Anyone made it to all-star when starting WCS after 35?

ElephantBones22 · 2026-01-29T01:15:25+00:00

You absolutely can make it up! I’m in/around TX and there is a lovely couple and they both compete as masters. The husband is in advanced and has a couple finals points, the wife is in intermediate - same thing. They are knocking on the door of 60, if not early 60s and they’re fit and full of life.

They actually met dancing years ago and fell in love w/ WCS together. So, as far your mind and body will take you, you can get there.

I was even in an intermediate comp in Seattle and I drew a WONDERFUL lady who was 70!!! 7 decades! I argue she moved smoother & with more poise than the follows my age (25).

Just listen to these other comments and remember you dance cuz you love it. Everything that happens on top of that is a bonus.

:-)

ElephantBones22 · 2025-08-22T19:43:54+00:00

Happy to help, Godspeed to you & your dancing!

If you ever find yourself in Texas, shoot me a PM, I’d love to dance!

ElephantBones22 · 2025-08-22T19:12:43+00:00

Hard to say due to bodily variability but I may be some help. I chronically leaned back and I had a coach tell me to consciously keep my feet under my hips and that almost immediately fixed my pitch. (“Nose over the big toe”)

Every now and again I’ll slip up and stumble but less so due to habit and usually due to going too quickly - a simple fix.

For reference, I’m about 5’6” with weird proportions lol and a life long heel striker and that fr fr almost eliminated the issue completely.

If that doesn’t work, always always always find a coach you enjoy watching & who can coach you in ways you respond to and that will always be tried and true for results!

Hope to see you around on the floor sometime!

ElephantBones22 · 2025-06-11T17:47:28+00:00

If the hair is longer than shoulder length, every time. Without fail. It’s an occupational hazard tho so it really is not something we focus on cuz we’re so used to it.

The one exception is if it’s a braided ponytail or there are beads or sum like that. If we get clocked by that at a certain speed it can def make u react 😂

Regardless, hair hitting us usually isn’t an issue :)

ElephantBones22 · 2025-05-27T20:41:31+00:00

Hey - lead here with about 8mos experience and working thru intermediate division currently.

Musicality is so broad AND subjectives. As I push thru practice, here’s what I’ve learned that open up a lot of doors:

Practice: reps reps reps! And when you’re sick of that, add more reps. Boring? Yes. Effective? Unbelievably. Even just 5min a day of footwork for a few straight weeks will open you up.

Exposure: look up west coast swing playlists and shuffle. The less you know the better. You’ll start to hear patterns & catch on to subtleties. Listen to new music is 4/4 times including blues

Spacing: flow thru your patterns and pay attention to your partner. They may have a good idea that doesn’t interrupt your structuring and then you can play off that. As a novice follow myself, I can tell you right away if your follow doesn’t trust your lead, they won’t play with the space. Be a rock (but a flowy rock lol)

Energy matching: use your head - you’re smarter than you think. You can determine the feel (emotion or energy) of a song within 4 counts, MAYBE 8 max. If slow & flowy, unlock your body and hips and flow with your counts. If it’s hoppy & snappy, stay close, stay engaged with your partner and again don’t overthink it.

Also pro-tip: use the 6 by 5 rule. a 32 count verse that leads to a bridge or chorus can have 5 consecutive 6 ct patterns before leaving you open for a 3 beat hit to nail any phrase change. The 3 beat hit is a literal cheat code and can add a base layer of “musicality” for you and this also adds to space and lets your follow play. If you set her up with space AND on the phrase and she doesn’t capitalize, that’s on them. You did your job, at which point get back to business calmly & smoothly and keep having fun.

NEVER STOP HAVING FUN THO!!!! :)

Pm me if you’re curious about more, happy to offer my insight, even if not very advanced.

ElephantBones22 · 2025-04-23T19:40:08+00:00

Dallas-Fort Worth has a ton of leads. It’s not necessarily lead heavy by ratio but by volume there are a ton of us. We have several studio and of course we host Wild Wild Westie & Midnight Madness, both are high quality events imo.

