My Camp Hollywood Experience

This year has really been a breakthrough for me personally.  When I look at my interests in swing dancing and vintage fashion, taking them to another level is something I had always dreamed of pursuing, but never thought would become a reality. 

I've always had a slight obsession with research and studying all things vintage.  I'm serious about "getting it right" — the intricate details, the look, glamour, and even the persona.  The bombshells of the 40's and 50's were such shining stars and I love paying homage.  Plus, there were so many lesser-known but equally worthy men and women from that era who gave so much, which is part of the motivation for the volunteer work team member Molly Maka and I began doing with the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight. 

The breakthrough, though, started back in early March when I competed for, and ultimately received, the title of Miss Heartland Swing 2012.  After actually earning the title, I knew a large door had opened for me to not only help to promote swing dancing and make everyone feel welcome, but to also help, guide, and encourage others to learn and achieve greatness in any of the many areas that I have so much developed knowledge about.  Such an accomplishment also led to the opportunity of challenging myself to compete in another, even bigger vintage swimsuit competition in Los Angeles, California at Camp Hollywood for the title of Miss Camp Hollywood 2012.  Camp Hollywood is one of the biggest swing dance events in all of the United States, pulling people from all around the world.  Knowing that this was such a large event, it put a lot more pressure on to really do my best, particularly since I knew that I was also representing the Heartland Swing Fest and the many people that would be cheering me on.  Being this my first time ever attending Camp Hollywood, I had heard a lot about the event from other dancers that had been there, but I don't think you completely understand it all until you actually experience it. 

David Frutos & Kim Cleaver

Laura Keat & Jeremy Otth

Friday, Dan and I attended classes with instructors David Frutos and Kim Cleaver (2 of my favorite professional dancers/instructors that we also took classes from at the Heartland Swing-Fest), another class with Laura Keat and Jeremy Otth, and lastly an aerial class again with David Frutos and Kim Cleaver.  Although there was one other class scheduled after the aerial class (which I had reluctantly agreed to go to), we opted out after we had been practicing a back flip during the class and I hadn't quite received enough height, landed quite closely to the ground, loosing my balance, and falling forward hitting my forehead above my left eye on the floor. 

We took many precautions by doing a lot of ice, taking some Advil, and even getting plenty of Vitamin C through a yummy Pineapple Mango Juice.  The fear set in both of us that I may have to compete with a large goose egg or being black and blue, but thankfully the fall could have been much worse and the area seemed to go down and wasn't quite noticeable after all.  I look at it as having a great story to tell, and it's bound to happen when learning an aerial - this time it just happened to be me. 


Dan knew how much I adore Marilyn Monroe, so he did an excellent job at trying to distract and lighten our worries of the fall by surprising me and driving down to Hollywood Blvd.  We were able to make a point to find Marilyn's hand prints in the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, although I had wished to be a little bit better dressed and prepared for getting a picture.  He was so kind to even take me back when I was more put together.  We also drove up in the hills to get a picture with the Hollywood sign in the background before making our way back and getting ready for the dance that evening.

 The night's theme for the dance was 30's gangsters and flappers.  I was pleasantly surprised by the incredible participation that filled the large room full of people dancing from wall to wall on 3 separate dance floors to a live band.  With all of the people that were in attendance, it certainly made it very easy to find a partner to dance with and it was rare to actually not be dancing for a song, unless it was to get a drink of water.  The skill levels also seemed to be very diverse and it was wonderful to meet so many new people and dance with them for the first time.  One of the people that I knew of, but finally got to meet in person for the first time was B-House.  He's the official photographer for Camp Hollywood, whom I had been following his photos from the previous years.  He was very kind and offered to take some shots of me on Saturday if available.  As much fun as we were having, we still got some rest and decided to take some of Saturday for some sightseeing as it was both of our first times spending some time in LA.

Saturday we took things a bit easy and stress free by walking down Hollywood Blvd once again - and did I mention in a blue Mustang Convertible 2013 that Dan rented? ... heh, yeah.  This time we even took the time to go through The Hollywood Museum where we got to look at a number of Marilyn's personal things, including her limousine.  We also went back to find her hand prints in the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre and got a picture with my hands down to reenact the moment.  That was fascinating to me and something that I had always wanted to do! 

