US Open 2013 – Update #4

They have moved into the hotel!

And the staging process has begun.

Sets are being constructed.

Spotlights, footlights, lime lights, dimmers, banks of stage lights rigged from ceilings and towers.

Risers erected.

Floors laid.

Screens and sound systems hung.

Decorations unpacked.

Crates and boxes wheeled in.

A small city is coming alive in the halls of the Burbank Marriott!

Tyoni (that’s Tyoni as in “Tanya.” Not “Tie. On. Eeeeee” like I called her and then felt like a moron) reports that so far she’s not stepped in any cow patties.

(“Don’t worry Tyoni,” I said. “You hain’t made it ‘cross to the barn yet. Cow plops aplenty out thar. Still time to fetch yerself a heap o’ trouble.”)

I hope that was helpful.

The program (71 pages!) will be sent out later this week. And you will see alllllll the names, pictures, bios of competitors …

But!

Promise not to tell anyone. Early spoilers heard through the grapevine, because I can’t keep it to myself any longer:

Diego and Kellese are doing Classic!

And … Arjay and Rachael McEnaney!

And … Lionel and Amandine are back again in Showcase!

And … Parker! With Melissa Rutz! In Showcase!

And Josh Sturgeon and Lindsay Nastos flabbergasted an entire ballroom at Sea To Sky last week!

And twelve teams!

• Gen Gap (Damon and Lisa, Houston)
• Go Dance Swing Team (Gary and Susan, Austin)
• Gones and Roses (Arnaud Perga – France)
• Project Swing (Parker, Parkerville)
• Raw Connection (Alan Skinner – Oz)
• Red Light Rhythm (Alan Kendall, Monrovia)
• Shag Times 2 (Sam and Lisa West, North Carolina)
• Southern Fried Swing (Pam Bennett and Elyse Valdez, North Carolina)
• Swingin’ In The Rain (Wren Newman, Seattle)
• Swingsters (Jessie Lopez, Kansas)
• Atomic Lindy Hop Colliders (SoCal)
• Fly Rights (SoCal)

You didn’t hear any of this from me.