What a great event!!  First year Westy Nantes had WSDC points… and it was a big success!!  I was so happy to be the chief judge of this event.. and work alongside the best scorekeeper (Tom!)  All the comps ran pretty smoothly and on time!!

All the workshops were great!!  The groups had such a good atmosphere.. really fun and ready to learn!!  We enjoyed working with all of the levels and pushing them to work hard and improve! 🙂

Un grand merci beaucoup à Brahim et Maria pour cette weekend magnifique !! 😉

Hope to see you all there next year to support the Nantes community at this WSDC event!!

-Maxime & Torri 😉

Another great year (as expected)!!!!

We love to start off our year with this event!  It is in such a beautiful city, in an amazing hotel, and filled with wonderful dancers from around the world!!  This year, I think there were more International dancers than any other year!  It’s so great to see all the support! 🙂

We taught 9 hours of workshops to 4 different levels of groups!  The setup of workshops is always great.. and we enjoy working with all of the groups!!

Our favorite part of the weekend is always Sunday… We love the Pro JnJ… followed by the Pro-Winners JnJ…. and ending the night with a cruise around the beautiful river at night time with some social dancing!!  We ended up drawing each other in the Pro JnJ.. and only Torri danced in the Pro-Winner JnJ where she drew the Novice winner (Armand Buisson)!!

Maxime felt so bad all weekend that he couldn’t be out social dancing more…. but if you didn’t hear, he had a really bad tooth infection and had to go to the dentist as soon as we got back to France on Monday…. He always loves the social parties at Budafest, and was upset to not be able to participate as much as he wanted to!!!

We always look forward to this event… and can’t wait until next year’s event!!!  We hope even more of you will join us next year…. and we hope that next time Maxime won’t have a tooth infection next year!!! haha

-Maxime & Torri 😉

LADIES!!!!!!

Most of you already know…. but if you don’t….. I’m selling the style of dance shoes that you can see me wearing around events!!!

There are two different models… and I will give you the positives of each of them!!

The first model (The Torri 1) is a new version of the classic shoe I used to wear a couple years ago.. This version has a double strap coming diagonally across the foot to give an elegant line.. It is VERY secure and doesn’t have the little straps on the toes so your little pinky toe can sneak out!! I wear this shoe for all of my competitions and demos!

The second model (The Torri 2) is more of a “design” shoe… it doesn’t look like a dance shoe really!!  I always hated how dance shoes looked… always thought they weren’t pretty with skinny jeans!  So now… here’s a design I absolutely love to wear for social dancing teaching and all that!  It’s not as secure as the first model… but I think the look of it is just so unique! AND.. the best part… once you have it fitted to your size, there is no need to unbuckle the shoe…. EVER!  You can slip your foot in and out of it with ease 🙂

I will be traveling around the world with these shoes… so if you are interested… please come and find me and talk to me about getting you a pair!!  At the moment… they have been selling FAST!!!  So I’m limited on the amount of sizes I have!!

But if you would like to go on a waiting list… I can add you to the list and as soon as I receive them I will try and get them to you as soon as possible!!

They are 120 euros per pair… and they are just AMAZING quality!  Italian suede that is very durable and trust me… these shoes will last you a loooong time.

**I AM UNABLE TO SHIP THE SHOES… SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PAIR, BUT WON’T BE SEEING ME AT AN EVENT ANY TIME SOON…. FEEL FREE TO VISIT THE WEBSITE OF THE COMPANY WHO MAKES THEM TO ORDER YOURSELF A PAIR…. WWW.LEODANCESHOES.COM**

Thanks for reading!!

-Torri 😉

We had a quick, but intense weekend in Geneva last weekend!!  We were there teaching 10 hours of workshops over the weekend, for two different levels!

Saturday, we had a pretty long day.. 2 hours with the Intermediate level.. 2 hours of styling with the Intermediate and Advanced levels mixed together.. and finished the day with 2 hours with the Advanced level!!  It was a really nice size of group for each of the levels.  There weren’t too many people, so we were really able to help each person individually where they needed help the most!

We really love the chance to get around to every person in the class!!

On Saturday night, we had a fun night with dancers from all around Geneva who came to support the dance and hang out with us!!  We did a fun social demo, along with a performance from Alexandre Peducasse & Christelle Antenucci… who are practicing their routine for the US Open!!  It was special for us to perform with them, because we choreographed their routine!!  So it was nice for us to see the progression of the routine and watch them grow with the choreography!!

