(It seems my first post may not have gone through). After almost three years of dancing, with the last year including private weekly lessons, next weekend I have my first comp. I'll be doing a Freestyle of Tango, Waltz and Fox Trot with my instructor. My Tango is definitely bronze, but we had to bump me up to pre-silver as my other two are into low silver. Thanks to ballroomchick I've got a terrific dress I blinged-out with Swavorski crystals, so I'll at least look the part.

I'm determined to smile and act confident while keeping my frame--at least that's the plan. Any other suggestions to calm my nerves? It's a mid-level competition, drawing some very good dancers, but a good venue for newbies like me. You all helped so much back in December when I did my first showcase, so I'll go back and re-read those tips too.

One thing that I noticed is that once I got out there and did my first couple of dances, the nerves were gone. Have fun!!

Sigh, as I didn't want to overload myself (and save a little money) I only entered that short multi-dance. Last night I was wishing I had entered more. I knew that shortly after we made the decision to sign-up, I was going to be out of town for about 4 weeks. I was afraid that gap would cause a real problem.

The good news is that during that break I was able to take 8 lessons at the studio of a 5 time national, world champ and Blackpool winner in Cabaret. I had one lesson with Eric and 7 with one of his associates, which was incredible and helped prepare me.

It's probably better I'm starting out slowly.