Shining with Excitement for the ‘Balle Rouge’ + reflection of ‘Climate Week’
Disclaimer:
Everything below is a mix of what I observed and heard during the event. The goal isn’t to pinpoint "who exactly said what," but to share (usually) an outsider's view and overall perspective on these industries. I’m not here to act as a definitive firsthand source—readers should do their own research. I hope this inspires you to attend events, explore new industries, and hear what leaders are presenting. These notes combine my observations with thoughts on how things could run smoother and how ideas connect (IMO). I’m not an expert, you know? Just hanging out in the room with them. Enjoy!Topics: Swing Dance, Community Gatherings, Outdoor Activities
This dance gathering I stumbled upon a few weeks ago continues to impress and excite me each week. Each week, I’m so excited to join, learn dance moves, and celebrate the community downtown. This group has been getting together for years and years… and yes, this week is extra special: THE BALLE ROUGE!!! Hahah. They are so excited about this - and so am I, why? I love enthusiasm, I love cute/sweet traditions, I love a little extra coordinated effort to have fun, and I love to dress up - and dance! So, this week, their goal is for every to wear red and pink and then the whole dance floor will be red and pink and shining. So, I have a very good outfit for this: my rhinestone covered pink dress (you see me wearing it in this website pics time to time).., and I have rhinestone shoes I got from a thrift store years ago (when I went through my clubbing* era)- AND a rhinestone choker from DFSS last week!! hahaha. So, I am ready to shine and commit to this fun night!! I will try to be a better dancer than ever, too - for myself and everyone there**.
Why Attend: These events are so fun and this one is extra extravagant - hosted at a park OVER A FREEWAY 😂 - elegance and efficiency, two of my favorite qualities. It’s great exercise, you can practice building confidence, and the music is great! Plus, it is fun to dress up and have a nice time. These events can be a great relief in these super lonely times, too. After COVID, i C a VOID (omg that needs to be coined!!! hahah I’m adding it to my glossary now) - and we need to fill the void we c with community, purpose, hope, accomplishments! Things like this community dance gathering is so great. It’s a win for most everyone and a great use of these parks and time.
Overall Event Reviews: Venue (/5), Food (/5), Speaker Content (/5), Networking (/5), Likeliness to Return (/5)
PHOTO COLLAGE & COMMENTARY:
NOTES from the BALLE ROUGE
This event was so fun and I was probably the “most glamorously dressed” there, but not by much - and I kinda had my own category. Cause I was the Disco Ball of the Ball Rouge, you know? And it was super fun… like I felt like it just sorta raised the bar overall, and anyone who complimented/commented, i’m like, “uh yeaH! its the Ball Rouge!!” lol you know! Let’s live it up. So, it was fun to have that and be hyped about the ball rouge and then we all had a great tiem!!
(on my way home I ran into a lady who looked amazing with flowers in her hair, and she had been going to this for years. she said to e, my shoes are for the entrance hahaha). So true and smart. My shoes were for arrival, not for dnacing. but. it was a fun time hahah.
I don’t want to write much about it, cause it was just dancing, but I do want to share one thing. Well, how about 5 things:
1. It was fun to see the same people again that i’ve seen a few times now. At the beginning, I thought it’d get awkward or be such a let down or peopel would get sick of me… but it has continued to be fun and I have some peopel I dance with almost every time - and sometimes a few times!! It’s very fun.
2. Well… it was extremely cute because one lady was celebrating her 70th birthday and so she brought a cake for everyone to eat!! It was sweet to share her birhtday with others, I like this tradition.
3. I thought it was surprising how some people came dressed up then hardly stayed at all and left!! But, that’s how it goes. Some people don’t like the vibe. Some people didn’t even know it was the ball rouge though and you’re like - waht gives? It’s the friggin ball rouge!!
4. One dance partner told me he felt underdressed. I told him that’s good, be more dressed next year.
5. One guy asked me for my number on the way out. I at first told him yes and told him to walk me to the subway - BUT THEN he said he needed to go meet a friend, so then I told him he can’t have my number. He was like, what? no! why? And I told him, you can’t have my number if you can’t walk me to the subway, gimme a break. You know? hahah. We’ll see each other next week maybe. He can call the Kelly Tutors’ Hotline.
