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 😉
