WWWestie 2015 Update #1 - TEXAS Y'ALL!
WOW they like to PARTY here in Dallas!
This is one friendly, hospitable, partying community down here. I forgot! Haven't been back for a while and forgot what a BIG, vibrant community here in Dallas.
And old! Texas is where it allllll began.
Texas is Ground Zero - the birthplace of West Coast Swing. Texas, California, New York - all regional variations of swing overlapping and evolving into the dance form, and community, we have today.
Everybody's saying "Wa Wa Westie! Wa Wa Westie!"
Thought I got the name wrong. But no, that's what it's called down here.
It's "Wild Wild Westie" with a Texas drawl.
Or "W3" if you're a techy - which there are a LOT of in Dallas. Dallas is a MAJOR tech capital. (Maybe why wifi here in this hotel is so blazing fast my laptop is running screaming across the room trying to get away.)
STUFF I JUST LEARNED ABOUT DALLAS:
The first microchip was invented here in Dallas, at the labs of Texas Instruments by Jack Kilby, who also invented the handheld calculator and the thermal printer.
This event was conceived three years ago by Tracy Wang, CJ Caraway, and Jay Tsai.
First thing they said, "Barbeque Party. Gotta feed folks, full Texas Barbeque - beef, chicken, full sides. Gotta be food and drink - this is Dallas y'all."
So every year they've kicked off the event on Thursday night with a Barbeque Party hosted by Amber and Brian Knorr. At their HOUSE!
Maybe you're starting to get a picture of see what's important down here. Food, hospitality, partying - community.
The event was a huge success, immediately - maybe because this community is tight and everyone was thrilled to support their friends and this new, "young" hometown venture.
The event went from 270 people the first year to 400 the second!
So here we are at the third year, and now WWWestie is a WSDC Sanctioned Event!
(No it's not. There's not such thing as a WSDC sanctioned event, as Mike Corbett pointed out on Facebook. WWWestie is a WSDC member event.)
(The WSDC isn't like the Pope, going around sanctioning things all over the place.)
Lot of college students here! The energy reminds me of Seattle earlier this year - young, bouncy, playful, and techy.
The Texas version hahaha - so add Southern hospitality, food, partyin', and Texas swing history.
And Bigness.
You know how they say everything in Texas is BIG?
It IS. I am serious.
My taxi driver from the airport - the stack of plastic cups in his cup-holder were ENORMOUS! Half-gallon size cups for drinking soda! I was shocked!
These hotel rooms! My standard room is so big I use the GPS on my phone to get to the bathroom. Wide open prairies stretch across this room, from the desk to that lonesome chair singin' a lonesome cowboy lullabye far off on the horizon. This room is BIG y'all. Four French hotel rooms could fit in here.
That house last night! Whoa. BIG. Gorgeous high-ceilings, lovely balconies, wide rooms ... gorgeous.
The Knorrs say that there on their quiet tree-lined suburban street there are a few houses with dance floors - and - a few Dallas dancing couples have looked into buying them. What a TRIP it would be to have three or four west coast houses all together there in the same neighborhood! It would be like West Coast Swing sovereign state! It might want to secede from Texas!
So here we are at the third year of this event.
This is Wa Wa Westie's "Coming Out Party," as Tracy calls it.
No, that doesn't have anything to do with the Supreme Court Marriage Equality ruling. That's "coming out" as in the Southern tradition of "Debutante Ball" where young ladies, or "débutantes," are formally presented to "polite society."
Wearing white gowns and satin or kid gloves, the débutantes stand in a receiving line, and then are introduced individually to the audience. The débutante is announced and then is walked around the stage, guided by her father who then presents her. Her younger male escort then joins her and escorts her away.
Every débutante must perform a curtsy, known as the St. James Bow - with the exception of Texas débutantes, who have to do it differently than anywhere else in the country. Texas débutantes perform the 'Texas Dip.'
MORE STUFF I JUST LEARNED ABOUT DALLAS
Not everyone rides their horse to school like I thought.
BBQ is a food group.
They know their way around quality fried food. That includes fried beer, fried Coke, and fried Cadbury Eggs.
WSDC Points Registry Document:
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & FURTHER CLARIFICATIONS
1) The WSDC only tracks and records points for Jack & Jill contests. Points will only be recorded for those who danced in the final round only.
2) Points are tracked and recorded for either Leader or Follower role. Only points from ONE skill level competition per Event will be recorded.
3) Contests where the leader or follower dances and places twice in that division, that individual will only be awarded points in the highest of the two placements.
4) For Events that combine divisions (i.e. Novice/Intermediate), points will be tracked for all contestants in the lower of the two divisions.
5) For Events that have different category names per division, we may not record them. Note what divisions are recognized by the WSDC (see the table on page one).
6) For Events that are held over New Years’ holiday, points will show as of December-end of that year (versus using January of the New Year).
7) Points received prior to the last five (5) current years will not show on the Event Director’s copy of Registry Books. They will be archived and available to see on the website (in other words, they are not “taken away”).
8) Each Competitor may only dance in one skill level division.
RULES:
Novice: A Competitor must stay in Novice until they have earned at least 15 points in Novice.
Intermediate: A Competitor must stay in Intermediate until they have earned at least 30 points in Intermediate.
Advanced: You must have at least 30 points in Intermediate in order to move into Advanced.
All Stars: Not all events offer this division, and it’s elective to enter if you qualify. At least one of the qualifications to dance in AllStars is that the competitor has at least 45 current points in Advanced (earned within last 3 years).
Petitions: All Events should offer Petitions and it can be on the sign-up form. We suggest that a committee, including the Chief Judge, consider the requested reclassification/petition after reviewing the dancer's record. The Event Director will select this committee prior to the Event.
For Competitors, please note that if you have petitioned to dance in a higher/lower division at one Event, this does not "carry over" to the next Event. You may need to petition at the next Event as well.
Petitioning should only be to dance one level up or down only, or to stay in current division.
If a Competitor goes above or below one level, points at that Event competition will NOT be recorded.
Once you have competed/earned (current) points in a higher division, you should stay in that division!
Some valid Petitioning reasons:-points earned in avery small or very large competition (i.e. recognized by the Tiers)-points are old (perhaps over 7 years)- accomplished dancer who has not competed at many Registry events to earn points and wants to dance ‘up’- qualified instructor, but without competition points, who should not be competing against their own students
Please remember to check every individual Event’s rules/guidelines regarding their competitions and their requirements. Sometimes they may vary some from the WSDC recommended rules.