I just wanted to use my web outlet to draw attention to Karen Turman and Andrew Thigpen, real quick. I'm here at Swing into Spring 2010 (preparing to DJ, actually), in Columbia, SC, and these two goofballs are here teaching some classes and generally keeping the energy high.

If y'all don't know who Andrew and Karen are, let me point you to their most recent ridiculously-awesome (ridonkulawesome?) showcase routine, which completely exemplifies their silliness and innovation as dancers (below).

Karen and Andrew have been great this whole weekend, teaching fun classes and serving as awesome inspiration on the dance floor. Plus, THEY'RE ACCESSIBLE! For a smaller scene or event like this, they are one of the most perfect couples I could think to have in. They both just love to dance, and be silly, and it absolutely shows. So kudos to Andrew and Karen for being totally awesome. (Also, I don't know anyone who can top Andrew's random outbursts--you should have heard him when he heard that the late night was going to be in a bagel shop with fully operational menu.)

I took my first trip down to Austin, TX just last weekend, for the Lone Star Championships. What a great event! Extra kudos to Scott (Angelius) and Tena (Morales) for striking just the right chord with the event.
I got in Thursday night and was super excited to dance at the Fed, Austin's weekly Thursday night dance venue (and the place where activities would be taking place for the rest of the weekend, too). Lucky me, I got put on the guest list for the evening by one of my friends who is involved in the Austin scene--those kinds of things (not paying for a dance) kind of mean a lot when you're STILL unemployed, like I am. I, like quite a few others, was only lukewarm on the band playing that night, but I still managed to have some fun dances with locals and others who were in Austin early for the event. It was nice to catch up and be girly with Sharon again, too, even though I had just seen her two weeks ago at Lindy Focus. Then Brooks, Jo and I spent a couple hours hanging out at the afterparty, watching Nick Williams absolutely nail the part of Danny Zuko in the karaoke version of "Summer Lovin", and joining in with the others for the most entertaining version of "Love Shack" I've heard in a while. Yay, B-52s!
Friday was pretty low-key, involved some bubble tea and a little bit of shopping with Jo and my new friend Gina, plus airport runs and a bit of food, kind of, and then Brooks, Jo, and all the rest of us staying at their place headed over to the dance to meet up with Beth and Yossef and really kick off the rest of the weekend's dancing festivities. Namely, a lot of dancing and competing, and not a lot of sleeping or eating, necessarily.
I said it already, but I want to say it again: super kudos to Tena and Scott for putting on a really great event. Through all the competitions (and there were tons!), I never felt like I was running out of time to socialize or grab a dance with someone. The overall relaxed vibe of the event was exactly what I needed for that weekend--games time included--and I'm super happy that I got to go. I would love to see a little bit of time set aside for competitors to speak with the judges, since the competitions are mostly focused on the lead-follow of dancing, but I understand how hard it can/could be to arrange that. So instead, I'll just review videos of prelims to see what I can pick out. Yay for Yossef winning 2nd place in the Intermediate J&J, too! He and Mallory Griggs looked fantastic out there, and I'm glad Nashville was represented. Next year, I hope we can have even more Southeast representation (outside of the usual bunch of me, Michael, Jaya, Beth, Yossef, Jeramie, and Amber). There are dancers in the Southeast, I swear!
Lone Star is definitely an event I want to go back to next year, and Austin was a lot of fun to visit. Besides having a whole bunch of my friends there (and them wanting me to move there), what I saw of the city was interesting enough to keep my attention. Other highlights include:

-Nearly never having a bad dance at the event
-Still being able to dance as much as I was inspired to, and being inspired to try new things
-Giant City Sextet! They were just what I wanted to hear
-Late-night Fluxx games with something like 8 people and 14 rules on the board
-The Invitational J&J silliness (see videos for proof)
-Creating the "bored stripper face" with Beth and getting it down to a science
-Meeting Wingy and Edmund, two of the most awesome orang
-Good brisket at the Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX with about 50 dancers,even if they didn't have macaroni or rolls, and what kind of BBQ place doesn't have macaroni or rolls
-Mumbling and grumbling about how "grumpus" is totally a valid word and should count for Scrabble points for team MeBeth
-Gin&Strawberries, even though the recipe is more complicated than you think
-Meeting lots of great new people/dancers (and non-dancers!) and getting to spend some time/dance with them
--And of course, getting more time to hang out with some of my favorite people

Obviously, I would highly recommend going to the Lone Star Championships next year. I bet you'll have fun!

I just got back from my second trip (ever) to Seattle, WA, for the Emerald City Blues Festival. This trip was much rainier (pun not intended, Mt. Rainier) than my previous one, for Camp Jitterbug.
The event itself was fabulous--ask any of the attendees, teachers, DJs, or anyone else that got swept up into the fray. ECBF seems to have gathered a reputation for greatness in the blues community, and it really shows. This year featured instructors Steven Mitchell and Virginie Jensen (my first time to see them!), Ogden Sawyer and Amanda Gruhl (ditto), Mike Legett and Topher Howard (<3), and Brenda Collins and Barry (whose last name I don't know but he is a badass anyway). All the instructors were fantastic, but for some reason, I always come away from Brenda's critiques classes with my mind completely blown--so that was probably my class time highlight.
The organizers also managed to get Kim Massie from St. Louis to play with Solomon Douglas's band. Solomon had been working on new charts for the weekend, and his hard work definitely showed--Kim's voice was matched well by the musicians and it was the most phenomenal night of live music that I think I've enjoyed at a blues event.
In addition to the great music and teachers, ECBF featured a host of my favorite DJs (Bill Speidel, Tina Davis, Steven Watkins, and Downtown Julie Brown!) and some of the best social dancing anywhere. It's apparent that this is one of the events that people mark down on their schedules far in advance, and all of that combined makes for a great event.

