That was my question the whole night. First off- The event was technically not even in the Big Apple(NY)..They held it at The Meadowlands Sheraton just through the tunnel in Rutherford NJ. Which is also Home to the "NY" Giants. Tony Lee -the event coordinator borrowed the long standing tradition of State switching for effect- Poor Jersey- First, The statue of Liberty,then the NY Giants, and Now the Big Apple Dance Festival.
Anyway the event itself was run spectacularly . Lee did his homework and it paid off. He had veteran Swing event director Bill Cameron helping out, several top DJs and a great staff.
The funnest part was open dancing, which made me ponder the title of the event even more. Big Apple "country" Dance festival really didnt sum up the event . Sure there were 2 steppers and guys and gals with stetsons and boots in attendance. BUT the evnt was a BIG draw for WCS and Hustle dancers as well. In fact,many people that were traditional country looking types were dancing some mean WCS and Hustle. Times have changed. The jack and jill entries for both those dances even exceeded the ones for 2 step and Country Waltz!- the staples of traditional Country events.
There were three ballrooms- The main- which DJ played 2step, waltz, wcs, hustle, & cha cha.
The second- Which played WCS Hustle ECS and some latins (salsa Cha cha) and the third which was dedicated to line dancing. All three ballrooms were PACKED- but and a very important but- The floorcraft was excellent- People were soo courteous to other dancers and everyone had a great time. There is a new word that ive heard called 'Swustle' to describe songs that dancers could do WCS or Hustle to . These guys DJing were masters at this craft -"Swustle Mixing"-lol.
Bob even got cooerced into doing the advanced Hustle JJ. I thought it was amateurs only but soon found several pros entered for the cash prize which was a cool idea- ( They took the entries for the J&J and made that the winners pot. Novice WCS and hustle had like a $300 $200 100 cash prize for 1st2nd 3rd place!!!- LOTS of entries) I should have entered novice ..Actually I found it interesting to be up against pros like Ken Roesel and Joe Dilisi- a 25 yr Hustle vet in the Advanced Div. I lost, but held my own .SE la vi.
In conclusion- I give a double thumbs up to the event directors and staff- as well as the dancers, who were an extremely great group from all over the U.S.

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[This message has been edited by Bob B (edited 03-11-2001).]