Swing Fling 2012 - Review and Placements

Anna and I had a great time at Swing Fling. From our weather-excitement-filled drive to Herndon, VA to our thrilling performance of "Take It Off" to our students' placements in various divisions to our fun late-night dances, Swing Fling was all that it was cracked-up to be. I don't think there's another event that can touch Dave Moldover's Swing Fling for the rest of the summer. Pictures that I took at this event can be found here and here's our story and our groups placements...

The Drive

Swing Fling 2012 was a fun and fast event!! Of course it started with our drive from Connecticut, which was anything but fast. Fortunately, instead of going down I-95 and heading into Beltway traffic on Friday afternoon rush-hour, we have discovered a back way in by going through Harrisburg, PA.

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This round-a-bout way to get to Herndon, VA, where Swing Fling is held, adds about 30 minutes to the overall trip, but that half hour is spent driving and not in bumper-to-bumper traffic on 495 near Washington DC - the beltway. Most importantly, using this alternative route, allows for relief - the bladder type.

However our travel did have its moment of excitement. There were thunderstorms predicted throughout the day in the region and they were popping up in the late afternoon. Fortunately, for most of the trip, there were only tall, puffy clouds on the horizon - adding visual excitement to the PA landscape. But once we crossed into MD, things changed. On Route 15 in Frederick, MD we had to deal with a weather change.

At first it just seemed like we were going through a small pocket of rain, but then I noticed a curtain-like veil in front of us. The winds kicked-up violently and branches of the trees that lined the highway started falling and flying. In an instant, I couldn't see the road in front of our car. I pulled over to the shoulder of the road even though I was mostly guessing its location.

As I started to consider the tall thunder-heads that had once lined our trip, I realized that we were sitting under one in the middle of a microburst. My right foot started to shake as I considered that this event could be hiding a rain-wrapped tornado (I watch too many storm chaser programs). I handed a back-pack to Anna to hold in front of the passenger-side window, in case tree debris hit the car.

The entire event lasted about 4 minutes but it was one of the longer 4 minutes of my life. We inched forward in minimal visibility until all of a sudden we were out of the storm. It ended almost as quickly as it came upon us….as if we had walked out of a dark room into a lit one. I actually pulled over after we were back in sunshine so I could let the adrenaline settle down and also so I could look behind me at the dark gray curtain of rain.

Arrival

We arrived at the hotel of Swing Fling in Herdon, VA about 45 minutes before we were scheduled to teach our first workshop, cutting it a little close to our workshop time. The Friday 6pm timeslot can be tight-timing when traveling from CT - it requires an almost fluid drive. Had we taken I-95, we would have never made it - our workshop would have had to have been canceled or given to a substitute instructor. Both of those scenarios would have been embarrassing. Fortunately, our circuitous drive (including weather event) got us to our workshop in time.

Workshop

Our first workshop was titled "Hustle without Muscle". We evaluated the level of the attendees by watching them dance for the first minute of our class and made the determination that we could treat it as an intermediate class. I love that!!! We were able to work on technique for wrap turns.

Our second workshop was on Saturday afternoon. We had no trouble making it to this workshop. Although this workshop had the nebulous title "Fundamentals" (of what), we were able to take a vote in class to determine what people wanted to learn. Since Anna and I are professionally versed in both West Coast Swing and Hustle, either dance would have been fine. Our attendees chose West Coast Swing. From the macro view, we only taught a Sugar Push and a Right Side pass, but in micro we went into great detail about connection, the two walking steps (how the foot strikes the floor, the leg positioning) the dynamic section (how the 3&4 occur, 3 different ways for followers to do a sugar push, the ball-change step idea) and the anchor step (static vs dynamic, 3rd position foot). To me it was one of the greatest detail classes that we ever taught and seemed to be greatly appreciated by attendees who don't normally get to discuss those details and practice them in a workshop.

Our Competitions

I have to admit, Anna and I didn't hit it out of the park with our Strictly Swing. We felt it was good enough to make finals (although we didn't) but there was something that wasn't in the groove. Honestly, it's almost impossible to explain. At the higher levels of dance, it's not about what moves you did, or whether you accented the music…it's mostly about an intangible feeling that two people might have not felt the same nuances in connection, music or movement. It sounds so reasonable now but at the time Anna and I felt pretty disappointed.

Additionally, my Jack and Jill was a shocker. Last year, I won the All-star/Champions division but this year I didn't make finals. What's up with that??!! All three of my partners made finals. This is the subjective part of dance that I and others finds so perplexing.That being said, I would never want to deny someone their day in finals. Last year it was me, this year it was someone else. I've come to terms, years ago, that Jack & Jills don't really define a dancer. Our dancing defines us as dancers. Thank goodness we performed.

But I also have to say that I had a blast in the Hustle Jack & Jills. I danced cleanly and competitively in the Prelims. I had a few followers in the prelims who were not ready for "Club" Erik, so I kept it calm and gave them their dance. However, in finals I was lucky enough to get Stephanie Risser. I think there's a high level of trust between Stephanie and me, so it was easy to know that we were going to take off. Our 2nd place win was great!!! I hope we inspired someone watching to give Hustle a try.

Our Performance

Our performance in the Super-Star Show was great. Anna and I were 3rd in the cue which was great because other acts would warm up the stage and audience and we'd be able to perform our routine with enough time to watch some of the other performers.

We gave a solid performance of "Take It Off" our diabolical Hustle routine. For me, this might have been the retirement of this piece, but honestly, I'd perform it again in a heartbeat. It does what most Hustle routines don't do anymore, it tells a story. Its opening downstage walk always made me feel like Cerberus on a leash that transforms into a Hydra of debauchery. Throughout the routine, I feel like I've been transformed into the demon from Fantasia's Night On Bald Mountain. For Anna and me, it was a great way to show that our dancing wasn't always a lovey-dovey story (our first routines).

Social Dancing and our Students

Thanks to Dave Moldover's excellent staff and organizational skills, I was able to get in a good bit of social dancing. I started on Friday night with the Hustle room. With Jameson as the DJ, it was easy to tear it up! He plays good music and understand the tempo and feel required for good dancing.

I spent the rest of my social dance time in the West Coast Swing room. It was great!! Blue lighting, intimate atmosphere and everyone ready to dance till their feet fell off. On Friday night, I paced myself a bit but on Saturday night, I danced as long as I could. It was especially great to catch dances with people like Jill Demarco who are so musical it makes dancing a lyrical experience.

Best of all was just hanging out by our "SwingShoes Group" table. The only orange table cloth in a sea of blue lighting. It was fun seeing our students compete in their respective divisions. I personally feel elated with one of our group makes finals and empathically suffer when I hear that one of ours did not make the cut. Here's how some of our crew did at one of the best events of the summer:

SwingShoes Group Placements:

Steve & Kathy - 2nd Place, Advanced Hustle Strictly
Kim - 2nd Place, Intermediate Hustle Jack & Jill
Josh - 4th Place, Advanced West Coast Swing Jack & Jill
(please let me know if there are any others from our group).