We loved Scotland!!  But we really wish we could have seen more of Glasgow!  It was a first time for both of us in Scotland.. and we really hope we can make it back next year to see more of the beautiful country!!

As for the event… it was the first year for the Scottish Swing Championships… and we think it was pretty successful for a first time event!  Next year, there will be WSDC points, and that is only going to help this event grow bigger and bigger!!  We were excited to meet new Scottish friends, but also very happy to see old friends from all over the UK and even some French friends 😉 The people of Scotland were so sweet and friendly…. Even if we couldn’t completely understand everything that was said to us the first time with the strong accents!! hahaha 😉 All kidding aside… we really enjoyed getting to know everyone, and hope to see more of the Scottish community very soon!!

The workshops were PACKED!!  So many people ready to learn that we actually had to add the private lesson floor to the edge of the main dance floor to make more room for everyone!!!  It was a greta ambiance in the classes and the competitions as well!!  We were happy to see everyone step up and help the event get enough competitors to gain WSDC points for next year!  Everyone cheered on everyone… and that is always a great thing to see!!

Once again, we got to run the Swing 16 contest on Sunday afternoon… and we had just enough competitors to run the final of the tournament 🙂  We were content with getting 16 couples… but next year we are really hoping we can double that number!!!  We really appreciate all the participation from the competitors, and the positive atmosphere it brings to the end of the event!  Congrats to the winners of the event… and we really hope everyone had a great time with us!

Thank you everyone for such a great weekend in Glasgow…. and we hope we see everyone again in the UK very soon!!! Keep growing the community… and we hope we will be back next year! 😉

-Maxime and Torri 😉

Another great year at Disney for the French Open!!  We always love being at this event for so many reasons!!!  This year even more than previous years….

First…. The venue set up…. It’s very rare to have a huge ballroom in Europe; so when we attend an event with one, we always love the atmosphere!  The backdrop with the giant Mickey head is such a great addition to the event….. It really is what people think of when they think French Open!  And the lighting of the event is always amazing… During all the routines, shows, and even social dancing the lights are just perfect and really make the competitions more intense!

The staff… Olivier and Jean Jacques do a great job with organizing the event, and keeping everything on time and everyone happy!  Oli is always present being on the mic the whole weekend, and JJ was running the bar most of the weekend with some helpers…. Making sure everyone was getting crepes and hot dogs and drinks whenever they wanted… I don’t think the bar ever closed until they ran out of all food and drinks on Sunday!! haha For the teaching and judging staff…. its always nice to see familiar American friends, as well as European ones 🙂 We had a great time teaching alongside Jordan & Tatiana, Ben & Victoria, Brennar & Henriette, Hugo & Stacey, Bret & Joelle, Arnaud & Virginie, and Stanley & Coleen! We had some pretty fun times between judging and dancing at night… Thanks everyone for all the great talks and memories we created! 😉

The social parties…. They were really fun this year!!  We had such a fun time dancing that every night we were having to force ourselves to go to bed so we wouldn’t be exhausted in our workshops the next morning!!!!  All the DJs were awesome…. and we had so much fun with the line dances Friday night!

The shows… By now most of you have probably seen all of the shows from the weekend…. If not I will put them here after a little explanation… 😉 We had our usual improv demo, which is always so fun for us!  We love finding new music and challenging ourselves to try and be different and put on a good show!

I also had a second demo in the show… With one of my wonderful past partners Brennar Goree!!  He was supposed to be teaching with his partner Autumn Jones, but she had a last minute emergency that kept her at home…. So when it came time for the show, I decided to help out and try to relearn Carolina Shag and do the show with Brennar!  I had such a fun time!  Thanks for having the patience to help me B!

And lastly, the show ended with a special show that occurs every two years… Maxime and Olivier put together a funny routine for everyone!!  This year, the routine was put together very quickly…. but it was just as funny as ever!  This time it was a Spanish themed mix, with some special guest appearances from the awesome Arnaud, Achile, Remy & Marie!!  Hope you get a good laugh from this 😉 We did!

We ended the weekend with another round of the Swing 16 Euro Tournament!!  It was super successful and we think the tournament is really starting to pick up!  Everything ran much more smoothly than at WIL… It makes us so happy that everyone is really loving the concept and participating!!!  We really think the grand finale is going to have a lot of money in the pot for the winners 😉  Can’t wait!!!

Thank you everyone for all the laughs and dances…. We really had a great FOWCS weekend!!  Already looking forward to next year 😉  Hope to see you all there!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

We had a great time teaching in our French hometown, Lyon!!  It was the first time we have taught together at the Evi’Dance studio… And it was a really awesome turn out for the classes!!  We had so many couples in both the Novice/Intermediate and the Intermediate/Advanced classes!!!

