Lone Star Championships

Update: I found video from the strictly lindy finals! It was a phrased battle and ended with an all-skate. Video embedded below...



I'm still trying to get the prelims on YouTube, so come back and I might have that posted as well.

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I just returned from Austin, Texas yesterday where I was competing in the Lone Star Championships. I had never really been to Texas except for my drive through Amarillo when I moved back to the east coast, so I figured it was time to explore this corner of the country. I had also started meeting some cool dancers from the area and figured this lindy event was worth the trip. My good friend Stephen Grimes wanted to go as well because one of his good friends lives in Austin and it would be a good chance for him to try his hand in competing. So off we went last Thursday into the part of Texas locals call "weird." Or as Austinites say... "not really Texas."

We spent the first part of our day checking out a portion of downtown, checking into the hotel and enjoying the 80 degree weather this capital city offered us. Our first stop was a pub on the famous 6th Street where we enjoyed a local beer and an excellent burger. I can't recall the name of the joint, but the live music was great and we got to see a guy so drunk he fell off his bar stool...at 1 in the afternoon! After lunch I walked around with my camera while Steve took off for his friends place just north of the city. I was able to shoot some fantastic shots of the capitol building, have a coffee while sitting outside and just enjoy some down time before the weekend of dancing. The above photo was shot Thursday evening just before I went to dinner downtown and off to the opening dance.

Friday was pretty nice because the weather remained in the 80s, which was perfect to explore even more of the city. The photo below comes from my afternoon of wandering. I know some of the locals hate this condo tower because they think it takes away from the character of the city. But it was my favorite building downtown and one of the more impressive condo towers I've seen in the many cities I've visited.



Friday night was the official opening of the Lone Star Championships and it included several competitions. The event was held at the Texas State Women's Federation building, which was a massive mansion with a large ballroom along the back of the building. I didn't have any comps Friday night, but it was a good chance to catch up with friends like Mike Roberts, Laura Glaess, Carl Nelson, Teni Lopez-Cardenas, Andrew Munoz, Rye Crowen, Andrew Thigpen, Yossef Mendelssohn and many others.

Saturday was the real meat of the schedule for me because I had two comps scheduled. The first was the Advanced Jack and Jill. This is where you enter as an individual and are randomly paired with a partner. Overall I felt it was a good competition but I knew the chances of making the finals would be tough based on the number of amazing leads entered. Needless to say, I wasn't one of the 5 (or six, can't remember) selected. The good news in that was the final were Sunday, so even if I had made it, my flight was at 7 a.m. Sunday morning.

The next comp was the strictly lindy where you enter as a couple. My original plan was to do it with a friend from New York, but I wasn't sure she'd make it to Texas. So I asked my friend Beth Hartzel from Nashville if she'd do it with me. She said yes and so later that afternoon Beth and I proceeded to kill it in the prelims. Here's where I need to make a special note. I've often heard about dancers finding a connection with their partner and getting into a "special" zone during competitions. I've been wondering when my time would come. When would I feel that connection where everything you do just works? Well this is when it happened for me. Beth and I were just on. I can't really explain anything about the feeling except we nailed every move we tried and just timed everything perfectly. When the fast song came on, we did about 8 swing outs in a row as the crowd cheered louder each time. We didn't know if we'd make finals or not (again, the competitions was amazing), but we both knew we just danced our asses off.

While at dinner, a local dancer says to me "hey, you made finals in the strictly." I was like... uh, sweet!!! So Saturday night Beth and I competed in a phrased battle style finals where we again proceeded to nail everything we tried. My only complaint was being the first couple out to start it, but otherwise I had an absolute blast! I can't recall another competition where I've felt so comfortable on the floor. Everything at Lone Star just came together for a perfect night of lindy. I also can't thank Beth and Yossef enough for being there. Hopefully I'll find some video of my dances soon. In the meantime, here's a photo from the finals...



Overall Austin is a great city with great people. And the Lone Star Championships was a well run and well attended event. I will most certainly be back next year!

Labels: Dancing, Lindy Hop, Swing, Urban

posted by DVS @ 3:06 PM