US Open 2015 Update #5 - Drumroll! Are You Watching?
There are 18 Singaporeans here at the Open this year!
18 new west coast swing dancers!
Who took a 25-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean to come to Los Angeles for the weekend.
That might sound crazy to some people.
But not to us here at the Open, because we're here too!
But it didn't take us 25 hours.
Well, most of us it didn't - there's also a contingent here from New Zealand let's not forget their long flight. Also from Australia, which we learned today is pronounced without the "A" -- as in "Stralia" -- or even more correctly a kind of swallowed guttural "Strlia" which should be barked like you're going to hit somebody with it.
"STRRLIA! GRRF ROWR"
What was I saying?
Oh, 25 hours! To spend a weekend in LA.!
Why? Why did they do this? Is it because they love west coast swing THAT MUCH?
I asked Tze Yi (pronounced "Tzzzzzzz Yeee" and English-ized to "Zee",) one of the dancers on the team, "The Singaporeans." (They are competing tonight! After Showcase!)
Your first impression of "Zee" is that he's smiling. At you.
A huge gorgeous disarming smile that flashes across his face the instant you make eye contact.
He smiles often and easily. He smiles at every question I ask, and refreshes the smile with every answer he gives.
He also laughs a lot.
He's friendly, approachable, and quick.
He's a fantastic dancer.
I ask him about the trip over...
L: 25 hours! That's a long flight, and you had to make connections. How are you feeling?
"We're very excited to be here.
"We're all pretty short on sleep right now. The 25 hour flight and the 16 hour time difference are tiring. The toughest time for us is afternoon/early evening because at 5pm here our bodies think it's 9 in the morning after a night of no sleep."
What has this last month been like getting ready to compete? How often do you practice?
"Our practices are 2 1/2 hours For the first two months we practiced once a week. Then twice a week for a month and a half. This last month we've practiced three times a week.
"In Singapore our work days are different than in America or Europe. We work longer hours. For us an 11- or 12-hour workday is the norm. "9 to 5" is unheard of in Singapore.
"None of us on the team are full-time dance professionals. We all work full-time at other jobs. So for us the biggest challenge has been exhaustion. We come to practice like zombies, and then we have to get up early and go to work like zombies. We're basically like zombies all the time.
"But even more important than the tiredness is the issue of conditioning and injuries. With our long work days we don't have time to get properly conditioned so we are always on the verge of injury. This month more than half our team has been injured. Predominantly back and shoulder injuries. We have good physical therapists so we get through.
"We're motivated by passion. So we keep at it despite the difficulties because we are passionate about this dance.
"Jack and Jills and Strictlys here in the States mean SO MUCH to us! We can only do two or three of these a year because of the long flight and the expense - it's about $3,000 for flight, hotel, event pass and comp registrations. So we scrape and save, even those of us making very little money manage to save up enough to make the trip. For some of us it takes two or three years to save enough money to come over.
"But "Where there's a will there's a way." We live by that."
Who did your choreography?
"There are ten of us on the team. Dalena, Marianne, my brother Tze Ming, and I did choreography. Music was the hardest part. It took us two long months to choose our song! We wanted something fun, and something dynamic. We found something great - we're very happy with our music!"
It's almost time! How are you feeling? Excited? Scared?
"I'm a little nervous. Everybody else -- acutely nervous."
What do you wish people knew about you we don't know?
The smile flashes across his face then disappears as quickly as it had come. He becomes quiet, looks down in thought, searching to formulate in words ideas that seem to have great meaning for him.
"I feel like each time I come back the standard here has gotten a little higher. Each time, higher and higher, pushing the level further and further. Maybe this is easy for us to notice because we come here only periodically so the change is more visible.
"It's exciting to see.
"But I would want people not to lose sight of the reason they are doing this. People start dancing because it's fun. They don't start out thinking "I want to be a professional dancer." They fall in love with west coast swing because it's fun.
"The day the routines, jack and jills, and strictlys become more important than the fun, then maybe that is the day you should take a step back from competing.
"I was a salsa dancer for many years, and became this close to becoming a pro. So close, I almost made that decision and that change. But I was able to pull back just in time. I realized that I dance for the fun of it and going pro would mean I would lose that. People think, "Oh this is so much fun, I could do this and get paid to do it and have fun all the time." It's not like that. Once you go pro everything changes. You can't stay up dancing all night anymore, you teach all day, you build a student base, you are running a business, dancing turns into work. You lose the fun. I almost made that mistake."
Anything you'd like to say to fellow competitors?
"I am very thankful I've discovered west coast swing. Mostly thanks to Jordan and Tatiana whom I met at a salsa congress.
"I feel that the community here in the United States is amazing, amazing. So welcoming and warm, so real. I feel the community here is phenomenal.
"I think all the new communities around the world feel the same way. We are grateful for the dance, but we are even more grateful for the culture that comes with this dance.
"So I would want to say this: Don't lose that culture. Know what it is, and nurture it, don't let it get lost. I feel this is very important for the new generations of west coast swing dancers around the world. To cherish that culture."
.
We had a full day and night of Jack and Jills yesterday, and 20 Pro-Am routines! (And no, they weren't all Brennar's students. Just 150,000 of them.)
Ben was on the mic all day yesterday, and again all night. He was funnn-nyyy. He was on. Caffeinated and on.
Awards for Pro-Ams announced last night at 11:30:
PRO-AM LEADERS
- Chris Vartuli with Susan Kirklin
- Kevin Lawrence with Ani Fuller
- Louis Chan with Sarah Vann Drake
PRO-AM FOLLOWERS
- Tiffany Rekem with Christopher Dumond
- Lura Johanson with Greg Scott
- Kaylee Bravo with Brennar Goree
We LOVE the ballroom this year! All white, white filmy draperies, white necklaces, white seat covers on front row seats finally hiding those ugly chair legs. So elegant! Black drapes along the outer edges - black and white, like a tuxedo. Beautiful!
Phil says it's all new lighting, too. All LED. A full bank of LED stage lighting which he now owns. No more those old spotlights that are HOT, throw so much heat on the dancers. And what beautiful color they give! True white, a beautiful crisp "moonlight" white, just beautiful.
And a gorgeous new sound system! Sound is fantastic.
.
And NOW, you know what, dancers around the world?
We're about to have a COMPETITORS MEETING in the main ballroom, followed by ...
... drum roll ...
The Open Strictly ...
The Champion Strictly ...
and then!
... drum roll ...
US OPEN 2015 OPENING CEREMONIES!
