Dance with Words

Do you love dance?

Whether you are addicted to dance and stay up until 5 in the morning at your favorite dance convention or not, we're looking for those who want to help create "A World of Dance". This blog is created for those who love dance: dancers, choreographers, teachers, students, spectators alike.

Share with others about your passion for dance. Share your personal accomplishments. Share your dance team's accomplishments! Share your dance events and competitions.

Have dance products? Talk about them here.

Have a good experience with a particular dance group? vendor? clothing company? studio? Share it here.

Are you a student with a phenomenal teacher that everyone should know about? Sound out here!

I think you get the point. If you have anything to do with dance, you should contribute to A World of Dance. The only requirement is that you contribute positive stories and at least once each month. Share your passion of dance with the world.

Happy dancing! Happy writing!

Dance Event: High Desert Dancesport Challenge Dance Competition

Come be a part of the 3rd Annual High Desert Dancesport Challenge Dance Competition
Ballroom, Latin, West Coast Swing, Salsa, Jack & Jills, Pro-Am & Amateur

March 23 - 25, 2007
Location: Antelope Valley College
3041 West Avenue K
Lancaster, California

ALL ENTRIES/REGISTRATION DEADLINE
FEBRUARY 26, 2007
Sorry, No Refunds or Substitutions

All Jack & Jill/Strictly Swing Contests Registration at the Event Only
West Coast Swing, Salsa, Night Club 2-Step, Cha-Cha
$15 per dance
TO COMPETE, YOU MUST PURCHASE A 3-DAY COMPETITOR PASS

Judges & Instructors Include:
Teresa Shiry, Luis Crespo, Tom Hicks, and more!

For More Information, Contact:
Lisa Sandoval, Organizer
lisadance1[at]aol[dot]com

Linda Chesnutt, Marketing Director
chesnuttls[at]adelphia[dot]net

Janet Diaz, Competition Director
hddance[at]adelphia[dot]net

For More Information on: Tickets, Package Prices, Registration Forms, Rules, Workshops
Schedules, Directions, Hotels, and Eateries visit:
www.highdesertchallenge.com

Dance Event: World Swing Dance Championships

Date: May 4-6, 2007
Irvine Marriott Hotel
1800 Von Karman Avenue
Irvine, CA 92612

Buddy Schwimmer
http://www.usaswingnet.com/worldswing/

In conjunction with The Lindy and West Coast Swing Connection
Teveya Dovbish & Eileen Dovbish
lindywestcoastconnection@earthlink.net

A combination of Lindy and West Coast Swing with equal prize money for contests
And workshops for both styles of swing

Invited judges and workshop teachers:
Bill Cameron
Laureen Baldovi
Sonny Watson
Benji Schwimmer
Lacey Schwimmer
Buddy Schwimmer
Heidi Groskreutz
Manny Variel
Phil Adams

Kim Clever
Dave Frutos
Minn Vo
Corina Acosta
Ben Yau
Sheri Yau
Benjamin Ricard
Genevieve Kerouac

DJ's Jack Smith and Tip West
Saturday Midnight Buffet

Contests:
Jack & Jill
Young Adult
Team
Masters
Junior
Showcase
Cabaret
Lindy vs. West Coast

Event Ticket
$110 Before March 1
$125 March 1 - 31
$135 April 1 and later

I'm sure there is not much I need to say about any of these instructors, but I'll say it anyway. They are all gifted dancers, performers, choreographers, and teachers. You will really enjoy learning from all of them. See you there!

Lindy Wins the US Open Showcase Champion

There's a bit of a rivalry between Lindy Hop and West Coast Swing. Hoppers, as Lindy Hop dancers are sometimes called, claim that West Coast Swing is slow and for old people, while the West Coast Swing dancers (sometimes referred to as westies) claim that Hoppers lack technique and smoothness). The rivalry is mostly playful, but it is playful in a Cold War kind of way. Well, the best thing for both styles of swing dance happened this weekend: A Lindy routine won the Showcase division of the US Open of Swing Dance.

Despite the title "Open", the US Open of Swing Dance is primarily a West Coast Swing event. People will cite various reasons for this. My opinion is that the West Coast Swing performances have been much better than the Lindy Hop performances over the last couple of decades. Since West Coast has consistently won the US Open titles, the Hoppers have slowly stopped showing up to the event. That is, until Ben Morris came to town (yes, Ben has been around for a while, but I'm trying to add some draaama to this story).

At the young age of 3 months (I keed, I keed, but Ben is very young), Ben is already an accomplished Lindy Hopper AND West Coast Swing dancer. Now, this talented cross-over performer has won the Hope Diamond of the Swing Dance world. The Showcase Division of the US Open has recently seen winners such as "So You Think You Can Dance" winner, Benji Schiwmmer and his partner Heidi Groskreutz (also a SYTYCD finalist) and "30 Seconds of Fame" winners, Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollman. Past US Open championships have sported the likes of Mary Ann Nunez and Robert Royston.

I know there are many other swing dance legends from the past that I'm not mentioning here because I don't know them off the top of my head. I'm not professing to be an expert on US Open history. The point is that Ben has accomplished something great here. This is not just because he had a wonderful performance. It is also because he brought Lindy back to life at the US Open. Huge congratulations to Ben Morris on his Showcase win at the 2006 US Open Swing Dance Championships.

Click here for the complete 2006 US Open results

5th Place at Halloween Swing Thing

Jack & Jill dances are a funny thing. You randomly draw a series of partners through the first two rounds and then the top individual dancers end up making it to the finals, where you draw just one partner. The "best" couple then ends up with first place.

This Friday was great. I'm sitting in traffic @ 5:45PM on my way down to the event in Irvine. I'm at least another hour away. So I call my buddy Brent and ask him to register me since the event is at 7PM but you need to register an hour before the event. He gets everything taken care of. Huge thanks to Brent.

I wasn't thinking that I was going to do very well. It has been three weeks since the last time I went dancing, and two must since my last competition (which I didn't even make it into the finals for). This event is bigger than the last event I went to. I had no expections for even making it into the finals. It's not as if I had some great dances during the prelims or semis.

So I'm sitting in my chair at the event when they start calling out the 5 finalist. My regular shoes are on. I'm certainly not expecting them to call my name at all. The host calls out four men, and I'm not one of them. I figure that there is no way that I'm going to end up being the 5th person. Well, sure enough, #5 is me. I'm rushing to put my dance shoes on. I could hardly believe it.

Now, at this event, they run all their finals as spotlights. A spotlight dance is where you are the only couple on the floor and they stick a couple of spotlights on you while everyone watches. This is my first spotlight, my partner's (Tara) first major jack & jill, and we are friggin in the novice division. It was so much fun though. We had a great time, made plenty of mistakes; but still had a great time.

My friend Eddie (who I started doing Jack & Jills with earlier this year) and his partner (Deanna) ended up winning the thing! He's been putting a lot of effort into his West Coast Swing, and it definitely paid off this weekend. Congrats, Eddie!

Anyone looking for a good dance event during the Halloween weekend next year should definitely checkout HALLOWEEN SWINGTHING

Have a great Halloween weekend everyone. Mine has started off great!