venta

For those who like loose ends tied up, our fifth competitive dance went spectacularly well - it was in the Cumberland Arms (spiritual home of rapper teams), danced in front of a wall plastered with rapper trophies past and present, to an amazingly enthusiastic audience.

We also danced at the (non-competitive) evening gala, but that was something of a fiasco. We lined ourselves up backstage, and marched smartly onto the stage. Our Tommy did her full intro routine - in slightly alarming Franglais, since that was her chosen schtick for the weekend. She wound up her speech, the audience cheered, the music was just about to start... and the fire alarm went off.

Ah. So that burning smell we were talking about on the way up to the stage, then. Probably wasn't just someone getting a serviette caught in a candle.

So we all trotted off stage, in our shirtsleeves, and out into a flippin' freezing cold Tyneside night to wait until the Fire Bridage turned up and sorted out whatever it was. You know you're in a decent crowd when the first response to such a crisis is to launch into a rendition of the Rawtenstall Annual Fair.

I never did find out what the problem was, but the Fire Brigade obviously did sort it. We all trooped back into the hall, we trotted back onto the stage, and picked up where we left off.

Sadly, when the winners were announced we weren't in the top three of our class. The full results aren't out yet (or if they are, I haven't seen them) so I don't know how well we did do; the marks are always an interesting read and give us a hint on what to work on next.

A fun weekend, though.