SEOUL!!!

This was our first time in Seoul together!  I had been before about 3 years ago, but I loved going this time with Maxime and also with some other good friends (Kyle, Sarah, Michael Kielbasa, and Irina)!!

Richard and Nam Lim and the whole Korea Westival team were so amazing and so sweet to take care of us over the 5 days we were there!!  They not only organized the weekend, but they also took us out for authentic dinners and guided us all around the city on Monday to show us around and take us shopping!!  We are so grateful for all you guys did!!

Over the weekend, we had 5 hours of workshops and a couple privates as well.  We also judged the competitions and did a couple shows.  The energy of the ballroom was amazing!  Everyone was so loud cheering for the dancing!  It really is wonderful to perform in front of an audience like that!

We did an intro jam on Thursday, a Pro social demo Friday, a Pro JnJ Saturday, and a Pros dance with winners of JnJs on Sunday!!!  Everyone put on a great show in every performance, it made it so fun to watch everyone!!

The social dancing was awesome!!  We thought it was so cute how everyone lined up to get their chance to dance with the Pros… and we were so thankful that the DJ made the songs a little shorter so we had the chance to dance with EVERYONE at the event over the weekend!!!  We like to make everyone happy and get the chance to dance with all the attendees.

My favorite part of the whole weekend…. Saturday night…. before the Pro JnJ…. Richard had the entire event sing “Happy Birthday” to me… in their own languages!!!  It was amazing!!  There were people from Korea, Japan, Singapore, Russia, France and America!!  It was so special to me and something I will never forget!!

Thank you everyone for an amazing weekend in Korea… one we will never forget!!!!

We hope to see you around again soon!!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

Midland Swing Open!!  This was our second year at this event, and we had an even better time than the previous year 😉  Last year, the event was held in Manchester, and this time it moved back to it’s original hotel in Birmingham.  The hotel was really nice and the ballroom was great!

The workshops were very different from most weekends; instead of having level numbers, the workshops were geared towards whether people wanted to focus more on the social part of the dance or the competition part!  We really love this concept because it is so nice to go into a class and know that everyone there is ready to learn how to be a better competitor on the floor, or that they just want their dances to feel good and have fun dancing at night!  We also had an All Star level class, which is always fun to push the highest level of dancers to their full potential and try to make them do things they have never done before!

The competitions were good, as always!  We ran the Swing 16 competition again, and it was a great atmosphere with the two emcees we had…. Maxime for team blue (allez les bleues haha) and Kyle for team red (Redd for red haha) They were really funny with the competitors, the audience, and each other!  It was a great atmosphere, as always!!  We are so happy that everyone is enjoying the competition 🙂

We loved spending time with our friends Kyle, Sarah, Maxence, Virginie, Emeline, Paul, Coleen, Lee & Fab!  It’s always a good weekend when you are with good friends 🙂

Thanks everyone for the fun dances and we hope to see you around soon!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

We were so excited to go to Romania for the first time!!  It is so cool for us to see where this dance is growing to;  I never would have imagined that one day I would be traveling to Romania to teach WCS!  We loved getting to meet this new community… They have so much potential and were so eager to learn everything they could from us while we were there.  It’s always nice to see a new community’s hunger for knowledge of the dance 🙂

We were teaching alongside the lovely Adam and Rita from Budapest!  It was really great to spend time with them and get to know them as teachers better 🙂  We really had a great time with the workshops and almost felt that they went by too fast and wished we could have had more time with the groups!!

This was the first time an event like this had occurred in Timisoara, and they are trying to grow this event to have WSDC points someday.  Citadel Swing has a lot of potential, and we can’t wait to see where it grows to!

Our favorite part of the event was on Friday night at the welcome party.  They organized a fun game with everyone at the event, called Knight with Shining Armor.  It was really a fun 30 minutes of dancing and switching around with partners trying to collect the most stones for leaders and the most ribbons for followers.  It’s a little hard to explain the game, but everyone got really competitive once they started figuring it out!  It was really a fun atmosphere involving dancing with everyone at the party!