Sunday we had 4 more hours of workshops (2 with each level) and that was it for the weekend!!  We really hope we can make it back to Geneva next year for another workshop weekend… and we really hope more people from the surrounding cities come to support the workshops!!  We had a really great time, and would love for you to join us if you can next time!

-Maxime & Torri 😉

This event is always so unique… and we love it so much!!!!  It’s not just a WCS event… there’s a lot of other dances too including Modern Jive, Lindy, Charleston, and some Ballroom too!

This year, we were the WCS teachers along with the wonderful Jang Wilder and Estelle Bonnaire!  They are really good friends of ours, so we thoroughly enjoyed getting to hang out with them and share this amazing weekend with them!!

The classes are always fun because of the great humor and fun vibe of the event!  Because the event organizers are so fun, everyone who attends just wants to have a great time with them!  🙂  Andy, Tor, Hev & Jon… we always love being a part of this event!  It’s been 3 years for us together, and we hope we will be at many more!!

There is a beginner track of classes during the weekend, where people are literally learning the rhythm of the dance for the very first time!  It’s a nice change to have a very beginner track like this… and makes us feel as if we are doing our part to help the community grow!!

Our highlight of the weekend… like every year here…. was the Sunday night show!!! (If you look back at my previous Rock Bottoms blogs, I’m sure I mention that it is my favorite part!!)  It is the best for us because we get to put on a show by acting instead of only dancing!  There are always these in depth skits we get to perform with all the teachers that just crack us all up and really bring the weekend to a great end.  This year’s skit involved all of the teachers going to see a movie…. where Maxime was “the perv”, and I was “the totty” (apparently in British terms it’s like the hot girl hahahaha)… Other roles that were up there with us were “the sleepy one”, “the jumpy one”, “the grabby one”, and “the annoying couple” (who happened to not be able to sit next to each other.. lol)

If you have a good imagination…. you might be able to think of ways this got super funny… especially since it was a “horror film” we were watching… with popcorn flying, ice cream getting thrown when a scary noise happened, and lots of people getting grabbed and kissed hahahaha

Rock bottoms is one of our favorite weekends of the year… and we really wish that more WCS people could join us for this wonderful fun event!!

Until next time!!

-Maxime & Torri 😉

Once again…. we had flight problems getting to this event!! But this time we didn’t miss a pre party or any workshops!

This was one of the first events Maxime and I met at, 7 years ago!!  And since then, we have been back 2 years ago to teach together!  It’s a short flight and a really fun weekend for us!

We got to hang all weekend with Damien & Amandine and Alexandre & Christelle! One thing I love about this event is we all stay in a house together, so it is fun to hang out at the event, but also get to know the other teachers even more when we are at the house!

The workshops were really great! It was nice to have some themes, but also some freedom to do whatever we wanted in some of the classes too! There was a quick fun contest on Saturday night before the Pro demos, and a lot of social dancing all weekend!

We really enjoyed the weekend.. and can’t wait to be back in 2 years! (As that’s the tradition… we go every 2 years haha)

Merci beaucoup tout le monde pour les danses et tout le plaisir!! À bientôt!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

Aaaaand that’s a wrap for our summer vacation!  We started back to a busy last part of the year with one of our favorite events… Norway Westie Fest!! We love to work for Jennie Spanning.. she is so easy going and the event is so well organized!! It was also a wonderful addition to the NWF family with her little Prince William!! 🙂

The people in Norway are so wonderful and have such a great time at the event… they really make all of the people who aren’t from the country feel very welcome! We were on staff with a really awesome group of teachers… Lee & Fab, Maxence & Virginie, Semion & Maria, and Catriona as the emcee for the weekend!  We taught 6 hours of classes, and I also head judged for the weekend.  It was nice to work with my buddy Roar again! He’s a great scorekeeper!

We had some flight issues getting to the event… so instead of arriving on Thursday night, we missed the pre-party and were stuck in Amsterdam for the night!!  We were so excited about the pajama party theme…. so we decided to move the pajama party to Friday night for the pro staff!  We probably looked crazy…. but we had a fun time!!

We danced to a very special song for me on Saturday night…. and we had a wonderful time!  It was a shag song, and as I used to dance shag… it was nice for me to be able to do a West Coast demo on a shag song!  I even taught Maxime a little shag step we could do during the dance 🙂 Thank you my love for sharing that special moment with me!

This year was a very special year for NWF… its was the 5th edition! So we celebrated the event’s birthday on Saturday night with a big cake and a lot of dancing!!

