Friday, March 26, 2010
Foxtrotting
So when I was crowned Miss Minnesota I knew that there would be some interesting appearances where I would be asked to do things that I had never experienced before.
I think fox-trotting would qualify as one of those “things”!
For 5 weeks I had been learning how to do the Foxtrot at Arthur Murrays at their Saint Paul Studio for the Dancing with the Twin Cities Celebrities Ball for Susan G. Komen.
Five days a week for two hours I worked with my professional partner Nate. I learned that Nate is one of the top dance teachers for Arthur Murray across the country so I knew I was in good hands. Nate was a blast to work with and we definitely kept ourselves entertained throughout rehearsals. Although, he was not easy on me! He made sure I practiced every step over and over until it was just right! His analogies were just brilliant when he was teaching me. He always helped me find ways to get the move just right. Sometimes at my rehearsals I would get a sneak peak at the competition, Todd Walker from Fox 9 and John Hanson from Twin Cities Live.
In order to dance I had to purchase special dance shoes, I have dance shoes from school for tap, ballet and character shoes but ballroom dance shoes are different. They feel so much different when your feet are moving across the dance floor. So “my dance shoes” became very important because without them I couldn’t dance. One night after a late rehearsal I was trying to get home to get to bed for an early morning appearance and I lost one of my shoes. I didn’t notice until the next day when I was packing up for my day’s appearance and evening rehearsal. I was just so upset because I knew I could not dance without my shoes and I really didn’t want to have to go buy another pair. As I was driving to rehearsal I was trying to come up with a speech that would explain to my partner, Nate, why I only had one shoe. When I walked into the studio the dance instructors turned and looked at me with a strange look on their faces. After about 30 seconds one of the teachers said,”lose a shoe?” We were all laughing when I found out that I had lost my shoe in the parking lot on the ground!
The week before the big event John Hanson and I were invited to perform in front of the students of Arthur Murray at a dance party. I assumed I would perform my dance and then leave before the party started, Oh No, I was dancing the entire party! They started by calling out a dance “Rumba” and then you would grab a partner and dance the “Rumba.” Slight problem... I only knew the foxtrot. I had a lot of learning to do that evening! Thankfully most of the dance partners I had that evening where experts... until they called out the “Waltz” and I looked over and it was just John Hanson and myself. We thought we would give it a try... I wouldn’t say we were waltzing but we were in some way dancing
Saturday March 13 was the big event. That afternoon my dance partner Nate and I went to the Minneapolis Hilton, where the event was to be held, to run through our dance. We met up with Todd Walker and his dance partner Rachel and shared the dance floor for a while. Then I had the rest of the day to get ready!
My Mom and Dad and Vicki Kueppers came to cheer me on and to vote for me. As soon as we arrived I put on my sash and crown and started to campaign for votes. I tried to give out autograph cards for votes. It worked! The process for the night was everyone would dance, and then after each dance the judges would give a score. Then the couple with the highest score would advance to the dance off. The audience would vote for their favorite competitor and that couple would also dance in the final “dance off” which is why we needed to campaign for votes ! Each ballot cost $5, with the money going towards Susan G. Komen.
I danced second to last, and everyone before me was dazzling. One of my favorite dances was Christopher Ruevers from 107.1, he did a swing dance and it was fantastic! Who knew he could really dance! Before each dance they did a quick video of the couple together. I kept laughing because in almost every video from team St. Paul (4 of the celebrity dancers rehearsed in St. Paul and the other 4 rehearsed in Edina) Nate and I were in the background dancing. Just shows you that we really were there 5 days a week rehearsing! I was really proud of the way our dance went! I remembered everything Nate taught me, and had so much fun! The judges gave us 9,9 and a 10!!!! It was the only 10 that judge gave out all night Even though we did not advance to the dance off, I was so happy with our performance and excited for Todd Walker, and Julia Cobbs from 107.1, who were in the finals! CONGRATULATIONS to Julia Cobbs for winning the Dancing Championship! Her Salsa was something else and I hope she has no memory lost from being dropped on her head during rehearsals!!!!!! Also a huge thank you to Arthur Murray for all my dance lessons and putting on such a great event!
