It was a great weekend of competition and a day in New York City unlike many tourists care to experience. Three mini-van shuttle rides, one train, three subways, two ferry rides, one bus, the longest escalator, several elevators and more than 21,000 walking steps in total. Yes, we picked the worst day ever to visit NYC. We awoke at the crack of dawn, ice skated down the icy road to wait at the wrong bus stop to which no bus ever came due to icy closed roads. We were creative, inventive and persistent and after being told NO by cab companies, shuttles and busses, we finally found Landie Romero - Brandons dad - who agreed to shuttle us from the hotel to the train station in Secaucus, NJ. We were determined! We bought umbrellas. We arrived more than 1.5 hours late to NYC and thus, missed our lessons (due to icy streets) with Smooth champion, Mayo Alanen and Rhythm champion Jose De Camps. However, when we arrived at the Manhattan Ballroom, we were greeted by the amazing Karolina Holody - double Blackpool Champion - who taught an amazing lesson AND gave us a special Waltz and Tango performance with her incredible partner Oskar Wojciechowski. We were inspired. As mentioned, we could not have picked a worse day to have visited NYC. It was freezing and it was raining. Freezing rain is never fun… But we had FUN! We saw the base of the Empire State Building (due to fog), we ate NY Bagels in Grand Central Station, we ferried to Staton Island (and finally saw the Statue of Liberty on the way back), we walked Wall Street, honored ground zero and admired World Trade Center One. We arrived at the Met just as it closed (yes, our day plans continued to run a little late throughout the day due to rain…), we visited the giant Apple store, FAO Schwartz, Plaza Hotel, St. Patricks Cathedral, Roccafeller Center and Times Square. We ate pretzels and hotdogs on the street, we danced on Broadway and we ate an amazing Thai dinner in Hells Kitchen (an area in NYC) just before we tried NY Pizza… Yum! As a team, we learned to think creatively, navigate new space, be patient, open and inventive. It was an incredible day of firsts. Each year, several new NMSU DanceSport Company members take their first airplane ride. Some of them leave New Mexico for the first time. Each year we as a company aim to visit new cities, see new things and eat new foods. It is the mission of NMSU DanceSport to open the world to each and every member in a new and productive way. This experience was a first for most. And it was amazing! Photos to come!
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 19:38:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015