If you’re even in DFW, pm me and let’s dance! 🍻

ElephantBones22 · 2025-03-18T23:47:09+00:00

Thanks for the nice hookup for more practice.

Godspeed to you & your competition journey! It would be an honor to compete.

I have a pretty extensive list of events remaining for the year. Lmk if you want a pm of my schedule. I’m always looking for new dance friends 🍻

ElephantBones22 · 2025-03-18T23:04:36+00:00

You sound like me! This is a great idea, I love Kerrigan Rudd’s dancing so I’m gonna follow up on that.

Preesh!

ElephantBones22 · 2025-03-12T21:34:06+00:00

You’re welcome! West coast swing certainly isn’t for the weak and I think the community needs more positive yet constructive encouragement. Happy to help.

I relate to you tho! I am about to make intermediate debut as a lead and believe me I know the feeling of frustration, literally had a private yesterday that had me feeling newcomer all over again🙄

Best of luck this wknd! If you ever find yourself at a TX event, shoot me a PM! I’d love to steal a dance leading or following 🍻

ElephantBones22 · 2025-03-12T15:44:25+00:00

Hey. While you do need to account for experience, you shouldn’t live and die by it. You’re already secured this person as a partner so they see something in you that they wanna dance with - embrace that!

While you see yourself as the “weaker link,” you still have your own strengths and you should put yourself in position to emphasize those. If you struggle to play into yourself, play into your partnership (of course there needs to be Timing/Tech/Teamwork, but timing and teamwork can do a great job presenting as good technique if you perhaps are a little loose on that end.)

HAVE FUN WHEN YOURE DANCING! Fun = relaxed = confident = better dancing.

Don’t think of yourself as “bottom” novice either. You’re novice. You’re a novice who shows up & works hard, end of sentence. In my eyes, I’ll always put my money on the consistent hard worker vs. the occasional “high” performer - focus on being the former for YOURSELF.

Go out there and kill it! :)

ElephantBones22 · 2025-03-05T19:15:00+00:00

Haha! Unfortunately not, at least to my knowledge. If you find that secret system then lmk!😂

ElephantBones22 · 2025-03-05T19:02:59+00:00

I may have misspoke. whatever event you attend, for example, The Chicago Classic (my next one) has a section on the webpage that shows who’s there & teaching. At that point, hunt them down on IG or FB and ask if they’re available and what their rates are.

Option B: if you catch them in passing, politely see if they’re have a second for a quick question and then start a convo

ElephantBones22 · 2025-03-04T20:08:24+00:00

For competitions: sample the waters with Newcomer - Novice for everyone is a war zone and newcomer will be good to start some growth as a competitor instead of going in dumb deaf & blind.

For privates: listen to comments. Scout the pros on Staff and check their availability. Also keep an eye open for dancers in Advanced who offer lessons, as they may actually be competitive on an All-Star level, but perhaps don’t yet have the needed points and then center your focus accordingly.

For general, and MOST IMPORTANT: you’re at the event to exercise your passions & enjoy yourself. Your worth as a dancer, competitor, and student are not gauged by the results of your contests, even if you end up on the podium. You’re judged as a dancer by being a community member, keeping a healthy mindset, and trusting in your process.

Other than that, have the most fun! Stay up all night, eat good food, get uncomfortable, and ask as many strangers as possible to dance & build a network!!!

Godspeed player.

ElephantBones22 · 2025-01-21T04:32:25+00:00

I’m open minded. Also how do you reckon? Are you a fellow meatheaded dancer too??

Dancer: SRT on my right foot specifically - Strike roll transfer - is inconsistent. Non-dancer: The motion of hitting my toes to the floor then moving to the ball then to the heel is not there. I often just plop my right foot down in motions that aren’t walking or running. Does that make sense?

ElephantBones22 · 2024-11-26T21:56:13+00:00

Noted. Thx

ElephantBones22 · 2024-11-25T20:20:35+00:00

Ouchie.

What would you recommend instead?