We enjoyed our time in Romania, and we hope we can go back again sometime 🙂

-Maxime and Torri 😉

This was our first time attending this event…but not our first time meeting most of these wonderful people in Trondheim!  We taught a weekend of workshops and privates in Trondheim for Jennie in March 2015, and we were so happy to return to see the growth of this Norwegian community!

We were excited to spend the weekend teaching with good friends… We were alongside Maxence, Emeline, Lee, Fab, Michael Kielbasa, and Catriona.  The workshops were completely packed and everyone was having a great time learning together!

The ballroom had a great atmosphere all weekend… for the competitions but especially for all the late night dancing!!  We loved the couch area for the staff to hang out in while we were taking a break between dances!  The music was great and really made us want to stay up dancing!  The event had WSDC points this year… and I was really happy to be the chief judge for the weekend.  It’s a lot of responsibility, but I actually love to organize the competitions and make sure everything is running perfectly!

Our favorite competition of the weekend is always the Swing 16 tournament!  It really ends the weekend with a fun atmosphere with a lot of people together on the floor!  We are over half way done with the tournament now, and we are really looking forward to the finale at WIL next year!!

We had a great weekend with everyone, and would like to thank the wonderful Jennie for having us as a part of the event!  We hope everyone else had a great weekend with us too, and hope to see you all very soon!!! 😉

-Maxime and Torri 😉

We had an amazing time at the very first German Open WCS!!!  We were so happy to be a part of the staff with some very wonderful teachers!  The event was organized by Christian Spengler with some help from Marc Heldt… and was held at one of the most beautiful dance schools we have ever seen, called Ballhaus Freiburg in Freiburg, Germany!!!  It is an incredible venue for the event!!

We loved teaching alongside Olivier and Virginie, and John Lindo with assistant Guilia Kohlrusch.  There were 3 levels of classes that we had the opportunity to work with… and we had a lot of fun with each level!!  We loved to help the beginner level learn some new patterns and concepts, and push the level 2 and 3 to try new things in their dance and grow their movement!

We were also so happy to see how many people joined the competitions for the first time!  The Newcomer Jack n Jill was so big; its so nice to see new dancers competing and having a good time while doing it!!!  Of course, like every event, the Novice division was the biggest of the weekend…. and it was really great to see so many people participating!!  The last division was an Open JnJ… Intermediate with a couple Advanced dancers.  We had the lovely Mejrem dance as a leader since we needed one more to make it even!  She was awesome, and so nice to help out to make the competition run better 🙂

We also ran the Swing 16 competition again… This time straight to the top 16 final!  It was a great atmosphere, as always!!  We loved having Christian and Marc both emcee the contest, as it brings a really fun part to the contest!!  The whole contest was really entertaining and we are so happy for the winners Phillipp and Katja!!  See you guys at WIL 😉

We want to thank everyone for another great weekend in Germany!!!!!  We love it every time we are in this country…. everyone is so eager to learn and ready for a fun atmosphere in the classes!!!  Next time we are in Germany is next year for Euro dance….. so we hope to see our German friends somewhere else sooner than that!!!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

Wow what a great year at SSS!!!  I have always wanted to be a part of the whole event, but I could only come for one weekend before!!  It was my first time being on staff and teaching at SSS…. and it was so much fun!!  I honestly have no idea how so many people are ready to learn and work hard in workshops when they are so close to the beach and the weather is so amazing!!!!  It was hard for me to get up and work… I can only imagine how hard it is to not skip a class and stay in the sun 😉

Anyways…. Paco does a great job and mixing the serious times and the really fun times of the event!  Almost every night there was a different theme that people could dress up for… There was plenty of time for social dancing…. There were different venues for the social dancing so it kept it new and exciting…. And most importantly… there was a day off right in the middle of the 10 days to give people a chance to recover and refresh for the last 4 days of the camp!!! hahaha

This year there were 4 different levels… and we were pretty impressed by all the levels!  We think everyone who took the classes were very eager to learn and ready to be challenged, which any teacher loves to see!!  We had 4 hours with each level over the 10 days, and we also got a little more time by assisting in other classes, and in the lady’s styling intensive with me! 😉

The first weekend was organized to be the competition weekend!  It was nice to see how many people came to support the competitions!!  Maxime was the emcee for all the comps… and I think he did a pretty fantastic job… but I may be a little biased 😉  But he really brought a great energy to the ballroom for the comps and it made everything really enjoyable!  We had another round of Swing 16 on Sunday… and it was another very successful run!!  We are really loving the atmosphere this competition brings to a weekend…. and are starting to get really excited for the finale at West in Lyon 2017!!!

