Swingin New England 2012 - Review and Placements

Swingin New England is one of the classic, great West Coast Swing events in the Northeast region. It has been around for 15 years and continues to be a warm, welcoming event for newcomers and professionals alike. Because it is so friendly, it was a great place for almost 30 dancers of our West Coast Swing community to attend together. Our fun times included many finalists and placements in the Strictly Swings, Jack & Jills and crazy Bookends divisions; an awesome group dinner and lots of late-night social dancing.

Event Director Duo plus some secret ingredients

The enjoyment of Swingin New England starts at the top with its event directors Neal & Willow. This father-daughter team are highly organized and understand the nuances of creating a great social environment for newcomers, professionals and all those in between.

Neal, a professor at Lesley College by day, has also made his event a perfect place for entry-level college-aged dancers to start dancing Lindy-Hop and West Cost Swing. It's incredible to feel the youthful energy in the room. Willow, a fabulous dancer and DJ, brings elegance and exactness to how the event is run.

But what most people never see are the secret ingredients that Neal and Willow have added that make Swingin New England a true success. Right-hand staff like Marc and Stephanie Levetin are sometimes driving the moment-to-moment operations, clearing a path for the event directors to be gracious hosts during the event. Deborah Szekley was the National Promoter and professional staff coordinator who brought together a great representation of West Coast Swing. Deborah herself is an inspiration and one of the most dominant female competitors during the last 2 decades of this dance. Angel Figueroa as head judge is unrivaled in his ability to stay calm and keep events running on time.

It's really these efforts that most dancers never see that makes Swingin New England an event our community desires to attend each year.

 The Group Dinner

There isn't nearly enough space to fully capture the fun we had at the group dinner. We went to Papa Razzi, a great restaurant in Wellesley, MA that has everything from Pizza to Osso Buco. We were joined by about 20 of our dancers. Such time together really develops the social bonds that make our dance environment a special place.

We ate so well. We laughed so hard. And we took some pictures. I still laughing about Bobby Nieto's "Pay the Toll" and Andy's "Pirate earrings".

Pictures

Here are all the pictures that I took of Swingin New England 2012.

Group Placements

I'm so proud of everyone who tried their luck in the Strictly Swings and Jack & Jills. Some of you were lucky enough to draw someone from our group during prelims. We cheered so hard for each other - I think we demonstrated how cheering is supposed to be done. It really does make a difference to feel acknowledged by your friends when you're dancing. It makes your stand taller, smile wider, breathe deeper and dance better.

Strictly Swing

West Coast Swing - Strictly Swing - Novice:

Harold Zuckerman & Kristen Shaw - 2nd Alternate

West Coast Swing - Strictly Swing - Adv/All-Star:

Erik Novoa & Anna Novoa - 4th Place

Jack & Jills

West Coast Swing - Jack & Jill - Newcomer:

Andrew Hayden - 7th Place
Sarah Skinner - 10th Place

West Coast Swing - Jack & Jill - Advanced:

Josh MacDonald - 2nd Place
Anna Novoa - 2nd Alternate

West Coast Swing - Jack & Jill - All-Star:

Erik Novoa - 2nd Place 

Bookends:

Josh MacDonald in The Handsome Blur - 2nd Place

Kristen Shaw, Janet Bergamo, Elisha Monzella, Victoria Rober (Party Girl Quartette)