I've been thinking a lot lately about my life back in Canada. Specifically, the best part of my life back in Canada: coaching the Rhythm Blasters (one of many awesome Swing Dynamite performance teams).
The Rhythm Blasters started out as a bit of a pet project, undertaken by me and my greatly-missed dance partner Olivier. Originally, it was a team specifically for newer dancers (most of whom had been dancing a few months when they joined)... but over time, the focus shifted to being a team for dancers who wanted to work in a relatively relaxed setting (compared to the ultra-intense TNTeam). It is no exaggeration for me to say that I was (and am) deeply, deeply fond of the Rhythm Blasters. They're my babies. I watched them grow, and I've shed many tears of pride in their name.
Here they are with their first routine at the 2008 Canadian Swing Championships (a few months after their incarnation):
And here they are again, a year later, with a much more difficult choreography (the run at CSC was cleaner, but is sadly not on YouTube):
It is good to know that in my absence, they are still going strong. A large number of new couples are currently going through the "bootcamp" process (an intermediary step before officially joining the team), including a whole bunch of awesome folks I was really hoping would join. Still, I can't help but feel a little (ok, a lot) sad that I can't be there with them. If there had been one thing that could have kept me planted in Ottawa, the Rhythm Blasters would have been it.
I hope I never forget how truly blessed I am to have worked with such a fun, positive, hard-working, and talented group of people. RBs, I miss you! I know you will continue to make me proud.
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