Home

About

Staff

Hotel

Schedule

Tickets

Contests

Winners

Contact

ABOUT  DC Swing eXperience (DCSX)

Future:
Nov 14-17, 2013 at Dulles Hyatt
Nov 18-21, 2014 at Dulles Hyatt

Old recordings of the 2011 broadcast

Complete 2011 event video $50 (shipped):
Workshop notes: Brief summaries of all 40 workshops, Open Strictly Swing final, All Jack & Jill finals, Open Swing Contest, ProAm Spotlight Contest, Team Contest, 2 Exhibitions, Superstar Show. (not included: strictly ProAm or preliminary rounds) Professionally produced. Ships direct.

 

The 1st annual DCSX weekend was held at Hyatt Regency in Reston Virgina's Town Center. Thursday night began with a West Coast Swing workshop and the party that followed attracted over 200 dancers many of which danced into the wee hours. In total over 750 dancers attended the weekend. This turnout immediately established the event one of the largest of it's kind. Three adjacent ballrooms hosted a total of 40 daytime workshops and social dancing all night. Each room had a different swing style. Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing and Carolina Shag. West Coast Swing was by far the largest. Contests all took place in the largest ballroom which was spectacularly lit and decorated in the weekend's red color theme. Saturday night guests were awed by amazing performances in the superstar show. These routines were presented by the teaching staff, many of whom are current world and national champions. There were also Strictly Swing and Jack & Jill contests with multiple levels offered so anyone could participate. Jack & Jill contests all had elimination rounds or "prelims" preceding a final round. For the first time ever all of these final rounds were danced in "spotlight" format meaning each couple danced briefly on their own rather than in a group or "heat". This was wildly popular so it will continue in 2012. Also especially popular was the swing team division which featured nine groups dancing choreography in costume. The fun concluded with an overnight Sunday farewell party.

For over 10 years Dance Jam Productions has earned a solid reputation for producing high quality, fun dance events of all kinds. This particular weekend began over 20 years ago as Craig Hutchinson's Virginia State Open Swing Dance Championships "VSO". In 2005 Barry Durand assumed ownership and presented VSO from 2005-2010. In 2010 Barry left for the west coast and left Dave Moldover's Dance Jam Productions in charge. It was decided a name change was in order and new resources and talent have been recruited to expand and improve on the existing foundation.

West Coast Swing was developed in the 1940s, as a stylistic variation on Lindy Hop. It is a slotted and danced to a wide variety of music including: blues, rock and roll, country western, smooth and cool jazz. It is popular throughout the United States and Canada but was uncommon in Europe and much of Asia until the 21st Century. West-coast-swing communities are now growing quickly in Australia, Brazil, France, India, New Zealand, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.