Reverie Ballroom Grand Opening Celebration, Grand Ballroom
What a glorious celebration over the weekend at the Reverie Ballroom’s grand opening! Enthusiastic crowds and joyous dancing marked the start of a new era. Congratulations to Executive Director Eliza Wilder and her team for a feat beyond imagining, beautifully refurbishing two ballrooms and replacing the main dance floor, all in six months. Eliza reminded us of the unexpected $130K expense, as the 117-year old original floor was too thin to be sanded again and had to be replaced. If you’d like to help, donate to the Kickstarter campaign “Out of Sands”; as I write this they’re within $4,000 of the $50K goal!
While watching the Reverie teachers and students perform, I had a vivid flashback to my very first performance, over 20 years ago in this same spot. It was during a Zydeco weekend featuring (Grammy-award nominee) Sean Ardoin at what was then the Century Ballroom. There were about seven demos scheduled and me and my partner, Marla Meyer, were informed at the last minute we’d go last. I was already insanely nervous and this threatened to push me over the edge. I remember a group of us sitting very near where I stood last night, passing around and sipping from cups of whiskey to help quell our anxiety.
Marla and I had been working for months on various dramatic moves like a death drop, dips, and even lifts, but the thought of dancing in front of a crowd was excruciating. Luckily, once the music started our practice took over and, though everything felt a blur, we hit all our moves and the highly supportive crowd roared approval. So when I heard the boisterous crowd making a joyful roar last night for the performers, I felt happy and hopeful for everyone involved in this auspicious launch. I look forward to making memories at the Reverie Ballroom and wish them godspeed!
See you on the dance floor —Sean Donovan