Tuesday, October 30, 2007
So last weekend was sacrificing Halloween/Funk to head up to Stamford, Connecticut for the 10th American Lindy Hop Championships with the Swingers!
Admittedly, I was more than a little apprehensive going, since my swing social dancing still leaves much to be desired, and the very thought of dancing from 7pm all the way till 4am was daunting, in the very least. I mean, forcing myself to go social dancing every tuesday was bad enough, as a newbie lead I was terrified of leading other more experienced dancers.
But I had nothing to worry about: ALHC was a blast. The bigger dance floor meant that I didnt have to worry about people staring and criticizing, real or imagined. And the more I danced, the easier it became, and pretty soon, it was just so easy to ask just about anyone to dance and actually enjoy myself without worrying what moves I should execute next. Plus the music was awesome: we had the Broilermakers, Jive and the Jump play live for us.
Mornings would be spent sleepily dragging our butts out of the comfy hotel beds (where we'd spent last night cuddling - when you squeeze a troupe of 30 people into 4 hotel rooms, thats what you get) to classes which woke us up immediately. Taught by the world's best instructors, we learnt charleston, dips, the big apple, lindy.. and those were just the ones I attended.
Afternoons and evenings provided the opportunity to catch some of the most amazing competitions I've seen. (The one that took the cake for me was this dude who wore a head-to-toe Spiderman costume and swingdanced with his partner to the theme song of the same superhero. At one point, she even lifted his mask and kissed him, just like the movie.)
Interspersing the contests were social dances where the massive dancefloor was opened up. I loved it. Even though I probably didnt know what I was doing half the time, I loved it all the same. Its been awhile since I've been able to dance in a non-sketchy environment. (haha) It went on all the way till the 4+am in the morning, and some old fogeys were STILL dancing when I dragged myself back to bed. Do this for both Friday and Saturday nights and I end up with sleepy eyes and sore thighs.
You have to give it to this crazy bunch of Swingers: they really know how to have a (oh no thats so corny) swingin' good time :)
(apologies for the lack of photos, cameras weren't allowed at the competitions, so I sneakily took the one at the top of this post)
he rocked the party at 1:25 AM |