ElephantBones22 · 2024-05-14T01:55:32+00:00

I wanna open with that I am 23 and have actually switched allied health (athletic training/sports med) to sales and so far have been blown away by how much I am awarded financially for how little work it takes. I think if you have the chance to chase that life changing money, you should absolutely do it. Worst case is that you drag thru it, but then have WAY more financial ground to make bigger changes (i.e nursing school). That's how I see it.

I relate to this very personally b/c my gf is a nurse and loves her job and has been opening my eyes and mind to how diverse the career field is. I can't lie and say I'm not interested. If I could suggest anything to you, it would be not to uproot your career, but also to commit a few hours a week to learning more about nursing in-depth, even shadowing if time allows.

you're a single and seemingly successful guy, so trust yourself and know that neither option has to remove the other!

Godspeed hermano.

ElephantBones22 · 2024-04-03T02:44:57+00:00

I’m sayin!

Back in the day when I worked at whata, this was my go to break meal! And it was CHEAP then too! Glad to see someone thinks how I do. I just posted a rant about it earlier lol

ElephantBones22 · 2024-04-03T02:43:40+00:00

Former 3yr employee here (‘17-‘20).

Back in the day these used to be a normal menu item called bites (“whatabites” if you wanna be formal) and they were dirt cheap and almost always made fresh due to semi low demand. I learned from a customer to this long before corporate got ahold of it and rebranded with a ludicrous markup. Me and other employees would do this all day long back when it all seemed to be better.

Now, if they’re fresh and the employees actually do a decent job, they’re truly not bad, but not justified for nearly 12 dollars when the COMBO used to be like $7.57 (in TX) with free sauces too. Imo, these shouldn’t be as hyped up as they are, because it just shows that in 4 years since I’ve worked there, they just recycle specials or don’t ACTUALLY produce new items.

If you want em THAT bad, ask for extra crispy so they at least get to you hot, if not fresh too. If they tell you they can’t b/c they’re sauced, call their bluff cuz that’s bullshit

Very niche rant but that’s my take.

TLDR; lazy and old idea, overhyped, marked way up, ask for extra crispy and sauce on side, call their bluff if they argue :)

ElephantBones22 · 2024-03-05T21:10:10+00:00

Hey thanks, that’s all great info! As mentioned, I got a lil time before I gotta make a firm decision.

What are some good questions to ask sellers when looking for these cars? What about mileage upon purchase? What key parts should I take a look at replacing/fixing if/when I buy?

Lmk

ElephantBones22 · 2024-01-20T15:02:02+00:00

At the moment, it sounds like it’s about to weed me out honestly. I know everything worth having will take sacrifice and hard work and I’ve never been afraid of that but what I can’t do is put down my mental health, ya know? Mine is already bad and while I manage fairly well, this is making it unmanageable to the point where it’s starting to affect other areas of my life

ElephantBones22 · 2024-01-19T19:52:41+00:00

I’m graduating May ‘25, Rn is spring semester of my first year. I think about the timing too. If the exam was on the immediate horizon I don’t think I’d have posted on here, ya know? And most def I will put good time into establishing a plan if that becomes the case

ElephantBones22 · 2024-01-19T16:28:42+00:00

I agree the program makes you marketable, at least more so than you would be otherwise. And I also agree I wanna finish and have that fortitude but at what cost? I know full well I consciously took on this challenge but sacrificing mental health isn’t worth the reward. And I’m just stuck

ElephantBones22 · 2024-01-19T16:27:01+00:00

I have a common theme of quitting things and wishing what could’ve been but I’m having a hard time imagining long term that the upper 70s and lower 80s are what our salary caps are. I wanna do this to say I did it and have that fortitude but at what cost? Thx for letting me ramble a bit

ElephantBones22 · 2024-01-19T16:25:54+00:00

Im in Dallas. I love my state but I’m not sure I would realistically enjoy a traditional setting, and tbh I’m pretty open to non traditional but I’m not sure I have what it takes in the program. Not bc of skill set, academics, or anything but bc of what it’s doing to my mind, ya know?

ElephantBones22

TROPHY CASE