Riverdance was back in Toronto earlier this year. Although the concept is the same as when I last saw the show years ago, they’ve added a few things (or at least I don’t remember them being in the show back then).

The most memorable parts of the show for me this time were the two flamenco numbers. The experience was just an awesome fusion of Spanish and Irish dancing.

Watch the clip to see what I’m talking about: Lines, movement, footwork — unbelievably clean and expressive. I could watch this over and over again (except I still don’t have a high speed internet connection at home).

We made it into Toronto last weekend to see this show. Enjoyed the dancing (much more authentic than the dancing we saw in the stage performance of Dirty Dancing), kind of enjoyed the music, definitely enjoyed the acting.

This show was on Broadway for so many years that it would have been a shame to not have seen it. It’s currently on tour.

We’re in the process of preparing for the Pro Am “competition” in May so we’ve been doing some hardcore dancing over the last few weeks

At last week’s St. Paddy’s day party at the studio, The Girl and myself were paired off with different people to dance with (learning to dance with different people is a big part of learning to dance). She was paired off with Elio.

Elio is in his 50’s, owns some sort of fairly successful business, and he’s been coming to the studio for almost as long as we have. He’s a shorter Italian gentleman. As I’ve gotten to know him (and his wife) little by little, I’ve been kind of creeped out by him. I get the dirty old man vibe from him. And of course, his favourite dances are the up close and personal ones like Bachata.

So as Elio and The Girl were dancing a swing, he did something that is a no-no when dancing with someone else’s (happily married) wife.

While he led a spin from a tuck-in with his left hand, he pinched her ass with his right hand…

We went into Toronto 2 weekends ago to see Dirty Dancing.

The male lead ended up being the understudy, so I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed the regular actor better, but I actually enjoyed the movie more. The background ensemble did some decent dancing which I enjoyed more than the dancing from the leads. The male’s balletic background clashed with the mambo that he tried to perform and made him look rigid and lost in the music.

If chemistry and good mamboing are what you want, watch the movie instead.

We have to pick and choose our television shows (especially reality TV) because of our limited free time. We’ve watched the past few seasons of Dancing With the Stars but decided to forego it this year because the dancing, although good, is more flash and glamour than anything else. We prefer So You Think You Can Dance. On top of that Beauty and the Geek is currently holding our attention.

This all changed when I opened my mouth and mentioned to The Girl that one of my high school classmates, Cam Mathison, is on Dancing With the Stars this season.

“Who is he?” she asked. I showed her, her mouth dropped open, and now I am being forced to watch this season’s shows.

Cam and I took Calculus together and were in a tight competition for first place in that class. If memory is serving correctly, in the end he achieved a 99% and I ended up with a 98%. The curse of having smarts and looks–I know how he feels.