I finally danced at the USA National Convention!!! Woohoo!!

I had my continental breaky and then met the others in the lobby at 10am, with the plan to go and check out the stalls. When we got to the venue (which is only 2 blocks walk) we discovered the stalls aren't open until tomorrow. We picked up our registration packs and then spent the afternoon wandering the streets of Springfield, which is not very big.

We checked out some sculptures in the local "museum" district and then ended up having lunch at a Plaza.

We decided to check out the official opening ceremony at 5.30-6.00pm. It was just an official welcoming from the mayor, a dancing demonstration from some "old time" dancers, something about the history of square dancing or something, and the official cutting of the ribbon.

Then back to our rooms to freshen up and ready to go for our first night of dancing!!

The dance started at 8pm. They just square up and then do continuous dancing. So no round ups or anything... just dance until you want a break, and then leave your square and someone else will step in. I danced all night in the mainstream hall to a live band which was pretty cool. I only stayed in mainstream because I was trying to get used to the different hand holds and tricks that they do. The others did venture over to the plus hall, which they said they managed the plus fine, but it was very crowded over there. I might venture over and try some plus tomorrow. But for tonight, I had a lot of fun meeting people and learning how to dance American style. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming.

We even had a dance to the young caller named Hunter Keller, who is visiting our club back home in Oz in August - he's awesome!

After the dance finished at 10pm, we wandered back to the hotel and had a few drinks in the hotel bar, along with many other dancers.

Called it a night around midnight. I had a Skype with the folks which was nice, and now callling it a night around 1.30am.

Looking forward to a full day of dancing tomorrow. We're checking out the stalls at 10am, and then going to the introduction to line dancing, just for something a little different - should be fun!!

Anyway, I'm so excited to finally be here and dancing - it's been a long time coming, and I just had so much fun! I can't wait to get back into it tomorrow!

Night :-)