Swingin' Into Spring

1st Place Novice Winners
Steve Yi & Mariel Manzone

KEN MERCIK is to dance conventions – what Einstein was to science BECAUSE apparently it takes a GENIUS to figure out that ALL we really want - is to DANCE!!!
 

There was 30 minutes of dancing between each workshop and (mostly) uninterrupted dancing every night of this event.

No MONOTONOUS string of competitions – No BORING shows – No  ANNOYING announcements.  JUST DANCING!!!

 What an impact this has had on the northeastern region!

Dancing New Year’s Eve and Boston Tea Party were MUCH better this year because Joe Mahoney and Steve Drzewiczewski got the message from Ken’s ASTONISHING success!

Lionel Marks & Friend

As a matter of fact, attendance was up 25% this year. Hello - we're in a recession!

 

 SIS is snowballing into a GIGANTIC AVALANCHE!

People came JUST BECAUSE the emphasis was on social dancing. If only the rest of the country would get the message!

Barbara Jackson & Jun Ogata
Pic courtesy of Marlon Intl

Of course, there were the Jack n’ Jills and Strictlies. Gotta have those!

 
But Ken has his act together so the (stupid) competitor’s meeting was quick and the competitions were run on time and efficiently.

CONGRATULATIONS to the lucky SOBs – uh – WINNERS!

2nd Place Newcomer Winners
Tim Rayot & Cindy Clark

Newcomer

1. Jim Wells & Agnieszka Gaczynska

2. Tim Rayot & Cindy Clark

3. Robert Jacke & Naomi Marinaro

4. Lionel Marks & Rebecca Flot

5. Gabor Lipner & Kelly Young



3rd Place Novice Winners
Andrew Mastin & Samantha DeFrancesco

 Novice

1. Steve Yi & Mariel Manzone
2. Nicholas Besnier & Tricia Lea
3. Andrew Mastin & Samantha DeFrancesco
4. Tony Hurtado & Mary Beth Lane
5. Kenneth Kreshtool & Michelle Blaikie

Sheila Lancelotta & Gerry Morris
Intermediate J&J Finals

Any other event director would have been in tears over all the disasters that occurred.

Maryann Nunez sprained her ankle, Jessica Cox hurt her knee, Joe Mahoney was MIA because his father has Cancer – and on and on.

But a Pro can handle anything. And it turns out he had FRIENDS he could count on!

John Festa came directly from Prince William & Kate’s wedding without bothering to change and pitched right in as judge and DJ.

A MAJOR highlight of the weekend was John’s Blues Room.

Downstairs the lights were turned low and those R&B tunes from yester-year floated in the air. It was definitely the place to be! 

This has got to be a regular feature.  It felt soooooo gooooood! Oh yeah – people were awestruck and hungry for John’s unique sounds.

Saturday night there was a short and relatively painless show. The highlight was Maria Cirino’s Northern Lights team performance. 

Maria has amazing talent as a choreographer. Everyone loves her stuff - though the prior Bumble Bee routine is a hard act to follow. 

There was an instructor jam - but we've seen these guys dance ad nauseum.

It should be eschewed in favor of a charity-driven All-American J&J. And after all, we’ve got too many Cancer survivors and victims among us. 



Larry & Heidi Mongeau
Pic Courtesy of Jun Ogata

 Workshops were interesting. We had the beautiful (Jessica Cox hopping around) – and the ever charming (John Lindo). 

Also, there was amazing local talent. Larry & Heidi Mongeau, Mark & Stephanie Levetin, Erik & Anna Novoa, Maria Ford & David Ward, Angelique Early, Bill Cameron all commanded large rooms of dance students.

And then there was Ann Fleming. 

She had one of the largest lesson turnouts. Anyone from this area is aware that she recently literally beat Cancer to death.

 
YOU GO GIRL!


This is a really good reason not to give in to this disease. On the other side of that disgusting black hole there just might be a ballroom filled with eager dance students, hanging on every word. 

Pic Courtesy of Jun Ogata

Best of all is our old school (Angel & Debbie Figueroa, Mario & Stephanie Robau) – I hear it said wherever I go: “all these workshops but I get the most out of these guys!” Enough said.

Did you all know that last weekend was Angel and Debbie’s 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY?

Stay tuned for more of Mario Robau and his lovely new WIFE!  Mario is crazy-goofy in love. Stephanie is a UDWDC four time world champion and they look GORGEOUS together. 

Watching Mario with Stephanie makes you like him even more.  

And speaking of love - our loveable SHOE king was there! You should have seen Will Burbage’s vendor table at the start of the weekend.

There was a mountain of shoes – on sale! And they didn’t last long. 

https://www.danceconnectionstore.com/

Ken will be back at the Hilton next year and has booked a third ballroom. The hotel has all kinds of amenities, a great location and the price is right.

The coffeeshop has counter service and provides coffee and cocktails anytime.

Whatever was not in the hotel, was in the neighborhood.

www.Hilton.com/Hartford

Downtown Hartford is a great place. The Capitol Building is down the street and you can watch Congress in session. 

Many people visited the Connecticut Science Center and Wadsworth Museum. There are also several theatres and even a piano bar!

The antique carousel in nearby Bushnell Park opened on Saturday, April 30^th.

It was a great way to take a break - as was evidenced by the number of us 30+somethings riding the wooden ponies! 

There are several excellent restaurants nearby.  Last year I reviewed Salute and City Stream Microbrewery Cafe which are still excellent choices.

I had the pleasure of dining at Vito’s By The Park. The lovely location and intoxicating aroma’s made it seem too good to be true. What a delightful find!  http://www.vitosct.com 

Plenty of FAST food places, too.  Across the street is a Dunkin' Donuts (which is closed on Sundays). A little further down in the middle of the block is another – as well as JoJo’s Coffee Roasting Company. http://cafejojo.com/  There is also a Burger King, Subway and CVS. There are even a few new interesting clothing shops to check out.

This event is easy and cheap to get to. I took the Peter Pan express bus out of NYC Port Authority for $30 roundtrip. The Hilton is two blocks from the Amtrak/Bus terminal. I don’t know why people want to drive and pay $10 a day parking when they can park for free at the train station and relax. Its probably cheaper!  http://www.peterpanbus.com/

It would be really nice if Swing Dance America could offset next year. Such a shame to have two events the same weekend. People want to go to everything!  

Why do we have to choose? And, we really need to support our local dance community. 

SIS is NUMBER 1 in my Triple Crown of dance events.

Followed by New England Dance Festival http://www.nedancefestival.com/ and

Cash Bash http://www.cashdanceclub.org/.

Trust me – these are the ones for FUN!!!

For more information about Ken's World - the Connecticut west coast swing dance scene - or about attending Swingin' Into Spring next year:  http://www.djkenm.com

Vernon, Sam & Brian (NYC Table)
Pic courtesy of Marlon Int'l

THANX - Ken – for a FANTASTIC time. 

You ARE a true GENIUS!