Becoming Ginger Rogers: How Ballroom Dancing Made Me a Happier Woman, Better Partner, and Smarter CEO, is a sweet memoir by Patrice Tanaka. At age 50, in the midst of depression over 9/11, the demise of her business, and her husband’s illness and eventual death, Tanaka decided to take up ballroom dancing. And it really helped lift her out of her misery and make her a whole person again. Ballroom can do that. Believe me. And it can be addictive.
I also danced ballroom competitively for several years, like Tanaka, as an amateur, and though I didn’t know her personally, I remember seeing her around the studios and the ballroom competition floors. So I was really delighted, and proud, to see her book exhibited at Book Expo America last year, which I attended. Of course I snatched up a copy immediately! Ballroom for me too was an escape from my problems - I had a really stressful job that at times was horribly depressing. So, her lovely book brought back a lot of happy memories.
This past weekend, I joined my father in Palm Springs, CA to see a few films showing in the Palm Springs International Film Festival. I relaxed at The Islands restaurant down the highway in Palm Desert with a Shipwreck: Parrot Bay coconut rum, Midori, Grenadine, and orange and pineapple juice. Delic! And, since Tanaka specialized in Latin Ballroom (as did I - Samba was both of our favorites), her book kind of went with the tropical, rum-heavy drink :)