We worked on some fun things, and we really hope everyone had a good time with us!!

It was really nice to see how many people came out for the party after the workshops!  There was such a fun atmosphere during the party!

We really hope we can fit it in our schedule to come back to Evi’Dance for another quick night of workshops sometime…. It’s always nice to work near home with the local community!!

Thanks Stephane, Amandine, and Julien for having us!!

Up next…… FRENCH OPEN!!!

À jeudi les amis!!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

As you can see in our video section, we have finally got our Technique and Connection DVD up in English and French now…. You have the option to purchase a Tier 1 or Tier 2 membership.

Tier 1 only allows access to one video, whereas Tier 2 allows access to both!!

As you can see, Tier 1 is $30, and Tier 2 is $55…. So you will be getting a slight discount on one of the DVDs 😉

If you have already purchased our first Tier 1 membership, you do not have to pay $55 to get the second tier…. you will only have to pay $25!!  But in order to get to that option you will need to put in a discount code….. If you are interested in that, please send us an email to maximeandtorri@gmail.com and we will give you the access code to receive your discount!!!!!

Hopefully by the end of May we will have more DVDs to offer for you!!

DVDs we are currently working on include: Technique & Connection part 2, Musicality, Body Movement for Styling, and some pattern based DVDs for the leaders who might need a little extra help with some creativity 😉

Please stick around for any news we may have on the DVDs, and as always…….

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

This has been one of the most amazing experiences we have ever had together!  The people of Tahiti swing are absolutely WONDERFUL!!!  Not only has this been a teaching trip, but we have also had a great vacation here as well!  We could tell it was going to be an amazing trip the second we stepped into the arrivals area of the Papeete airport and were welcomed by so many people!!!

We started the trip off in Bora Bora…. which was more beautiful than we could have even imagined!!  It was a much needed relaxing couple days before we started our first workshops.. How could you not be completely relaxed with this view??

After we returned to Papeete, we began our weekend of workshops and privates!  We were so happy to meet everyone at the first dance on Friday night, and dance with almost everyone!  The community is so wonderful, and everyone is so nice and welcoming!!  We realized in the classes that even though everyone may be on Tahiti time and arrive a little lat etc classes, they are all ready to work and improve their dancing!  Everyone was very invested in the classes and worked very hard with all the material and technique we gave them…. We really love to see that!!!!

And on top of getting to work with everyone, we also got to see a lot of people’s houses… which are all so beautiful and have amazing views!!!  We feel so lucky to have been in such great company and be welcomed into everyone’s homes!!!! Thank you so much Bruno, Taraina, Titaua and Jim for your hospitality!!!

We woke up each morning feeling like it was a dream and we couldn’t possibly be in such a beautiful place!!  After the first weekend of work, we had a couple days off to go to another island, Moorea!  We rode in Bruno’s boat, actually, I rode in it while Maxime drove it!!  Eeeeeek!!  Bruno was close by of course to help him when waves got a little crazy 😉 It was amazing….. and right before we arrived in Moorea, we came across a group of about 15 dolphins!!  So Bruno drove us around and we played with them for 30 minutes!!!  They loved jumping around the boat and put on such a great show for us!!  That was an unforgettable experience for Maxime and I…. we had such an amazing time!!  While we were in Moorea, we stayed in another beautiful house on the ocean, swam with sharks and sting rays, and went exploring with a group of friends…. we loved every second of being there!!

After that relaxing trip, we went back over to Papeete for our last weekend of workshops and privates… Everyone was just as enthusiastic about the classes as the first weekend, and we were so happy with the progress we felt we made with everyone!!  It made us extremely happy to hear all the wonderful feedback from people, and we are really hoping we can fit it in our schedule to come back next year!!!!

We loved performing at the dance on Saturday night!  It was a WCS and Kizomba mixed party, so of course we danced on a Kizomba song…. which we both love very much!!  We had a fun time, and we hope we may have at least interested some of the Kizomba dancers in WCS so the dance will grow even more here 😉

Tahiti Swing dancers….. Each and every one of you are so special to us, and made us feel like part of the family!!!!  We really appreciate what you have all done for us over the last 2 weeks, and hope we can come back and visit you very soon!!!  But before then, we hope to see you somewhere in the US or France!!!!

Until next time friends!!!