The staff was a super fun group of teachers to hang out with for the week… we had Jordan & Tat, Ben & Jen, Brennar & Autumn, Maxence, Emeline, Chuck, Stephen & Sonya, and some new friends Reda for hip hop and Xandy, Anderson & Brenda for Lambazouk!!  Honestly, a very inspiring staff and we felt lucky to be alongside them in the show and all week long!

My favorite part of the whole week was the beach parties!!  I loved the club/bar on the beach with the couches outside and the dance floor all around…. it was such an amazing atmosphere and I’m so happy we had 3 of the parties there!

I think it was a pretty successful year of Sea Sun & Swing…. and I hope that if you are thinking about coming next year, you book it and come have an amazing time in the south of France with us!!!  We will see you there next year!!

Thanks for all the memories friends 😉

-Maxime and Torri 😉

We’re back!!

We had a month long vacation and it was wonderful!!!  Unfortunately I kept with the lazy summer attitude and have gotten a little behind on my blogging!!  EEEEEEK… so here we go 😉

Jurassic swing was an awesome concept for a first time event!!  It was held in a natural park in Germany…. About 1 1/2 hours from Dusseldorf!!  We weren’t sure what to expect when we were asked if we wanted to stay in a tree house….. but the park was pretty amazing!!  We didn’t actually stay in the park, but some of the workshops were held there so we got to see a lot of it.  It was beautiful to have lunch with the peacefulness of the park around you!

The event was small and intimate, which is exactly what the event director, Fabian Schuster, wanted!  The levels were small enough that everyone was feeling like they had a good amount of information for them personally.  We actually really loved the set up of workshops… The only teachers were us and Marc & Mejrem (some German favorites ;)!!)  So Saturday we had about 4 hours with a level, and then we switched the levels for Sunday.  It was nice to have each group for a long block of time to really feel like we could focus on a little bit of everything instead of cutting it after an hour.  We  also ended each session with a quick question and answer forum with the students where they could ask about judging, tips for dancing, or even about how we got started in this community!  It was really great to have this time with the levels!

I think the highlight of my weekend though was during the pro demo on Saturday night!!  We enjoyed the demos of course, but at the end Marc and Maxime decided to show everyone how to play the Pie Face game…. every morning, it was on the schedule to have a Pie Face Wake Up time…. where people played and got the “whipped cream to the face” wake up call hahahaha!!  But Marc and Maxime’s game got so intense with everyone watching and waiting for the whipped cream to fly for someone!!  But of course, both times it landed on Marc 😉

It was such a fun, relaxed, but hardworking weekend for everyone…. and we really hope the event has enough support to do it again next year!!  We enjoyed it, and we hope that more people will come and join the party next year!!

Thanks everyone for a great weekend!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

We love this event!!!  It is so special to us…. and we are so happy to be there each year!!

This year was the best so far for us…. We got to teach together for the first time at this event!!  We have been there for all 3 years of this event… but with different partners!  So it was nice to be able to share the classes with each other this year!

The atmosphere is incredible at this event!!!  Marc Heldt and his team work so hard at making this event amazing for every attendee… I really don’t know how they do it!!  Everyone is always having a great time… in the workshops, at the parties, in the competitions…. literally ALL THE TIME!!

The dancing starts in the main ballroom after the comps…. and slowly moves into the bar… with one of the best social atmospheres we experience all year long!!  We seriously love the dancing in the bar and hanging out on the side getting to catch up with everyone!