We were so happy to be back this year, and can’t wait until the next year!! If you have never been… You should try and come!! It’s a lot of great social dancing, comps, and workshops for all levels!!

Hope to see you there next year!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

This was our first year at Rock the Barn…. in Umeå Sweden!!  We had heard SO much about this event, and how different of an event it is!  Honestly, we didn’t know what to expect…. but we had so much fun!!

This events pretty much outdoors, well in a barn!  And the hotel? ..no hotel… you camp in tents and RVs right outside the barn!!  It is pretty amazing if you ask me!  They also have a dance studio near by that some people were staying at instead of outside in a tent.  We stayed in a cabin with the other teachers for the weekend: Stephen, Sonya, Chuck & Annika.. and we had a blast together!! So much shenanigans 😉

The event has such a cozy feel… there was the Swing 16 on Friday and a few JnJs on Saturday.  But it was mainly about the classes… having a great learning experience before the fun of the social dancing began!  Saturday night was pretty memorable… There was a Tent Contest!!  Yes….. we judged who had the best tent!! There were 4 contestants: the famous Norwegian tent with some drinks and games for all of us to play; the hugging tent where everyone got a hug, a drink, a delicious chocolate ball thing, and a Tarot card reading; the helium balloon tent where we sucked up some helium & sang some Britney Spears; and the winning tent…….the Harry Potter tent!!  Here we were chosen to be in partnerships (by the hat of course) and competed in a dance contest… where if I’m not mistaken Sonya won with her partner the broom hahahaha!!

We had such an amazing time at this event…. and we had so many fun little memories throughout the weekend I will never forget!! Thank you to every one who was so nice and welcoming of Maxime and I into the Rock the Barn family!!  We know we were the new ones… but it felt like we have been a part of it for years 😉 And next year….. I will become Tarzan in the game we played by the fire Sunday night… I was on my way up!! hahaha

Until next time guys!!!

-Maxime & Torri 😉

Another great year at a great event in Dusseldorf!!

This event is one of our favorites!! We absolutely love the atmosphere… from the PACKED workshops, to the late night dancing in the bar!!  Every moment of this event is always memorable!

We LOVED our ladies and mens styling class on Friday night to kick off the comps… where we did a fun battle combo to Swalla 😉  We were proud of how hard everyone worked in that short hour.. and we hope everybody had fun!

There were a lot more workshop attendees this year, so there were more levels than before!! We had a fun time in each of the classes and loved seeing the progression of the levels throughout the weekend!

The highlight of the weekend was definitely the Saturday night pro  JnJ!!  We loved watching all our friends do their thing.. Maxence & Victoria, Jordan & Virginie…. I got to dance with the awesome Ben Morris.. and Maxime drew the incredible Tatiana Mollmann!  Both dances found here….

And another highlight was the performance of Kyle & Sarah’s epic routine by Benji & Kyle…. If you haven’t seen it…. you need to see it!!!

We always look forward to this event every year… and already can’t wait to see what new things Marc & the team will be adding 😉

Until next time friends!!

-Maxime & Torri 😉

This was a fun and new experience for us, as it was our first time working with the Austrian West Coast Swing community!!  The event had the feel of a Euro Dance, with multiple dances in the same event!  We love these kinds of events because we get to see our friends from different styles of dance, which doesn’t happen very often!  We love to learn their dance, as well as share ours with them!

The event was in Velden, Austria at a casino!  The venue overlooked a beautiful lake, and the city of Velden was so cute!  We want to go back to visit more of the city; we didn’t have enough time this trip!

The set up of the classes was a little different than a normal weekend for us: the first day we had 4 hours of classes with the teachers of Austria, to teach them how to bring West Coast Swing into their dance schools.  We talked about a lot of things with them and gave them our advice on how to teach beginners and help them learn to love WCS from our personal experiences.  The next day was 4 hours of classes for the students of Austria!  We saw new faces, and familiar faces… and it was a fun day of classes for everyone!

Our favorite part of the weekend had to be the Saturday night traditional Austrian ball!  Everyone got dressed up in suits and long dresses and enjoyed a night of performances and fun dancing!  At the end of the night, we were all asked to participate in a traditional dance.  I don’t think we have ever laughed so much!!! It was such a fun time running around, changing partners, and laughing with everyone!!

We truly enjoyed this trip!  The people are all so sweet and we loved to meet the Austrian community!! We hope to see you all somewhere soon, and hope to be back in Austria someday!!  Thanks for all the great memories! And thank you Manuela and the whole team for having us 🙂

-Maxime and Torri 😉