>> I should point out that it wasn't broad daylight like this until some
>> guy with a £2,000 Nikon DSLR fired is dazzlingly bright flash at us.
>> Before that, the room was actually almost pitch black, so we're not
>> quite as brave as we look. ;-)
>
> I don't see any reason for you not to be brave enough to do that in the
> light.  It's hard to tell from a still, but you sure look like you're
> having fun, and that's certainly at least as important as anything else.

There's a little kid called Aden who comes to this particular venue. We 
know he's called Aden because although he's less than 3 feet tall, he 
can flail around the dance floor with energy, stamina and enthusiasm 
that would put international dance champions to shame. No technique, but 
it looks fabulous anyway.

The other day we were practising for the upcoming competition, and 
Debbie told us that enthusiasm is basically more important than 
technique. (Provided your technique isn't hopeless, of course.)

Anyway, we probably _would_ dance in a more brightly lit arena. I was 
just pointing out that on this occasion, we weren't being quite as brave 
as it appears in the picture. ;-)

(If I was good with the GIMP, I'd have a go at trying to recreate the 
/actual/ lighting levels...)

>> I discovered that the lady stopped to ask whether we're professional dancers. (!)
>
> Well done. :)

LOL! It was nothing. ;-)

>> Well, I guess if you've never actually seen real professionals up close
>> and personal, you might mistake somebody who knows what their doing for
>> a pro. ;-)
>
> Well the difference between someone with a skilled/competent amateur and
> someone who's a 'pro' is the pro is getting paid (most likely).  You
> don't have to be being paid to be good (and one could argue, that
> amateurs tend to be better because they're not motivated by the paycheck,
> but rather by the sheer joy of just doing what they're good at).

Mmmmmmyeah... but the other difference is that a pro usually has the 
time to dedicate hundreds of hours per month to practise. That makes a 
big difference.

Look at the other people in the photo. How many grey hairs can you see? 
How many fat beer bellies? How many wrinkles? Most of these people don't 
even dance, or if they do, it's a casual saunter around the floor. And 
then there's me, a young slip of a thing, practising my moves for a 
dance competition with my lady.

[It still seems very wrong to me that my lady is twice my age and yet 
she can dance rings around me. I just don't have the stamina...]

Trust me, if some of our classmates had been there, nobody would have 
even noticed us. Some of these people dance almost literally without 
actually touching the floor. (Not forgetting that the current raining 
national R&R dance champions are apparently in our class...)

We only look good because there was nobody there better than us. In 
dancing, there is *always* somebody somewhere who's better than you. 
It's just a question of how far away. ;-)

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