Videos are up on youtube from the strictly contest, the jack and jill, and the cabaret show Sunday night. I have to say that my favorite routine from the weekend was courtesy of Brenda Collins, Karissa Lightsmith, and Anna (who I don't know but whose dancing I enjoy)--a slightly risque, animalistic, Cotton Club-esque show of oddity and interest. Look it up! You won't be sorry.
Overall, the weekend was killer. I wish that I had been able to spend more time in Seattle, and also that I hadn't ended up sick by Sunday, but I would definitely go again. Congrats to Topher and Martin for putting on a fabulous event, and thanks to everyone who helped enhance my experience--especially my host, Jennifer. It was nice to see more of Seattle and enjoy another subset of activities in the city. Next time, I won't forget my umbrella.

Monday morning I got back from ULHS--basically what is considered one of the be-all, end-all events of the lindy hop community. This year was the first in the event's history to be held in New Orleans, and the change was very much talked about all over the community.

Let's start with the easiest measure of event success: Did I have a fantastic time? Yes! I enjoyed all the time I spent with friends I don't normally get to see, and meeting some fantastic new dancers, and dancing in one of my favorite cities ever to my favorite style of jazz dance music. It didn't hurt, either, that everyone really seemed to be there for the purpose of having fun--it was a blast to see packs of dancers walking around the French Quarter at 3AM (some carrying Hand Grenades or Hurricanes, of course).

Probably the number one reason why ULHS was so enjoyable for me--the music. I couldn't sit still! Amy (the organizer) did a fantastic job of pulling together these groups of musicians like the Ultimate Lindy Hop Combo, who came together specifically for the event. Nothing is as inspiring to me when I dance as great music, and New Orleans jazz happens to be my absolute favorite, so I was just in heaven dancing to bands like the Palmetto Bug Stompers and the Loose Marbles. The registration price would have been worth it for the music alone, as anyone who was at the WWII Museum Saturday night dancing to the amazing sounds of "Uncle Jack's New Orleans Orchestra" could tell you. Such diversity! Such arrangements! And on top of it all, such soul!

Of course, in addition to the great music, I had lots of great dances with lots of great dancers! The quality of dancing at events like these is always so high, and whether it's out in the competitions or right there on the social floor, that is inspiring to me. I always end up finding myself using new variations and dancing differently when I am so inspired by those around me. For my own taste, there wasn't enough social dancing (or not enough room to do it), but I understand that in this trial  year in New Orleans, things happened with the schedule and the loss of some social dance time was just an unfortunate side effect of the way that the competitions were run. While I can empathize with this as an organizer, it's kind of a personal bummer because there were plenty of people that I wanted to dance with that I didn't even get to ask, and I really hit my stride/dance flow at the end of Saturday night, so the peak, dancing-wise, of my weekend went unutilized.

The competitions, as is to be expected, were filled with crazy-high energy. The crowd could not stop screaming, and the competitors would not stop topping themselves! I really enjoyed the fact that personal expression and individual style seemed to reign in the competitions this year--not necessarily at the expense of good, clean dancing, but just edging it out, points-wise--and I'm interested to see what this does for the lindy hop community as a whole in the next year or so. Since I started dancing, ULHS has always been an event that defines and initiates trends in lindy hop, and I don't expect this year to be an exception. Here are the competition winners, that I can remember:

Showdown (fast competition) Winners: Chance Bushman (New Orleans, LA) and Joanna Lucero (Austin, TX)
Jack and Jill First Place: Vincenzo Fesi (Como, Italy) and Alice Mei (France/New Orleans, LA)
Jack and Jill Second Place: Sara Deckard (Denver, CO) and Dax Hock (Everywhere-ish)
Jack and Jill Third Place: Thomas Blacharz (France) and Ria DeBiase (Sacramento, CA)–this is the only one I’m not sure about
Solo Jazz Winner: Ramona Staffeld (New York, NY)
Solo Blues Winner: Dax Hock (Everywhere-ish?)
Blues/Slow Dance First Place: Peter Strom (Minneapolis, MN) and Ramona Staffeld (New York, NY)
Blues/Slow Dance Second Place: Todd Yannacone (New Orleans, LA) and Alice Mei (France/New Orleans, LA)
Blues/Slow Dance Third Place: Chance Bushman (New Orleans, LA) and Giselle Anguizola (San Diego, CA)

Now, of course, I'm re-energized about dancing and also sapped of all my physical energy because I overtaxed myself in New Orleans :) Did you go to ULHS this year? What did you enjoy (or absolutely dislike) about it?