by Carl Nelson

I apologize for the extreme tardiness of this post.  It is relatively without excuse.  - your editor - Carl

The Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown.

Revolution finals, photo by Reuben Brown

This year wrapped up the last ULHS hosted in it’s original town.  Six years of history, from a small event among friends to one of the highest profile no-holds-barred lindy hop events in the world, ULHS will be moving from its home of Minnesota to Louisiana.

While this was only my third year attending ULHS, I think it is will be one of the better moves for the event.  The venue for the past two years, a ballroom more appropriate to a wedding reception, has drained some of the intimacy and atmosphere that I recognized the last year it was held in the Varsity theatre.  Hopefully New Orleans will revitalize the event as one of the best in the world.

The pride of ULHS has always been its exceptional base of live music for both dancing and competition.  As people arrived throughout the evening from all across the country and the globe the Hot Swing Combo, a Minneapolis based group led by Robert Bell, bounced out tune after tune which kept the floor packed.

The Jack & Jill and the Revolution (mid-tempo) competitions were Friday night with both prelims and finals danced to the Hot Swing Combo.  I participated in both competitions and the floor buzzed with energy from the audience.  I danced with Ramona and Jessica in the Jack & Jill prelims and my dance partner Joanna Lucero in the Revolution prelims.

Finalists for the Revolution competition were Dax Hock & Alice Mei (France), Peter Strom (Minneapolis) & Ramona Staffeld (NYC), Vincenzo Fesi & Isabella Gregorio (Italy), with Mike Roberts & Laura Glaess (Austin) in 3rd place, Skye Humphries (NYC) & Frida Segerdahl (Sweden) in 2nd place, and Todd Yannacone (Seattle) & Kelly Arseneult (D.C.) in 1st place.  The top two places were decided in a dance-off between Todd & Kelly and Skye & Frida on Saturday afternoon.

Finalists for the Jack & Jill competition were Dax & Frida, Skye & Alice, Tiffany Wine (Denver) & Andy Reid (D.C.), with Todd & Jessica Lennartsson (Sweden) in 3rd place, Adam Boehmer (Ann Arbor) & Naomi Uyama (D.C.) in 2nd place, and Vincenzo & Ramona in 1st place.  The entertaining drama for the Jack & Jill competition occurred when Kenny Nelson (Denver) was called in for the finals but was absent.  With the venue scoured, a phone call was placed only to discover he was enjoying dinner elsewhere.    All of this, including the phone conversation, occurred stage center as the finalists were in line waiting thanks to Sean Morris, M.C.  Skye was called in, second string, to make up the gap.

The Loose Marbles took over with their janky New Orleans sound and kept the tempos widely varied.  They wound down into a blues tone for the Solo Blues and Jazz late night contest.  I entered this competition on a whim and ended up performing much better than I had anticipated even though I didn’t make finals – I was happy with my results.  Finalists were Adam Boehmer, Naomi Uyama, Ramona Staffeld and Jan Di Kim (Korea).  Clearly with a plan Ramona ended up in a shimmy-off with Naomi.  Naomi held her 1st place title for the third year in a row. Check out the finals here.

Saturday afternoon held the prelims for the Freedom (slow) and Liberation (fast) divisions to a slimmed down Hot Swing Combo.  Although the musicians were good I think a larger combo would have clearly filled out the sound and swung harder – especially for the Liberation prelims.  I participated in the Freedom prelims with Jan Di Kim.  Before the competitions there was a presentation on the History of Lindy Hop and Charleston Contests which I didn’t make it to in time.

Andreas & Hanna performance, photo by Reuben Brown

The Loose Marbles played the main evening Saturday.  The Marbles have a great sound and are a consistent source of energy for dancers and ULHS over the past couple years.  This year their signature singer Meshiya Lake was not in attendance however their banjo player sang with a voice reminiscent of Bessie Smith.

The finalists for the Freedom division were Dax & Alice, Oskar Markusson & Mikaela Hellston (Sweden), Kenny & Tiffany, with Skye & Frida in 3rd place, Todd & Kelly in 2nd place, and Peter & Naomi in 1st place.

