We brought in the New Year at Spotlight Dance Challenge in Wisconsin. What great warm people in the Midwest! Truly can’t wait to get back out there! Prelims for Nationals in Myrtle Beach rounded out our January!

February was Capital Swing, which was and always will be one of our favorite events! Then Keepers of the Dance, followed by a trip to Lyon, France! That was our second trip to France but our first to Lyon. We made so many new French friends and truly can’t wait to get back again!

In March, we were at MadJam in DC for a fun event put on by Dave Moldover. Such a great mix of Hand and Swing Dancers! Truly such an energy filled weekend! What’s not to love. Then we were off for Shag Nationals in Myrtle Beach, where we were honored to receive the title of Junior II Champions and Overall Junior Champions! What an awesome weekend filled with so many wonderful dancers and supportive friends! March finished up with Boogie in the Burgh….another wonderful weekend filled with some of the warmest people you will ever meet. Looking forward to being there again next year!

April was a whirlwind with Orlando J&J, LAPD, Reno Dance Sensation and Swing Dance America back to back each weekend! Each an incredibly different event, equally amazing in their own way! So happy to have been a part of each one!

Which brings us to May…..Swing Diego! Such a great event! It was bigger and better than ever with crowds from so many various countries….it was amazing! Kudos to all! We were so happy to be a part of the staff this year! Then we were off for the Hern Hanger Party in West Virginia. The warmth of this group truly astounded us. They helped us raise almost $3000 for our junior team we are a part of this year, which is almost enough to sponsor all 12 team members to get to and compete at the US Open in November! Thank you so much!!!!

Finally, this next weekend we will be at Grand Nationals! This is an event close to both of our hearts! This event blends Brennar’s roots of Shag and Torri’s Swing roots! We will be competing in not only Junior Swing but Junior II Shag as well! Not to mention Cabaret, Strictly Swing and Jack & Jills! Should be a great weekend!

More updates soon to come….

After Swingtime, we were off for a relaxing weekend in the sun at Jay Byam’s Summer Dance Camp. This event is always a fun weekend mixed with relaxation and great competitions. Next we were off to Bill Camerons Summer Hummer and this is an event that you definitely need to put on your schedule as well! Bill knows how to throw a party while also putting on a great event! All the pro’s that you want to get a lesson with or watch perform are there! It is a fabulously good time in a gorgeous location in upstate Ma. We can’t wait to get back there next year! It was also an exciting year as Bill and Yuna announced that they were pregnant and by Summer Hummer next year, they will have a beautiful baby girl in tote! Congrats to you both!!!

In September, we headed out to Phoenix to Mike Gadberry’s awesome event, Desert City Swing! Mike is such a great event promoter and really takes care of everyone. We had a great time and are happy to say that Mike has invited us back again for next year. If you haven’t made this event….we would definitely say it is worth the trip! After Phoenix, we were off to Meet me in St. Louis. This was our first time together at this event and it was a great time. We really enjoy being in the Midwest as we get to see some competitors and fellow dancers that we don’t see alot at other events. The people were awesome and so welcoming. After that, we headed to Kansas City for a workshop weekend! Again, so many new faces and people we don’t get to see often enough. It was a great weekend and looking forward to getting back out there again.

Then in October, we headed out to Paris, France to the Rolling Camp with Kyle and Sarah! This trip was probably the most amazing trip we have had so far. We had the opportunity to work with so many talented dancers and share our style and philosophy with them. They were like sponges….they soaked up everything we had to offer so quickly and were ready for more! We are so grateful to have shared this experience with Kyle and Sarah! They were awesome! We have so many memories from that trip!

After France, we headed to Boogie by the Bay. It was so cool to see so many of the French competitors there and they were amazing! Boogie is always such a great event as it is the prelude to the Open and you can feel the tension building as people are usually preparing to retire their old routine and getting ready to debut the new one at the Open. This was our first year on staff at Boogie and we loved being a part of their team! They put on a very professional event that is probably top 3 in attendance. Everything always runs on time and without a hitch! If you haven’t been to Boogie, you definitely need to get there SOON! After Boogie, we stayed local for John Wheaton’s Halloween Swingthing….and as always it was a blast. There is a costume party on Halloween that everyone goes all out in their costumes…. and let us just say….we will forever be haunted by the site of Parker Dearborn!!!

Next it was off to Tampa for Tampa Bay Classic. We just got home and had a great time. We have officially retired out Make it Mine routine! We absolutely loved that routine but are ready to put all our time and attention into the new one! We are so excited about it and cant wait to debut it at the US Open and hope everyone loves it as much as we do! Next weekend we are off to Phoenix to see Laurie Kauffman and all of her “new” Westies getting ready for the Open! How exciting and then off to London for Paul and Catriona’s London Swingvitational! We will be spending a few days touring London before the event so we are really looking forward to that! And then home to crunch for the Open! Hope to see you all on the floor soon!