Aside from training for my dance, I had some other fun appearances to fill my time. As you know Children’s Miracle Network is the National Platform for the Miss America Organization, February 23rd was National Pancake Day and we had an enormous goal this year to raise over 2 million dollars to hit our mark of 5 million in the 5 years we have participated in Pancake Day.
I was invited to the Bloomington IHop early that morning to do Press with Tyler Schell, a Gillette patient, and his family. We had so much fun with MA Rosko from Kare 11, and preparing for our pancake-stacking contest. He was a tough competitor and although he came out on top, I had so much fun with him! The rest of the day was full of signing autographs, serving pancakes and collecting donations. I hope you were able to visit your local IHOP and have some pancakes
I also visited Cottage Grove Middle School for their Tour De Groove fundraiser for Gillette Children’s Hospital. They had students bike for 15 minutes each all day long, and also invited local celebrities to join. Now I can say I have done a 5K run in my sash and biked wearing it too! Congratulations to Cottage Grove for a successful fundraiser!
Two weeks ago I appeared at The Royal Experience in Maplewood held by Stacie McBride. The event was for girls grades K-6, and the theme for the event was “What is Inner Beauty”. The event started out with me performing for the girls, and then speaking about Inner Beauty.
After taking some time off from the gym after coming back from the Miss America pageant I am now back training for several 5K’s I will run this summer. I also will be riding my bike with my dad and brother again this year in the Diabetes tour de cure 25 miles bike race. I have been riding outside everyday 10 miles a day working up to those 25 miles. If you want to join me sign up!
Last year as Miss Twin Cities I hosted the Queens for a Cure breakfast and walk for the Race for the Cure on Mother’s Day. My mom walked with our Queens group and she said that next year she wanted to run in the race. Something about one of the things on her bucket list?? So this year she is training with me to run in her first 5K. She has down loaded an iphone App “couch to 5K” and has been running on the treadmill getting ready for the race in May. Go Mom!!!
Always
Brooke
I think fox-trotting would qualify as one of those “things”!
For 5 weeks I had been learning how to do the Foxtrot at Arthur Murrays at their Saint Paul Studio for the Dancing with the Twin Cities Celebrities Ball for Susan G. Komen.
Five days a week for two hours I worked with my professional partner Nate. I learned that Nate is one of the top dance teachers for Arthur Murray across the country so I knew I was in good hands. Nate was a blast to work with and we definitely kept ourselves entertained throughout rehearsals. Although, he was not easy on me! He made sure I practiced every step over and over until it was just right! His analogies were just brilliant when he was teaching me. He always helped me find ways to get the move just right. Sometimes at my rehearsals I would get a sneak peak at the competition, Todd Walker from Fox 9 and John Hanson from Twin Cities Live.
In order to dance I had to purchase special dance shoes, I have dance shoes from school for tap, ballet and character shoes but ballroom dance shoes are different. They feel so much different when your feet are moving across the dance floor. So “my dance shoes” became very important because without them I couldn’t dance. One night after a late rehearsal I was trying to get home to get to bed for an early morning appearance and I lost one of my shoes. I didn’t notice until the next day when I was packing up for my day’s appearance and evening rehearsal. I was just so upset because I knew I could not dance without my shoes and I really didn’t want to have to go buy another pair. As I was driving to rehearsal I was trying to come up with a speech that would explain to my partner, Nate, why I only had one shoe. When I walked into the studio the dance instructors turned and looked at me with a strange look on their faces. After about 30 seconds one of the teachers said,”lose a shoe?” We were all laughing when I found out that I had lost my shoe in the parking lot on the ground!
