The Epic Dance Weekend That Almost Wasn’t

The last week has been pretty hectic, between attending a job fair in Sacramento on Wednesday, substitute teaching on Friday (more on that another time), heading back down to Sac for the Capital Swing Dancers Convention. To be honest, my President’s Day Weekend was actually supposed to be pretty chill, but a last minute change of plans got my butt down to the convention and subsequently dancing it off three nights in a row.

I was totally planning to skip this year’s convention because of budget constraints. It’s hard to attend these events if you don’t have an income to support it, after all. Late Monday night, however, I received an email from the Capital Swing Dancers Board President telling me that – if I was willing to work as a volunteer – I had a ticket waiting for me at the convention.

But you may be wondering: why would I have a ticket offered to me by the Board President? Well, I just happen to be the Capital Swing Dancers webmaster. Remember that website gig I mentioned oh so many moons ago? Well, this is it: I completely rebuilt their website using WordPress and have been regularly updating it ever since.

Needless to say, I accepted the offer and got myself down there as soon as I could on Friday. I had an absolute blast, but it was certainly different than my first dance convention experience in Chico. For one thing, I didn’t attend any of the workshops (few though they were) offered over the weekend, nor did I compete in the Strictly Swing or Jack & Jill events. Capital Swing, as an event, is nearly three times the size of Chico Dance Sensation, so I figured if I couldn’t pass prelims back then, I certainly stood no chance this time.

Yes, I’m a pessimist, but I also know what the competition looks like after attend Chico. I still have a while to go before I’m ready to win.

The other big difference is that I spent most of my time staying up late just social dancing. I’m talking 5 a.m. late. I woke up at 3 p.m. on Sunday ready to do it all again. It really was amazing. The caliber of dancers at these events is on a whole other level compared to what I’m used to. They spoil me, to be quite honest, an make me even more of a dance snob when I go back to my regular dance venues. They also, however, really kick up my dancing ability. I feel more free to experiment with new moves or with developing my own dance style (or persona, perhaps, is a better term).

Can I just say that I love dancing? Nothing else has ever brightened my social life quite like it. I’m so glad I got to spend my weekend with so many great friends, new and old, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the next dance excursion.