This year was so much bigger than previous years… And a lot more international people!!  It’s nice to see an event grow… especially when it is organized by such a good person and friend!  Marc puts in the effort all year long to grow his event… traveling around the world… supporting other events… and really making the WCS community his main priority!  His hard work sure has paid off 😉

We had a really fun time in the Champions Jack n Jill on Saturday night… Maxime got to dance with the lovely Sarah Vann Drake, and me with the wonderful Maxence Martin!!!  We really enjoyed dancing with you guys.. its always fun!! 😉

Lastly…. SWING 16!!  OMG…… it was EPIC at its first time in GERMANY!!!!!!!!  The Germans sure brought a super fun element to this contest!!!  We haven’t laughed so much before!!!  It got a little crazier than we were expecting…. but we were so happy with the atmosphere of the room!!!!!  And the best part…. the finals was filled with Advanced and All Star dancers…. but the winners….. An Intermediate leader and a NEWCOMER follower!!!!!!!  So cool that this contest is growing around Europe…. We are so proud of it and can’t wait for the finale at West in Lyon 2017!!!!

Thank you to all our German friends for such a great weekend…. We will be back for Jurassic Swing in a month… and the German Open in August!!!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

Back in Lille for the second time this year!!!!  And I can honestly say my experience was MUCH better this time!!! In February.. I got some stomach bug and was sick all weekend… This time I was able to be 100% in the classes, get through a full demo without wanting to throw up… as well as dance with a lot of people at the party on Saturday!!  Woohooo!!!

Everyone is always so sweet in Lille.. The group of people that show up are ready to learn, but wanting to have a good time as well!  Those are our kind of people!!  The classes were really great.. We split each two hour block of classes with our good friends Olivier and Virginie.  We love traveling with them…. especially since the addition of sweet Billie!!!  She makes everything more fun 😉

We were especially happy with the beginners level… This group was mainly the group of dancers who started West Coast Swing in September… and they were awesome!!  They picked up on some pretty difficult concepts from both us and Oli and Virgie… and we were all impressed with their capacity to learn!  We can’t wait to see how their level is when we return in February!!

There was a special class that was very fun for me… and that was the Lady’s Styling class I taught with Virginie… We created a fun little choreography for the girls to a song…. and honestly didn’t think we would get through it all… But we did!!!  We know the girls were a little overwhelmed with all the information….. but they did awesome!!!!  It was supposed to be fun as well as work different aspects of their dance that they could hopefully work on at home 😉  We hope they enjoyed it!!

Here is a quick look at our demo from the weekend!

Thank you everyone for such a fun weekend!!  We really enjoy the people of Lille and all around who attend these weekends…. It really makes our job not feel like a job 😉

We will see you guys in February!!!!

Merci beaucoup et à bientôt !!!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

Such a quick, but awesome and fun-filled weekend!!  Maxime has been to work for Cat and her group of dancers for the past 3 years… but this was my first time being in the area since Swing V 2009!!  The growth of this community is incredible!!  Everyone works so hard and truly loves this dance… that is a wonderful thing to see from our position!  The local teachers have really done a great job helping this community grow… and we felt really happy with all we accomplished this weekend with our friends from around the UK!

For the workshops…. we really didn’t go easy on the students at all!!!  So thank you to all the people who took the classes and tried their hardest the whole time!!  We really appreciate all the effort you put into the classes, and seeing you guys practice the concepts we covered at the party on Saturday night really made us smile! 🙂

We also loved our special Friday night class with the Advanced group… We hope we pushed you guys to help grow the community even more… in fun and different ways 😉 Honestly… we got to see a lot of people that we haven’t seen in such a long time… and it was lovely to catch up with them…. You all know who you are… and thank you for the fun conversations and weekend  in general!

Saturday was very special for us…. Catriona asked us to perform our “Marry Me” routine for the group… So we made some changes to it and it felt like performing a new routine!!  We really enjoy dancing this routine… As it feels like a special moment in our lives that we get to share with everyone through our love of dance… 😉 Thank you everyone for your kind words about the routine, and we hope we will perform it a couple more times throughout the year…. 😉

Thank you Catriona for having us out this year… and we are already looking forward to next year!! Check out our calendar soon to see when we will be back… Sometime in May 2017… Stay tuned for the exact weekend!!  Thanks UK friends for back to back fun weekends!!!

Until next time,

-Maxime and Torri 😉