the shadows. A day or two later I called Caroline and asked her if we could do on-line lessons. That evening we had our first lesson.
It's been awkward sometimes, with the phone falling off the window sill during a FaceTime video call, or fussing around with Zoom for the first ten minutes of our lesson, but within a couple of weeks we had the kinks worked out with our teachers, Egor and Boris. We have been taking several lessons a week with them for the last seven weeks. Slowly we transformed our rec room into a dance studio--by pushing the furniture a bit farther away each lesson, and rolling up the carpets and pushing them a few more inches off to the side to make room for new dance moves. In those seven weeks we have been working on two routines, Waltz with Egor and Argentine Tango with Boris.
We hope to perform them Monday May 18th, Victoria Day, around 2 o'clock, on our back deck. If we can get Internet and all that jazz figured out we'd like other members of the BlueHeel Family to join us on video. Otherwise we'll record it and post the videos.
I hope you have kept active dancing, and Louise and I hope to see you soon.
Philip and Louise
Rob & Lauren Bernardi:
We find it quite liberating - in many ways we are learning faster because we aren't as self-conscious. I feel way more comfortable trying out a little hip wiggle when I am not sharing the dance floor with a bunch of hip young people :-) We also like the fact that we always get to play our own music and aren't trying to dance to a beat that is different than what someone else is playing in the studio.
We miss the studio and the energy of being there but this is still really good and maybe even in the future we could combine it with regular lessons. For example, when weather is bad and Egor can't make it in or he has to miss a night (since it would give us more flexibility for a makeup lesson). I want Blueheel to survive. You are an important part of the Port Credit community. Everyone is trying to keep restaurants alive by ordering takeout. They can help keep you alive by doing virtual dance lessons. Plus it means you don't lose your muscle memory. And, for course, it is SO good for the soul and we need all the positive energy we can get right now.
Rob & Lauren Bernardi
Thank you Phil & Louise and Rob & Lauren and the many students who have sent us encouraging notes and participated in our virtual/instagram lessons. We miss you and look forward to dancing together again soon.