Lindy Focus VII

I've been a bit out of the loop for the last week because I've been in Asheville, NC since the day after Christmas for Lindy Focus. LF is a six-day dance camp and competition that attracts some of the best dancers from around the country. This was my first year at Lindy Focus and I was joined by fellow DC dancers Steve Grimes, Manuel Ferdinandus, Ann Mony and Jerry "The Godfather" Almonte. There were a bunch of other DC dancers in the mix, but that would be too many to list.

So we left DC on Friday, Dec. 26th and drove down to Ashville. The drive took about 9 hours because we made a visit to The Green Bean, one of my favorite coffeehouses in Greensboro. By the time we arrived to the hotel we were a bit loopy but ready to dance our butts off. The entire event was absolutely amazing. It was basically eat, drink, and sleep Lindy Hop. Heck, we really didn't even sleep.

I competed in the advanced jack and jill on Saturday evening. I had some great partners but it definitely wasn't one of my better comps. Oh well, that's life in the competitive dance world and there's always next time. Our roomie Ann also competed in the JnJ and the Strictly Lindy comp and kicked some serious tail in a final that included her and Terrace Ellis doing battle with Carl Nelson and Teni Lopez-Cardenas. All I can say is... HOT!!!

The highlight of the camp though, has got to be the creation of ELHC. I'm planning to post about it just after this post goes live but for now here are some photos from the event. Two are from a night when Mr. Grimes and I snuck away from the hotel to shoot the downtown Asheville skyline with the sun setting behind the mountains. The final two photos are from New Year's Eve when myself, Steve, Manny, Amy Tran, Laura Jackson, Davis Thurber, Marc-Andre Vachon and Gina Helf all enjoyed a nice dinner at Table in downtown Asheville. Enjoy...

Labels: Dancing, Jazz, Lindy Hop, Swing

posted by DVS @ 6:56 PM