Dallas Dance is the 27th annual West Coast Swing dance event held over Labor Day weekend. It is my annual vacation, and we just got back from the event. We had fun dancing with friends and watching shows. Somehow every time I go to a big event, I feel my dancing is improved. Concentrated efforts do help, I suppose. Also it was interesting to watch some of the "cliches" in the dance in the area. A particular style of body roll and wiggling was common there, like it or not.
Boasting 1500 dancers, it was a pretty big event. But one thing I noticed this year was that the event seemed to have shrank, at least in some major contest categories. There were no contestants for the Showcase category, and only four couples competed for the Classic category. Except for a champion couple from France, most Champion Jack and Jill contestants were familiar faces from Texas, Louisiana and Missouri. The lack of contestants from other areas in the US was noticeable. It was like the event turned back the clock to years ago, when it was more regional than national.
That reminded me of a rumor of feud between a Texas-based top dancer/instructor and some California-based superstars over judging in the contests. I read about it some time ago and forgot about it. But if (and only if) the feud is casting a shadow over this event in the form of a decrease in professionals from other areas in the US, it really is a shame.
Of course I may be wrong. It may have been just a coincidence. Or, there are many new events popping up in other cities, and if they have to take care of their local business, it is a different story. I do think the event management was great and very smooth, and the party and the music were great, too.
Since I am not involved in the dynamics of national-level contests, I don't have a solution for the shrinking of the contests. However, the "regionalization" may be a good thing. A dance can evolve faster overall with a diversity among regions. A champion breeds copycats. Many champions from many regions will result in many styles of the same dance. And I'd like to see many varieties of West Coast Swing dance. It's more interesting that way.
