VIP 2011 Update #1

Made it to SoCal!

85° balmy blue skies, rolling canyons, movies, television, music … who wouldn’t want to be here?

Thursday all quiet in the hotel. Saw Kellese and Mommy Cher; buncha Texans lounging by the pool;  Carmen, Rosa, and Yvonne from Chicago; a few tired Russians checking in at the front desk.

Doug Silton and Pete Greene held a “Where’s Westie” dance last night … heard 150 dancers attended (including 30 competitors in the All-American JJ) until midnight when locals drove home leaving only out-of-towners – mostly allstars – who danced till 3am.

Same hotel as the Open. Decent lobby, standard rooms, nuttin’ special. One hour’s drive from LAX (if you’re lucky! Only two routes on the two famously crazy L.A. traffic jam highways); or Burbank airport which is immediately across the street from the hotel.

Ron and Tyoni Martin (who hold the Open) are here filming for globaldance so if you’ve got a decent connection you might be able to catch some of the weekend live.

The ballroom is set up differently than for the Open.  Cool backdrop (just uploaded a picture to Facebook if you wanna see) but only the original ballroom chandeliers - no stage or spot lighting.

So far today I’ve seen Steves Hunt and Hall, April Sakaluk (Steve and April will not be doing their routine here, not quite ready yet), Trista and Alyssa (“TristAlysscious”), Michael O’Connor, Courtney (she and Sean will be dancing yay!), several Guidos, Scott and Melina here from Australia, Kris and Rebecca coming out of floor trials, Robert and Nicola, Lori Hayner behind the registration desk (who tells me that there are “issues” with Dance n’ Fly – they’re going to "re-think" the program), Jack Smith behind the DJ booth, Vivian Glucksman-Weiss Running With Clipboard, Patti Vo with a cool new business: “Paws” – adorable specialty flip-flop insoles, Greg and Lemery checking in at the front desk, more piling in by the minute.

Kickoff in three hours with JJ and Strictlys prelims and semis, cabaret, and Classic!