Yesterday I competed with my team the Shimmy Shakers at the 10th annual International Lindy Hop Championships. I have a lot of feelings, but mostly just feeling grateful and blessed to be here and be a part of this global community.
We were one of a slew of awesome competitors in the brand new solo jazz teams division at ILHC. Part of the excitement of entering was the novelty of the contest. I knew there would be a wide variety of entrants, from established dance groups to teams thrown together on the fly the night before. There were sassy girl groups, small teams of 3-4 pro dancers, a small mob of Seattle dancers, and a team composed of people of color called "Black, Brown and Beige." Surprisingly, there were no chorus girl teams or dudes in bowties and boater hats.
There's a lot I could say about our performance. In terms of our strengths, we had a huge crew of dancers (16), all dancing fast and intricate choreography, with lots of formations changes and patterns, all looking on-point in our matching outfits. Overall the piece is quirky, unpredictable and energetic — reflecting our awesome team leader / choreographer Ann Mony. I honestly have no idea how we will do in the official rankings. But I already feel like we won.
I'm happy that I got to represent my team, my city and myself before this awesome gathering of dancers. (And I get to do it again next week at Camp Hollywood!)