So for those of you who have been living in a cave, this weekend is ILHC (International Lindy Hop Championships). Being my first time at this event, it is a blast and I am glad I chose it as my last hurrah before the college semester swallows me whole.  But I will post some quick things that stood out for myself from the event below:

1. LED (Lindy Enlightment Dialogue) talks have been a nice break from classes. They have ranged from Skye Humphries explaining why Charlie Chaplin inspires him to Mark Kihara giving away free booze and having open mic karaoke.
2. Hearing people in the crowd cheering/heckling their friends in different languages. My attempts to learn French paid off when I somehow was seated in the middle of the French-Canadian section for the heckling/cheering en Francais during Pro-Am division today.
3. Dancing to live music from an assortment of musicians/dancers from 2 am – 4 am in the morning. Part of keeping the “street dancers” cred is apparently dancing in carpet next to the elevators instead of the main floor.
4. Learning a move called “The Bernie” from Stephen and Bethany, who learned it from Minn Vo, which is named after a dancer from San Francisco. How everyone in the scene manages to know each other never ceases to amaze me.
5. Having everyone in the Open J&J/Advanced J&J/Pro|Am/Balboa J&J for the day competitors meeting attempting to cram into a room intended for only about 70 people.
6. Hearing Bobby White Robert E. Lee the Third’s from Swungover full name pronounced in every other competition.

Anyways, Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five featuring Hilary Alexander will be playing tonight so I have to go prepped for that. Exciting since Josh Callazo will be in the mix after his hiatus this past summer!