iPAC 2009

We realized in 2009 that it is better to spend few more days at iPAC than just a weekend, so it was clear two years later that we will do it again. We left on Wednesday already, and Věrka, Lenka’s mother that could participate in iPAC as a plus dancer was with us. She took her own car, since she was taking another two people. The trip there was not so simple, since we were encountering one traffic jam after another. In spite of that we arrived on time to make C1 dancing.

As opposed to the previous iPACs, and for several other reasons, we booked accommodation. First of all we did not want to sleep in a sleeping bag in the hall any more, secondly Věrka was with us, and she did not want to do it either, and thirdly there was a fourteen day squirt in Lenka’s belly. We slept in Jugendbildungstäte (youth hostel) and interesting was that rooms did not have keys and the building was not locked in the daytime. Luckily, it was away from the main road and nobody went through our stuff.

Practically everybody, who we wanted to see, showed already on Wednesday, but we reserved bigger partying for other days; we wanted to get some sleep first day after the journey.

Thursday was a complete day off, so we did not overdo it with getting up and stayed in bed for a while. Dave with Alex called at about eleven and wanted to go to Barmstedt for a walk and a sundae. We liked the idea so we got up in a hurry and went. We checked the center of town, Alex bought something small, and then we agreed to have lunch at the local pizza place. Then we moved to another place, where we had coffee, tea, and the sundae. On Thursday Věrka danced the plus and we talked and drank with the Fagerbergs.

Dancing on Friday started at ten with the block called Caller's showcase. This is a block, where callers, who came to iPAC as dancers and are not in the program, can present themselves. This time I wanted to do it, too. I had a last C1 tip and was quite nervous, since I knew that in a way I would be calling to ensure my possible participation in the future yearly events. I do not know how, but it went great. By “I do not know” I really think that I do remember almost nothing. I climbed on the stage, started to put my microphone and computer into the Hilton and almost could not make it into the holes. Dave asked me if I was nervous and then said his favorite sentence "Take a deep breath." I listened and surprisingly it worked, at least my hands stopped shaking. Right after that Dave introduced me by the "dear friend of mine" and then it was up to me. I switched on the music, and I seriously do not remember anything afterwards. The hero from Jiří Kulhánek’s books would say that it was called by The Other. I do not have any Other, so it had to be me. My nearest memory is that people applauded a lot. I started to pack my things; Dave came and said that it was good, everybody understood, and that it was danceable. When I got off the stage, Michael Kellog, who I did not know before, came after me, shook my hand and said that it was great. Some other people came with similar sentences after.

We agreed to go to lunch after my appearance. Lenka and Věrka went ahead; I took my things to the car. When I started after them I realized that I did not know where I was going and why. I stayed in this weird state until evening.Smile

The rest of iPAC went normally. We tried to dance C3B with varied success and from time to time we looked into other halls. On Saturday evening we mingled at refreshment trailers first, and then, together with Sandie Bryant and some Danes, got together with the Fagerbergs in their camper.