Sports vs. Dance

Okay, time for a couple random, but related, funny stories.

#1. As many of you may know, my work is helping to run the dance camps at BYU. For any of you who know me well, you know that dance is not exactly high on my 'to-do' or 'learn' list. I enjoy watching it and can appreciate the talent and skill that the dancers put into it (though I still don't 'get' a few styles of dances, and I don't know that I ever will). But if I had my choice, I would ALWAYS choose participating in or watching a sport over dancing. I guess it's a great thing that I LOVE event planning or else I would question my current field of work.

Anyway...basically what I am saying is that my knowledge of actual dance is pretty limited (and I can accept this and my life continues on just fine). Well, a few weeks ago I was trying to collect some pictures of different styles of dance to start the work on our new brochures for the camps. I asked one of the directors for some pictures of tap dancers. I let her know that I had already requested some pictures from our campus photo department of a closing number from a performance that I had attended the year before. The email response I received said this (there was no opening address to me, such as 'Dear Chelsy', etc...just straight into the email), "That wasn't tap in Christmas Around the World...that was clogging...totally different." THE END.

I had to laugh. Watching from my seat WAY UP in the Marriott Center at that performance, the sound of metal from the bottom of shoes on a hard floor, to my 'uneducated dance' ears, sounded like tap. I stand corrected.

The first shoes are TAP, the second are CLOGGING. Yep...'totally different'.
So I don't offend all my tap and clogging friends, I will acknowledge the actual difference (after having asked another director). Clogging has a 'double toe', so it is not as 'clean' a sound as the tap shoes. I'm sure there's more too it, but that's all I got! But I do get the difference better now.

#2: I had a meeting with some of the ballet directors. As we discussed the possible designs for the ballet camp shirt for next summer one of the directors mentioned that a long time ago they had a saying on the shirts that she would love to put on again. It was something to the effect of, "Dancers are Better". They laughed and thought it was so funny. 'Sarcastic Chelsy' wanted to say something really bad, but all I said was, "well, I'm a sports person, so I can't really say I agree with that." Needless to say, the conversation of that phrase ended. haha.

#3. So I have been trying (very poorly) to get myself on a better schedule of getting to bed at a more decent time. Last night I was working on making a card while Rand was doing homework. I tend to like having something to watch while I do crafty projects, so I turned the TV on. As I flipped the channels looking for something good, I came across ESPN Baseball Tonight. It just happened that this night was the coveted Web Gem Awards night. Needless to say, my card making productivity went down, and Rand took a break from his homework. We watched beautiful play after beautiful play. If you are not a fan of watching baseball because there isn't enough action, then this may be the thing you want to see! It's sweet play action one right after the other, non-stop, for a good hour!

We also found that during this same program, on Fox Sports they were playing the Best Dang (edited for all) Sports Show...Period, Top 50 Catches Ever. It was heaven. Amazing plays and catches all over the place. It's moments like this that I love that Rand and I both love sports (and more specifically baseball. I've dated some guys that are 'bored' by baseball. It was never going to work, haha.) On my first date with Rand, we ended the evening watching Sports Center's Top Ten. This is still one of my favorite things to do with him, just chill, sit and

watch some amazing plays!

So what's the moral of this story? Well, as I sat and watched the plays last night I thought, "I may not know the difference between a tap shoe and a clogging shoe...but I know what it means to 'turn two' or 'hit for the cycle' or 'run the option', 'going for it on 4th and long', 'having a triple double', what a 'hat trick' is, etc, etc. I'm sure if I gave a quiz to some of these directors, they'd be just as clueless as I was about those shoes. In fact, in response to that email, 'prideful Chelsy' wanted to take some different cleats over and say, "which is a soccer cleat, football cleat and baseball cleat?" Or take different gloves and say, "which is catchers mitt, a middle infielders glove, a first basemens mitt, etc." But I'm sure her thought would be close to the same of what mine was when I got her email, "I really don't care to know the difference. If I was into dance, I might care. But I'm not into dance...so I'll leave that up to the dancers to know."

So in the end, I'm glad that we can all have our interests. I'm glad that I grew up in a home where my parents exposed us to different things. I love the theater, and I love even more watching my own family members up on the stage (I always have to watch Saturday's Warrior and Scrooge every year. Not the 'released on tape' versions...but the stage versions that my dad and brothers are in....MUCH BETTER! You'll never catch me on stage though.) I'm excited for the day when I have a piano in my home so I can sit down and play when I'm feeling like it (it totally cuts down on TV watching time too!), and I need to play the flute more. I love to see the things that my brother Shaun creates through his drawings, wood working, etc. His wife Lacey is just as artistically talented, and my sister-in-law Emily is the dancing daughter my dad never had in me! Kevin and I love to go outdoors and do stuff like rock climbing, mountain biking and kayaking. And my mom is the one who will sit down and watch any sporting event with her kids...and she TOTALLY knows what's going on! We have a well-rounded family and I love it and I wouldn't change it. It helps me to appreciate what other are into and realize that what I like is not 'the best' or the only thing that matters in life.

So I guess what I'm saying is, no matter what you do (dancing, sports, music, etc) just realize that that's not the only thing out there. How boring would the world be if we didn't have different things to do and be interested in. Expose yourself to other things and broaden your horizens a little bit. If you have to, bite your tongue, swallow your pride and try to learn a little about something else. You never know what you may just end up enjoying on the side! And if you don't like it (I still just don't enjoy watching some styles of dance, bores me to death!)...at least you can really know that you don't like it! haha! But understand that other people do like it and leave it be.

Oh...and a final note. All the above mentioned dance directors are incredibly nice people and good to work with. I think they immediately thought I was a dancer since I work with that area. I just thought the comments were funny!