A Surprise West Coast Swing Demo by World Champions Jordan and Tatiana (NYC)

Ivonne with WCS Champions Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollman

It’s been over a decade since I first moved to New York, and while I might not agree with the many New Yorkers who claim that NYC is the ‘Center of the Universe’, I will say that it is definitely a place where having exceptional experiences and meeting extraordinary people is somewhat commonplace.

When you live in a bustling place like NY, it’s easy to take the City for granted, and oftentimes, I find that I underappreciate the fact that there is the potential for so many amazing life-experiences waiting on the other side of my front door. Case in point, a few Saturdays ago I rolled up into Dancesport in midtown Manhattan to support a few friends who were performing that night at Salsamania‘s salsa social. As I was heading to the bathroom, I’d noticed that there was a West Coast Swing party happening in the back ballroom. After peeking my head in the door, I saw my friend Manny working the bar, so I thought I’d stop in for a drink and say what’s up. Well, about 2 minutes after getting my drink, the lights turn on and the MC announces that there was going to be a quick demo.

Although I prefer shaking my butt to Latin rhythms, I often find myself doing searches of other dance styles online, as there are aspects of all dance that are kinesthetically relatable, and inspires me to improve in my own dance. The control that advanced dancers attain, and use to effortlessly display synchronicity between their bodies and the various rhythms of the music is something I genuinely admire, regardless of the genre. One of the couples I’ve come to appreciate through watching their video performances are 13-Time US Open West Coast Swing Champions, Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollman… so imagine my surprise when it was announced that they’d be the ones providing the demo. In the following vid, you can see the musicality, charisma, technicality, and the interaction with the audience that has made their names synonymous with West Coast Swing. It was definitely a pleasure getting to see such high-caliber, internationally-recognized dancers up close and personal.

I know that a random meeting with world class performers is not something unique only to NYC, but nights like this (which began as just another typical night dancing in NYC) are what have helped define the character of the city to me, and is something that I’ll definitely miss when I leave.