West Coast Swing thing

[meinfs]

Hello. I feel like XMTS is a second family to me and I wanted to share some of the fun I had this past weekend.

I participated in a swing dance convention called MADjam (Mid-Atlantic Dance jam) with about 1200 dancers from all over the country, Canada and France; held for 4 nights and 3 days. The convention is all about dance competitions and performances in Hustle, West Coast Swing (WCS) and Hand Dance, from beginners all the way to the superstars of WCS. (You may know Benji Schwimmer, his cousin and his sister, in the tv show called You Think You Can Dance - they specialize in west coast swing).

Well, long story short, I joined in the competitions in the category called "Jack & Jill"* and won 2nd place in the "Newcomer" division, from a field of 32 guys!!! (There were many other categories).
Here's the photo (and the proof that it happened :lol)

That's me - the second guy from the left.


Here's another photo: (notice that I have a different dance partner)*
Look at those judges with clipboards in their hands!



*The "Jack & Jill" is a dance category where men and women enter the contest individually without a partner and get a random partner. For the preliminary rounds you get paired with 3 different partners and dance for about a minute each. The judges look at contestants individually for basic technique and timing. The field is then winnowed down to less than half for the finals. In the finals one gets 1 random partner for three dances, every dance you move to a different spot on the floor. Everybody dances at the same time and the judges roam and hover around the contestants. By the very structure of the competition - it can get very iffy and in a sense tough. You have to be consistently good because not all the judges look at you and not all the time. The 5 judges look at say 12 couples (in the finals).

So, to win a J&J contest is a very good thing.

Also, there is the World Swing Dance Council which sanctions these events and awards points to the finalists and winners. Dancers move up the ranks by winning, etc. from "newcomer" to "novice" then "intermediate" then "advanced" and then "pro" or "all-star" (at which point you will have become well-known nationally. This system is not unlike sports tournaments where athletes make the circuit and compete all the time.

Anyway, I now have two 2nd place wins at two different events, which bumps me up to "novice," at the next competition.

Thanks for indulging me in my story

PS

You will notice that the most popular dress code is p@nt$, both men and women. Skirts are not typical dance wear in WCS. Kilts would be highly unusual!

Also, one beautiful thing that I noticed with WCS is that people of all ages participate. You'll be amazed to see young kids, teenagers, adults, middle-aged folks and older dance and compete WITH each other!! Also, the body types and sizes is all over the map - from thin to very heavy--- there is NO discrimination, just your willingness to join in and dance and have fun.