Dance Coach vs the Test Dress

A while ago, just as my lesson was beginning I said to Dance Coach, "Now that I'm not having a test until August, I'm thinking of having a test dress made."

"Finally," Dance Coach murmured, in what I am sure is his 'did I say that out loud?' voice.

I gave him the eyeball. Lots of women just test in slacks. "I have a picture on my phone. Would you like to see it?" He assents so I pull out my phone and show him The Perfect Test Dress.

"Yes," he grunts. "Is okey."

"And I thought, I could fix it so that it matches the theme of the dance." I scroll down so he can see the bolero for the Tango, and the gloves for the Blues, then the idea for the Cha-cha.

And in one of the rare times since I started skating with him, his eyes light up with enthusiasm. "Yes, I like very much."

And it strikes me, he must have the soul of an artiste. So many students just gliding through the dances to pass tests (he had fifteen to partner last test session) and just showing up in trousers or an old freestyle dress, it must become just a job.  The occasional student like me, who wants to play dress up for compulsories, maybe he actually enjoys tooling us around like it's a little performace. Or maybe he's pleased that we show respect for the dance. I guess I'll never know.

Over on www.skatingforums2.com someone asked the question, "At what level in compulsories do you have to wear a dress to match the dance." The answer was 'never'.

Bucking the trend! (Besides, it will give the judges something to look at other than my feet!)

Look at my dress, please, not my extension, toe point, posture, power,....