There are times I wish I still possessed my stolen smartphone. Times when I see a picture I’d like to capture, but my camera is inaccessible. Times when I’d rather map directions on my phone rather than paper. Times when someone says something insightful and I wish I could write it down for memories sake.
It seems that I learn a lot about a swing dance scene at the first meeting, oftentimes the car ride from the airport. My job isn’t always merely to teach my material, it’s to improve the scene.
Bucharest has a small west coast swing scene. They’ve been teaching for 3 years, but have 20-30 regular dancers. Cristian has calculated that he has taught at least a couple hundred people, though. However, being that people are social animals, they prefer parties where greater numbers gather. This means salsa and tango.
The WCS Intensive Weekend is meant to change that. It’s to be a catalyst where dancers from across Romania can come and learn west coast swing. It’s the first west coast swing weekend in Romania. There will be dancers from at least 3 other Romanian cities and a couple from Bulgaria. There will be dancers from salsa, tango, ballroom, and lindy hop. Lindy hop will also be offered since it’s virtually non-existent except with a very new group in Brasov.
Overall, I think the weekend was successful. I was pleased with the overall attendance. Classes seemed full for the space and, as I said before, dancers from surrounding communities came to support this event. The organizers did a great job taking care of myself, Estelle Bonnaire and Julien. We had an apartment to ourselves, received spending money for food, and there was always someone to take us home and get us to the venues on time or even early. They also took us to get great food and if there wasn’t time, food was ordered. I really enjoy events where I can focus on my duties rather than worrying about a needy chaotic organizer.
You could see the maintained energy gradually dwindle on Sunday night. Visiting dancers had already traveled home. I was exhausted, having arrived for morning classes and taught 5.5 hours. The organizers seemed happy. Attendance numbers seemed higher than anticipated. The Saturday night dance featured 7-8 performances including a social west coast swing demo, zouk, salsa, tango and more. This also meant these styles influenced the dance floor a little. It was fun to witness the intermingling. Hopefully, this means more people will seek out west coast swing and this event will happen again and grow.
Oh, and I left the dancers clamoring for more lindy hop. The joys of teaching dance.
