Standing Room Only

An Evening on the Sidelines of the Twin Cities Open

By Alexzandra Enger

As a competitive amateur and collegiate dancer, I'm almost always behind closed doors—or more accurately, doors that are constantly swinging wide open to grant passage to costumed ballroom dancers on their way to the warm-up room or on-deck area. My usual haunts at a competition are the dressing room and the dance floor. Only after I'd finished competing would I, with full hair and makeup still intact, venture out to see bejeweled costumes (the same ones I'd seen up close and personal only moments before in the dressing room) twirl and fly gracefully across hardwood floors.

My experience at the Twin Cities Open, however, was very different. Beautiful dress, check. Sparkling jewelry, check. Makeup applied? Sporting a hairdo that took at least an hour to perfect? Check and check. As a ballroom dancer, I'd assume someone fitting this description would be preparing to perform. My dress, though, wasn't bejeweled or made of deceptively stretchy fabric. My adornments were not necessarily designed to be seen across a floor, nor were they in my hair. I wasn't wearing false eyelashes, and my hair flowed down my back in curls. This time, I had dressed up to spend my evening admiring and enjoying the dancing of others.

We arrived in downtown Minneapolis at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Saturday evening shortly before the professionals were scheduled to take the floor to compete. When I first entered the lobby of the ballroom, all my senses were immediately assaulted. Tango music drifted in from the warm-up room. The scent of coffee wafted through the room as Starbucks-bearing dancers strode past, their elaborately stoned dresses sending twinkles of light in all directions. As my party and I made our way to the check-in table, we walked past the Doré display. My eyes couldn't help being drawn to the endless racks and mannequins dressed better than I was. "One day..." I thought, picturing in my mind floats swirling around a tail-suit-clad partner.

After getting our tickets, we made our way into the ballroom, which was packed to the ceiling with dancers and spectators alike. As every possible seat was filled with an eager dance enthusiast, we resigned ourselves to standing along the sidelines. As anyone who has ever worn non-ballroom high heels knows, your feet can only take so much before the urge to find a seat becomes overwhelming. However, despite nearly all of the women in attendance wearing some kind of height-enhancing shoe, not a single one had endeavored to find a place to rest for even a moment. I was in that same club. In awe of the sight before our eyes, that familiar dull ache resigned itself to the backs of our minds.

As the current top three rhythm couples were in attendance, expectations for the evening had been set high before we'd even walked through the doors. We quickly realized that we would not be disappointed. Rhinestones flashed, fringe snapped, and wrists flicked. This was a world-class performance before our eyes. No less entertaining were the smooth, standard, and Latin performances. Comparing the Latin dances to the rhythm dances became a special sort of game for me, as I currently dance all the styles except for Latin. Having such perfect demonstrations of the finest dancing in each style certainly made it an easier task to appreciate each dance in each style for what they were at the core. I found the standard show to be a particularly special treat, in part because of the flawless foxtrots, intense tangos, and bright quicksteps. I've got a soft spot for beautiful standard gowns, so I have to admit that I found the aesthetics of the standard portion of the evening immensely appealing as well.

Eventually the evening wound down to a close. Awards were distributed, a beautiful tribute to the competition's twenty-fifth anniversary this year was presented, and dancers made their way off the hardwood floors and back into the dressing rooms. Spectators mingled and slowly drifted out of the ballroom, out of the lobby, and down into the bright streets of Minneapolis to venture off.

My party and I made our way back home with the skyline of downtown Minneapolis falling behind us and the energy of the Twin Cities Open still around us.