Merci beaucoup!!!!!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

We had a great weekend in Moscow!  It was my second time visiting Russia, and Maxime’s first time!!  The Russian Open was a really cool experience for us both… We loved getting to meet a lot of new people and work with everyone in the classes.  The level of dancing there is really high, which made the classes really fun and challenging!

 We loved getting to judge the competitions as well, and see everyone performing in their strictlies, Jack n Jills, and routines!!  Overall, the level of the weekend was higher than we were expecting, and we were truly thrilled to be a part of the Russian Open!

One of my favorite nights was Saturday night….. We performed a fun demo, and really had a great time… but in the show was a Carolina Shag team… For me, I have some experience in shag… and I have never seen it grow like it has in Russia!  Brennar Goree has done an amazing job at getting a group of Russian dancers really excited about learning shag and growing the dance in their community.  It was really a heart warming experience for me to see their love for this dance that I also love 🙂 Keep working and growing that dance guys… you are doing amazing so far!!

The last night we got to do something special we normally don’t do at every event…. The staff of Russian Open took the teaching staff downtown and we had a night of sight seeing before we headed off to the airport the next morning!  We saw all of the monumental sights of Moscow… all by night… where it was really cold… but absolutely beautiful!!

Thank you to the whole staff of Russian Open for having us this year, and we really wish you had as much fun with us as we had with you!!

Until next time 😉

-Maxime and Torri 😉

Woohoooo…. This is an event we really look forward to ALL YEAR LONG!!!!!

As all of you should know…. WIL is Maxime’s event… that he has been running for 8 years alongside Virginie Massart, Arnaud Perga, & David Riquelme!  They have really cared for this event over the last 8 years…. and put their full hearts into this event to make it magical for every single person who attends!  If you have never attended a West in Lyon….. you must seriously consider it for 2017.  Let me give you some of my personal favorite parts of the weekend… 😉

The staff….. I’m not just talking about the top of the line Pro teaching staff….. I’m talking about the volunteers as well!!  The pros of course do a great job with classes and judging and emceeing and putting on a great show for the attendees…. but the volunteers really make sure everything runs smoothly…. from the T-shirt sales, to the food & drinks sales, and to the lining up of competitors for the contests that really makes everything go so fast!!  Every person there works so hard… this event is amazing because of the people who work their butts off all weekend!!!

The venue….. walking into that gymnasium with amphitheater seating on Saturday night is one of the most unreal feelings I have ever experienced!  This is my 3rd year in a row at WIL…. and it still takes my breath away each time!!!  The backdrop was AMAZING this year…. the LYON was incredible!!!  Looking down onto the PACKED dance floor to see everyone dancing and having a great time is such a wonderful sight to see!!  And is if that giant floor isn’t enough…. around the corner there is another packed dance floor!!!  These people just can’t get enough of the dancing at WIL!

The contests…. I was lucky enough this year to be trusted with the huge job of Head Judge for the weekend!!  I was so stressed going into the weekend already…. it didn’t help that I came down with the flu on Thursday!!!!!  I was so sick… but I knew I needed to push through to make the weekend happen!!  Thank you so much John Lindo for your amazing scoring over the weekend…. and making my job easier…. and my sweet Henriette!!!  I couldn’t have made it through the contests without you keeping my head on straight and helping organize people on the floor!!  Judges…. you were all awesome and helped move things along quickly…. 🙂 Oli… your emceeing really helped keep everyone entertained while we would work out problems on the floor… and I really appreciate all you did to keep things moving… even if you messed up my order of leaders sometimes 😉 hahaha and to the amazing hard workers in the contest line up room… Peter, Noelia, Valerie….. you are my lifesavers!!! WIL wouldn’t be the same without you!!

SWING 16…. this was the first time in Europe we debuted the swing 16 tournament concept… and we got a lot of great feedback!!!  So much fun… we are so excited to take this tour all around Europe… hitting Russian Open next 😉  Check out all the info on www.swing16.com 😉

The show….. Always a great show…. Maxime and I were so sad that we were both so sick with the flu on Saturday that we couldn’t do our routine….. but we were happy to be a part of a really fun social demo with John & Emeline and Oli & Hennie… while the magnificent Farid Ferchach put on a singing show  for us to dance to!!  It was the fun we needed to feel better…. Thats for sure!  everyone else did great with their routines… and we loved watching 😉

Lastly….. the cleanup….. it is always such a really great experience to see everyone helping to pick up the floor, while others keep dancing…. it took a total of 30 minutes to get all the floor and carpets up and put onto their carts…. thats how many people help out!  Everyone comes together and gets it done so fast!  I am always honored to be a part of the help… and its one of my favorite parts of the weekend 🙂

Click here to watch a fun video Tatiana took of the cleanup!

