Charity Miller

West Coast Swing

Born and raised in California, oddly enough I had never heard of "West Coast Swing" until I moved to the East Coast. I was never involved in dance as a child or young adult – preferring to participate in more traditional "sports" such as softball and volleyball. I was introduced to country line dancing shortly after I graduated college, and began to spend most Friday and Saturday nights on the dance floor. It was there that I was first exposed to West Coast Swing. A friend at the Cadillac Ranch was dancing on the side of the floor and I had to know what it was. He began taking me to classes and shortly thereafter, I was addicted!

I have been dancing West Coast Swing socially since September of 2007 and placed 6th in my first Jack and Jill completion at MadJam in March, 2008. Later that same month, I placed 1st in the Newcomer division at Boston Tea Party. Since then, I have learned that you don't always place in your first two competitions of a division, and better yet, that you typically don't place at all. Dancing has been a constant learning experience for me and just when I think I'm finally getting it, I realize that I'm not nearly as good as I thought, and that I have a lot more left to learn. When everything's said and done, however, there aren't too many places I'd rather be than on the dance floor!