Swing Fling 2011 Update #1
We’re at Swing Fling!
First year under new management! Dave Moldover and his Dance Jam Productions cracker-jack organizational team (who do MadJam in March). This is Swing Fling’s 20th Aniversary year – created by Barry Durand and Dawn Garrish in 1991 and a founding member of both NASDE and WSDC, Swing Fling is DC’s oldest all-swing event.
So we’re at a new hotel for the first time in many years: five minutes from the airport with a free shuttle, great lobby with cool dining situation (you can sit down anywhere in the lobby – on the couches, in a formal dining room at regular tables, outside on the patio, at the lobby bar – and receive either an extensive full menu or an abbreviated menu (both with wonderful dishes at decent prices), attentive professional staff, and the Hyatt’s new “PURE” program where the rooms are treated so that every surface, fabric, even the air, is treated to remove irritants such as mold, viruses, bacteria, pollen, and yeast and odors, and comes equipped with a continuous air-filtering unit. The difference is noticeable – the rooms smell good. Or better put, they *don’t* smell at all, which, if you stay in as many hotel rooms as we do, makes you realize that all other hotel rooms smell pretty bad in comparison. Eeew.
Ballroom’s pretty – the backdrop glows with a lumiscent twilight-blue casting a dim blue-ish pall over the floor, eerie and quite beautiful. This floor is wider than last year’s, maybe not quite as deep, feels medium-sized and nice quality. Music has been so-so. Last night (Thursday) lotta complaining that the music was “weird” – we left at 12:30 and there were maybe 100 people on the floor. Tonight so far so good – feels like better energy, floor is full so far, lobby is filled with people lounging, laughing, drinking, and eating – they serve food till late which is working well for hungry late-nite dancers.
Jason and Sophy are here! We love them and haven’t seen them in ages, almost since Jasmine was born. And … Sophy is pregnant again! *Very* pregnant – she’s due at the end of September. They did the pro strictly tonight and Sophy is just SO adorable, completely totally adorable.
And newcomers to DC: Jason and Yvonne Wayne are here and WOW are they fun to watch! He caught our attention at last year’s Boogie where he and Sarah did a most amazing strictly (I’m sure you’ve seen this by now, but if not: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eohJ-1reMUQ ) so it’s a blast to have them out here on this coast.
So far we’ve had a full day of pro-ams, then all the hustle and west coast strictly’s tonight.
And here are Awards for Strictly’s:
Novice Hustle:
- ?
- Sam Easley and Kim Myers
- ?
- ?
- Less and Tammy
Inter Hustle
- Joanne and Giselle
- Anthony and Barbara
- Charlie and Ramune
- Todd Irzik and Cath Cogut
- Richard and Susan
Adv Hustle
- Steven and Catherine Johannsen
- Scott and Angela
- Rick and Lura
- Sean and Mary
Soph Hustle
- Carol and Linda
- Jack and Buffy
- Pat and Brenda
- Scott and Barbara
- Sean and Mary
Open Hustle
- Phil and Angela McCabe
- Billy Marti and Erica Smith
- Brian and Stephanie Risser
- Tybaldt and Hazel
Novice WCS
- Curt and Nicole Stottlemyer
- Sam and Ramune
- Myatt and Chorissa
- Aidan and Alyssa
- Brent and Kim
Inter WCS
- Gerry and Diana Lynn Cote
- Michael Blackburn and Shoshi
- Brian and Pam
- Jeff Moscaritolioliolio and Sally Charles
- Roy and Julie
Adv WCS
- Steve Ryan and Khyrystyna Cuismano
- Brad and Sarah Wheeler
- Akil and Whitney
- Kumar and Stephanie Risser
- Sam and Denise Miller
Soph WCS
Open WCS
(Finalists were: Robert and Jill Damarco, Jason and Yvonne, Jason Barnes and Stephanie (Batista) McHenry, Greg and Taletha, Doug Rousar and Lemery, Luis and Deonna, Tybaldt and Hazel, Markus and Jen Lyons; Alternates: Alfred and Trendolyn, Anthony and Kay)
- Hazel and Tybaldt
- Jason and Stephanie
- Luis and Deonna
- Jason and Yvonne
- Robert and Jill Damarco
Tomorrow is Jack and Jill’s!