I’m returning home a bit late and tomorrow I attend a huge event, so I’m like - hahah how much should I write about this event? OH but i do remember one more thing that stood out.
I think this sorta homeless trio walked up - i mean, i think they were homeless-ish or totally, and it was a girl younger than me and then a guy my age and an older man all togehter. the girl had dreamy eyes looking at everyone dancing and even she was crying. the guy our age was staring at her like a hawk. she was crying a bit looking at the dancing, then she went and pet a dog, then she went and got water. the way her mate was staring at her, it felt almost liek she was testing how far her leash stretched from him. he just gave a vibe of being so controlling. i had the idea that maybe she so badly wanted to join these dances, but instead, she just couldn’t. cause of this situation she was in, and also she didnt feel permission to join. I think if she’d wanted to join (and even asked her guyyyy) in the right mood, no one woudl have minded. and probably embraced it. i send them wishes and the world wishes that we can see better situations and outcomes for, really, everyone in the future. I wanna see a happier, braver, more kind and happy world. I just remember feeling like that girl before. So, I don’t know the true story, but its how I interpreted it. They left soon after she got water. So, yeah.
And the week or two weeks before one homeless guy was up on the hill dancing and he was INCREDIBLE. INCREDIBLE dancing and just like having the time of his life dancing. hahhaha. He was so good at dancing up dancing alone by himself by the trashcans. So, its just nice to have live music - it brings out the best in people hahaha. But I wanna see our homeless problems addressed. That, of course, makes you sad and its just escapism. But… it (live music) can also be part of the beautiful tapestry of healing. 💪
Notes About CLIMATE WEEK:
basically a lot about climate week fell apart, but reemerged in different forms.
it’s funny i kept calling it “climate week” (since it wasn’t a week) and then i was hardly a part of it. so it had many levels of experience/non-experience.
I don’t even want to get into it much, but there were good lessons learned and I’ll point out 3 things:
1. I’m learning I like to have boundaries and red lines about things. It’s good to know what you do and don’t stand for. It does make situations hard in the short-term, sometimes, but long-term it can compound with strength, I think. Takes practice
2. Trying to host events without a sturdy venue is hard… though, even hosting events with a venue is hard too. It’s hard to get people to come to events (but not that hard, some events here are attracting 200-1000 people/event!! There’s a huge market. You just gotta sell it well.
3. The future is bright. This doesn’t work? THAT can. Each “almost” turned into a “how about instead” - with a number of people I met on this experience. So, I want to keep building opportunities out of potential and figure out how to make some money, too. How to sustain and build some of this. With investors maybe? And building profitable business models. Let’s see. Step by step.
It wasn’t what I thought it would be, but it kicked off a bit of a “new era” as ChatGPT loves to say. It loves the word “era” if you all have noticed hahah. Now, its my dance era! But, there are other eras overlapping.
OVERALL EVENT REVIEW (BALL ROUGE)
Venue (4.5/5): too incredible!! i love the fact its outdoors and at this fantastic park. the only problem is that they have a little dip in teh dance floor hahaha. so be careful and be warned.
Food (5/5): there was more water this time and more cups!
Speaker Content (4/5): This band was my least favorite of the band so far, but still great. Just hard to dance to their musci sometimes and/or just wasn’t amazing and fun to dance to - but… still great!! and it was a super super fun night.
Networking (4/5): You can talk to no one or talk to everyone, so its easy to meet people here and pick your pace.
Likeliness to Return (5/5): for sure!! can’t wait - for reaL!! :)
Until next time, I wish you the motivation and success to search for opportunities around your area. Search and explore: Who is out there giving talks? There are new things happening all of the time.
Find relatable or interesting topics you like and check them out! Maybe even something hosted at a cool venue, if there’s no other reason to go. Let’s see what you can learn and discover not too far from home. 😊