The finalists for the Liberation division were Andrew Thigpen (Atlanta) & Karen Turman (Santa Barbara), Jonathon Jow (Austin) & Laura Glaess, Andreas Olsson & Hanna Sigurdh (Sweden), Joseph Demers & Nelle Hatley (Denver), with Vincenzo & Isabella in 3rd place, Oskar & Mikaela in 2nd place, and Dax & Alice in 1st place.

I was surprised that very few of the regular big names entered the Liberation division, although this allowed many new faces to come to the forefront, the bar was not as high competition wise as prior years.  In some ways it was what makes ULHS that much more - you are always up against some of the most established and seasoned dancers.  Without that it takes some of the edge off of the no-holds-barred competition.

The endurance contest was held late saturday night with the anyone on the floor dragged into the contest.  DJ Reuben Brown spun increasingly faster tunes and you dance till you drop off the floor.  Joseph Demers and Tiffany Wine battled it out and were last couple standing.  The endurance contest is truly for diehards.

Late night saturday was setup as a musicians jam where members of the dance community joined in with the various band members present.  Impromptu jams are a common occurrence at events these days.  They can be quite good, entertaining, as well as enjoyable to participate in.  However, for the main band at an international event, I would have preferred a band made of musicians used to playing together with a solid repertoire in their case.

Sunday held the only two choreographed competitions ULHS hosts.  This year a major change was injected with the Couples choreographies being danced to live music.  Announced only a couple of months before the event it generated a bit of controversy and a number of dancers dropped out of the competition due to the change in rules (I was one of those couples).  Despite controversy, it was fascinating to watch the couples work directly with the bands pre-event Sunday afternoon and added an additional layer of artistry to those couples performing.

There were three couple choreographies.  Andreas and Hanna performed Rockin’ in Rhythm with the Hot Swing Combo.  Oskar and Mikaela performed Minor Swing with the Loose Marbles.  Mike Roberts and Laura Glaess performed Got to Give Me Some with the Loose Marbles.  Mike and Laura won the Couples division with an exceptional performance, check out their performance.

There were two teams competing at ULHS this year, which was disappointing in comparison to the incredibly strong showing in 2007.  The teams were Keep ‘Em Flying from Los Angeles and Hot Rhythm Rising from Atlanta.  The floor had to be reoriented to allow the teams the necessary space to perform.  They performed against a mirrored background which I would have preferred be covered with curtains.  Hot Rhythm Rising won the team competition.

The awards were held Sunday night followed by the Loose Marbles playing until 2am.

The Solo Charleston and Jazz contest is the final competition of  ULHS and the floor was packed for the prelims.  The Loose Marbles played it hot and it was a tap out format.  There was definitely some drama associated with this contest including an accidental tap out followed by a tap out which elicited so many boos from the crowd the dancer was returned for the finals.

The finals for the Solo Charleston contest were Ramona Staffeld, Mikaela Hellston, Karen Turman, Chance Bushman, Hurley Francois, Adam Boehmer, and myself (Carl Nelson).  Finals were held in a rotating spotlight fashion where each dancer was supposed to take a full chorus (16 8’s) and then the next dancer would come on.  As the spotlights rotated through the Marbles kicked up the tempo a few times and by the last spotlights the tempo was blazing.  This year rather than having a single winner a king and queen were chosen – Hurley and Mikaela took the title by peoples choice.

With a few more songs played by the Marbles the venue closed and the wrap party was at the Four Seasons Dance Studio where Peter Strom jammed soul tunes till the early hours of the morning.  A tradition which has gone on for as many years as I have been to ULHS if not more.

The best thing about ULHS is usually the bar it sets for the level of competition for the year to come.  However, this year with a slight drop in attendance and other events truly shining, ULHS has a some catchup to play for next year.

With the relocation to New Orleans we can look forward to amazing live music, different venues and perhaps a reborn no-holds-barred competition for the year to come.

Photos courtesy of Reuben Brown.

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