Thank you to everyone for making it another special WIL for me….. I really hope next year I’m not as sick….. Sorry for this post being so long….. But trust me…. I wanted to write so much more!!!!

Until next year WIL….. 😉

-Maxime and Torri 😉

Oh my goodness….. I am so far behind on blogs for the website!!!  We have been so busy between traveling, planning WIL, and recovering from being sick!  But here goes nothing….

DUTCH OPEN!!  What a great first time event!  We were so happy to be a part of this event, and make history in Holland!  We taught alongside some good friends:  Olivier and Virginie, Alexandre and Christelle, and Sven and Melena!  The weekend had a great close-knit atmosphere…. and we loved getting to meet people from a new WCS community!  We think that it is so nice to be able to meet new communities…. it doesn’t happen very often anymore!  We think that Manoah and Femke have done a really great job growing the WCS in their area… and we can’t wait to see the progress that will continue over the next couple years!

It was really nice to see how many surrounding countries came to support this event…. There were a lot of familiar faces from Germany and Belgium especially…. but also from France as well!  Overall… we loved the atmosphere that everyone helped create with their attendance at the DOWCS!

The shows… We had a quick social demo on Friday night with our partner…. to set the mood for the weekend and get everyone ready for the workshops ahead!  On Saturday night, we did a fun JnJ with the staff…. where the guys picked their favorite song to dance to and threw it in the mix for anyone to dance to!  I drew the sweet and wonderful Sven… and had such a fun time with him!  Thanks Sven for a laid-back and nice dance 😉  Maxime got the amazing Melena (from the US who is currently living in Amsterdam!  It is always nice to see a familiar American face in Europe lol).. they had a great dance as well… I loved their song and thought they did pretty wonderful to it 🙂

Overall….. we had a very fun time at DOWCS….. Thank you so much Manoah and Femke for having us!!! And we wish you the best of luck with future Dutch Opens!!!!!

-Maxime and Torri 😉

We had a very quick but fun weekend in Montpellier!  We arrived Friday late afternoon, and left Sunday morning!  On Friday, we had a separate mens and ladies class for an hour, and then put it together to see how it all worked with a partner.  We really love this concept, as it feels like the guys and girls each get some in depth time with Maxime and myself, and then also get to see how it works when we throw a partner into the equation!  We have had a lot of success with this concept and think its great for everyone!  After the classes, we had a little pre party before the workshops… and we got to see a lot of friends from around the area who came out to dance with all of us!

Saturday was the long day…. 6 hours of workshops…. 2 hours with each level! (Intermediate, Advanced, and Competition) We felt like the levels were really great… and we had a fun time challenging the competition level!!  The time flew right by us because we were having a great time with all the levels!!

After the workshops, we had a little break to rest before the big party 🙂

There were so many familiar faces who came just for the dance that night… and it was really great to catch up with everyone.  We kept going from the dance floor, to hanging out and back and forth all night until we finally crashed around 2:30 in the morning!!

We really had a wonderful time in Montpellier with all the dancers…. Thank you so much Alexandre Hulo for having us and taking care of us over the weekend!!

We hope we will be back soon… and if not… We hope to see most of you at WIL!!!!! 😉

-Maxime and Torri 😉

We had a great time in Nantes!  It was my first time, and I really enjoyed meeting a lot of new people and seeing plenty of familiar faces!  Francois Gastine organized the weekend of workshops, and I think they were pretty successful!!  We also had a fun interview on Sunday that will be featured on a website…. as soon as I get more info about it I will post the link here 😉

We really liked the way the workshops were put together, it made things different from the usual weekend.  We started each day with a ladies only class with myself, followed by a guys only class with Maxime.  Then after lunch we put the two classes together to see how the styling worked with a partner!  I think it was great to have time alone with each group to really break down the styling, but also seeing how it worked with a partner was really beneficial!

Saturday night was such an awesome atmosphere!  There were so many people at the dance that we reached our maximum amount of people allowed in the room!!  The room was so hot, but people didn’t seem to care!  They kept on dancing until the end of the party at 1:30 in the morning!  We did a fun demo to Magnets by Disclosure and Lorde….

Here it is for you to check it out 😉

Thank you to Francois for having us, Pierre-Yves and Claire for hosting us at your beautiful house, Alex for the awesome food, and everyone else for all the fun dances and memories from the weekend!!

Maxime will be back in Nantes for more fun in June with Olivier, Virginie, and Henriette 😉  but I hope to see you all very soon at another event 😉

-Maxime and Torri 😉