One of our residents, Rebecca, heard I would be off my feet for awhile. She assembled a group of DVDs for me, annotated each one with a descriptive note, and sent me on my surgical way. It was a spectacular gift that I appreciate more and more each day. The first post op day, all my brain could handle was "Best in Show". I watched "Strictly Ballroom" this morning. Rebecca's review: "A little known Australian film from the early 1990's. Total camp! Both a fun 'you can do it' dance film and a send-up of the genre. Just the awful hair and costumes alone are a reason to watch".
The basic plot is that a defined set and order of steps are required for success in ballroom dancing competition. (Read the review for the twist.) I'm knitting cables right now. I am amazed at how a simple stitch manuever once every eight rows forms something as complex as a cable. Knitting seems to rely on a series of stereotyped moves that, taken together, form complex patterns. If you deviate from the moves, the pattern is altered. For example, a simple mistake like letting the cable needle twist will alter the design. Put a knit stitch where a purl stitch should be, and the design is different. Ballroom dancing is the same. What is rewarded is what is "correct". Patterns are less subjective than judging dance routines, and knitters don't have to dress up or do their hair. Creativity within certain boundaries is rewarded in each discipline. Whoever thought up FairIsle techniques was a genius. The person who created intarsia was simply confused. The cable person was creative and ingenious. The lace people were masochistic obsessive-compulsive prodigies.
I was reminded of the pomp and circumstance associated with ballroom dancing when I went to the TKGA conference last July. (Today is the last day of the 2005 version in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.) Watching Lily Chin model her poncho on the stage, in her signature pose: 
The moment had all the contrived imagery, fake drama, and "we already knew who was going to win" suspense of the dance world.
And speaking of drama, here is the start of the Irish Hiking scarf:
Oh, those are two of my favorite all-time movies. I own Strictly Ballroom. It was a cult favorite at the time I was living in London. Hideously wonderful (or wonderfully hideous?) makeup and costumes, eh? And Best of Show....oh, I just love that line of movies with that core group of actors. Best in Show is one of the best ones!
Posted by: Norma | Sunday, April 03, 2005 at 02:48 PM
The movies were a great idea! Now all you need is popcorn! What's the yarn in the scarf?
Posted by: Lorette | Tuesday, April 05, 2005 at 07:31 PM