The week before the big event John Hanson and I were invited to perform in front of the students of Arthur Murray at a dance party. I assumed I would perform my dance and then leave before the party started, Oh No, I was dancing the entire party! They started by calling out a dance “Rumba” and then you would grab a partner and dance the “Rumba.” Slight problem... I only knew the foxtrot. I had a lot of learning to do that evening! Thankfully most of the dance partners I had that evening where experts... until they called out the “Waltz” and I looked over and it was just John Hanson and myself. We thought we would give it a try... I wouldn’t say we were waltzing but we were in some way dancing
Saturday March 13 was the big event. That afternoon my dance partner Nate and I went to the Minneapolis Hilton, where the event was to be held, to run through our dance. We met up with Todd Walker and his dance partner Rachel and shared the dance floor for a while. Then I had the rest of the day to get ready!
My Mom and Dad and Vicki Kueppers came to cheer me on and to vote for me. As soon as we arrived I put on my sash and crown and started to campaign for votes. I tried to give out autograph cards for votes. It worked! The process for the night was everyone would dance, and then after each dance the judges would give a score. Then the couple with the highest score would advance to the dance off. The audience would vote for their favorite competitor and that couple would also dance in the final “dance off” which is why we needed to campaign for votes ! Each ballot cost $5, with the money going towards Susan G. Komen.
I danced second to last, and everyone before me was dazzling. One of my favorite dances was Christopher Ruevers from 107.1, he did a swing dance and it was fantastic! Who knew he could really dance! Before each dance they did a quick video of the couple together. I kept laughing because in almost every video from team St. Paul (4 of the celebrity dancers rehearsed in St. Paul and the other 4 rehearsed in Edina) Nate and I were in the background dancing. Just shows you that we really were there 5 days a week rehearsing! I was really proud of the way our dance went! I remembered everything Nate taught me, and had so much fun! The judges gave us 9,9 and a 10!!!! It was the only 10 that judge gave out all night Even though we did not advance to the dance off, I was so happy with our performance and excited for Todd Walker, and Julia Cobbs from 107.1, who were in the finals! CONGRATULATIONS to Julia Cobbs for winning the Dancing Championship! Her Salsa was something else and I hope she has no memory lost from being dropped on her head during rehearsals!!!!!! Also a huge thank you to Arthur Murray for all my dance lessons and putting on such a great event!
Aside from training for my dance, I had some other fun appearances to fill my time. As you know Children’s Miracle Network is the National Platform for the Miss America Organization, February 23rd was National Pancake Day and we had an enormous goal this year to raise over 2 million dollars to hit our mark of 5 million in the 5 years we have participated in Pancake Day.
I was invited to the Bloomington IHop early that morning to do Press with Tyler Schell, a Gillette patient, and his family. We had so much fun with MA Rosko from Kare 11, and preparing for our pancake-stacking contest. He was a tough competitor and although he came out on top, I had so much fun with him! The rest of the day was full of signing autographs, serving pancakes and collecting donations. I hope you were able to visit your local IHOP and have some pancakes
I also visited Cottage Grove Middle School for their Tour De Groove fundraiser for Gillette Children’s Hospital. They had students bike for 15 minutes each all day long, and also invited local celebrities to join. Now I can say I have done a 5K run in my sash and biked wearing it too! Congratulations to Cottage Grove for a successful fundraiser!
Two weeks ago I appeared at The Royal Experience in Maplewood held by Stacie McBride. The event was for girls grades K-6, and the theme for the event was “What is Inner Beauty”. The event started out with me performing for the girls, and then speaking about Inner Beauty.
After taking some time off from the gym after coming back from the Miss America pageant I am now back training for several 5K’s I will run this summer. I also will be riding my bike with my dad and brother again this year in the Diabetes tour de cure 25 miles bike race. I have been riding outside everyday 10 miles a day working up to those 25 miles. If you want to join me sign up!
Last year as Miss Twin Cities I hosted the Queens for a Cure breakfast and walk for the Race for the Cure on Mother’s Day. My mom walked with our Queens group and she said that next year she wanted to run in the race. Something about one of the things on her bucket list?? So this year she is training with me to run in her first 5K. She has down loaded an iphone App “couch to 5K” and has been running on the treadmill getting ready for the race in May. Go Mom!!!
Always
Brooke
posted by Brooke at
11:10 AM
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