What Rhapsody Ballroom Means to Me: Transformed

Egland & husband Frank Sliwa at Rhapsody

Essay Contest to Celebrate Rhapsody’s 20th Anniversary

Grand Prize Winner: Egland L. Alfaro Roman (Egland Sliwa)

There are few moments in life when we are able to say that we have experienced some ecstasy in our lives. It is hard to remember sometimes how long the rapture will last in our lives; yet we are always searching for joy in one way or another. 

Paradoxically, we can travel only a few miles, and actually have great joy in a place such as Rhapsody Ballroom.

The first day I entered Rhapsody Ballroom, I was welcomed with a loving smile and a wise bit of advice, “Smile and never say no.”  Since then, I have found myself smiling and never saying no to a dance or two. This place has seen me grow as dancer and as a person. I have lived moments of sadness, like the loss of my father; and I have experienced moments of happiness such as my marriage, and the blessing of good friendships.

But no matter what is going on in my life, I know that when I set foot in Rhapsody Ballroom, I am there to receive the blessing of dancing, the gift of a smile, the ecstasy of knowing that God lives in my heart and that every movement I do, I do it with and for Him. In Rhapsody Ballroom, I have cried; I have loved; I have learned that there is good and bad, but most of all I have lived and learned that dance is a celebration of life.

The owners, Richard and Laurie Collett, by the way they reflect the rhapsody in their faces, a rhapsody that combines the ecstasy of God’s love and the joy of dancing, are definitely an inspiration to all of us. Thank you very much to them and for giving such an appropriate name to a ballroom where so many lives are being transformed.

by Egland L. Alfaro Roman

Egland & Edie D'Oliveira, volunteers at MidSummer Dance Classic