If “Swingtacular” isn’t a word in your vocabulary, you’re missing out on a good time – and some talented dancing!
What can we say, we just love watching good dancers do their thing.
Swing dance has become increasingly popular all over the country.
That’s not only because it’s fun but also tends to be accepting of all skill levels and body sizes, unlike some other forms of dance.
That acceptance and diversity draw a lot of people into lessons and amateur competitions.
One of those events is the annual Swingtacular by Dance Geek Productions, in which dancers are given the opportunity to learn new skills, meet fellow dancers, and share their creativity and dancing expertise with the group and those watching.
This particularly impressive video was posted to YouTube after theWest Coast Swing “Swingtacular” Invitational.
And like all competitions, the event included both pre-choreographed dances, as well as a “Jack and Jill”-style competition.
Jack and Jills are especially challenging – and they’re fun to watch because dancers are drawn at random to dance as a pair.
That means there’s no pre-planned choreography.
But they still have to find a way to dance well together to two different songs (also chosen at random).
According to the U.S. Open Swing organization:
“The Jack & Jill competition highlights social dance skills with an emphasis on lead and follow, technique, timing and teamwork.”
It requires trust, grace, skill, and some serious improvisational skill.
Nick King and Victoria Henk were chosen to pair up for this competition and as the emcee explains the format, the two stretch it out on the floor.
And just to shake things up, the music while they’re still down there! This seems to come as a shock to King.
But they won over the audience from the beginning by getting off the floor with style before showing off their smooth moves.
As King lifts Henk off the floor, she strikes a few poses – and we’re constantly impressed that this is improvised while we’re watching it.
Their peers are cheering them on excitedly as well.
The first song they busted some serious moves to was “Valleys” by the band Honors.
And while acrobatic moves are not allowed, there is some room for flair – and these two have it without even looking like they’re breaking a sweat.
In fact, they’re so slick that they don’t need much else to win over their audience.
The music isn’t what we expected from a swing dance competition – it’s more modern.
But apparently, you can swing dance to just about anything if you have enough talent up your sleeve.
This pair is never more than an arm’s length apart (that’s part of the swing dance rules) as they execute some spins, dips, twirls, and twists.
And when the slow dance is done, Nick and Victoria seemed more than pumped to get to their fast song. It was “1, 2, Step” by Ciara and the two dancers looked ready to bring the heat.
What made it even more captivating was how the pair simply looked like they were having fun dancing.
And they even pull off a move that elicits this reaction from their fellow dancers:
The fast song definitely triggered more flawless twirling, dipping, and hip-swaying from the dynamic duo.
The two ended up coming in second in the fan favorite category, which is no surprise to us.
Their unexpectedly edgy and sexy moves certainly changed our minds about the genre.
And it wasn’t just the voters at the competition who loved their performance:
“The girl is wonderful and the man glides across the floor as smooth as you’d ever want to see. Beautiful!” said one commenter.
We agree!
Watch their fun and skillful performance below!
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