On our way back to the motel, we made one stop at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, home of the Opening & Closing Ceremonies and Athletics events during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.  The day was filled with a lot of fun activities, but even more fun was to be had as we got back to the motel room and got ready for the Saturday night dance, this time the theme being Disney.  I had opted to wear my black with white polka-dot dress for the occasion to keep things simple, easy to introduce myself, and also easy to dance in while fitting in with the once again, very participatory crowd.  The dance floor was once again as packed as it had been the night before and just as many dances were to be had.  The night flew by, but I knew that we would have to make it a short night since I had decided on setting my hair with authentic pin curls for the swimsuit competition the next day.  We left the dance around 11:50 PM and when all was finally set and done with my hair, I finally made it to bed by 1:30 AM, hoping that would leave enough time for it to be dry by 10:00 in the morning to brush out and style it to be back by the pool by Noon on Sunday.  Needless to say, I spent much of the morning using my blow dryer with concentrator on it to make sure it was plenty dry.  As I took out the pin curl clips, I was pleased with the final results and perfect ringlets I had spent the extra time to create, and was able to achieve a very glamorous look after brushing it out. 
Now well into the day of the Miss Camp Hollywood competition, I finished the final details in getting dressed and we left to get a small bite to eat before meeting at the pool by Noon.  (I'd hate to start the competition on an empty stomach.)  Once we arrived, there was only 1 other competitor that I noticed that was already there, but I went to check in and had some time before we got things started.  Once all the girls checked in, we all gathered and took some pictures by the pool, much like some of those pictures you may have seen from that time period.



I was quite nervous going into the competition, mostly because of the multiple choice question that I knew I would have to answer, along with another question that I knew would require a more lengthy response in which they could see more of my personality.  I had been doing a lot of research online, like I do with most things, but on Camp Hollywood.  I found a short video on the Miss Camp Hollywood competition from the past 2 years, where I found out about the questions they might ask and to get a better grasp on what the contest would be like and what might all be expected of me.  I feel like finding out some of these things helped me prepare, on one hand, to know what to expect, but on the other, it also made me more and more nervous in the long run.  It got to be to the point that I started making a spreadsheet of past competitions and who won, but I soon became more confused and realized how much I was stressing over one question that I have no idea what will be even asked, or perhaps, even something that wasn't even in my notes.  So I quickly gave up on the studying, but was still very stressed about the moment. 

As the competition began, other girls were announced and I knew that this was about to be one of the scariest moments for me, but certainly a journey to remember.  Each girl began taking turns, answering questions themed on "Hollywood Style" and I knew that was a topic that I would not have had in my 'notes' had I continued to make them.  It was very difficult to understand the MC from behind the stage and the speakers from where we had to stand and wait for our turns, but for the most part, you could still make things out.  Some of the questions seemed a little bit easier than others, and I thought that it would just be all luck which question I might get and whether I would know it or make a lucky guess in getting it right.  After the multiple choice question, the general question was 'Why do you want to be Miss Camp Hollywood?"  I started running ideas in my mind that would hopefully be different from the other girls that were competing, and the only thing I knew I would be was the volunteer work that I do with the honor flights, so I knew I wanted to incorporate that in my answer some how. 

By the time it was my turn, I heard my name, I took a deep breath, and stepped off towards the stage.  I really didn't have much of a plan on what I wanted to do, but just tried to be myself, have fun, and I quickly responded to the positive reaction I was getting from the crowd.  I now had a general idea of what I wanted to say for the general question, "Why do you want to be Miss Camp Hollywood?' but I just hoped that I would answer it without stumbling upon words.  I really wanted to be clear, loud, confident, to the point, and speak with full statements - I really was thinking about a lot of the different things Dan would tell me to do if I had a real conversation with him over this all, and I knew I didn't have the chance for a small pep-talk, so I just tried to remember the things he had told me to do (or not do) when doing my Miss Heartland videos.

From here, for the most part you can see everything in action in the video that was taken and put together of the competition.  I did a LOT of smiling, some pinup poses, some peppy and flirty shoulder bounces, a twirl, and a bouncy model walk.  When my multiple choice question was asked "Who claimed the name 'Hollywood style' Lindy Hop?" I wasn't certain on the answer, but I did want to sound confident, even if I guessed wrong.  It turned out to be correct D) Sylvia Skylar and Erik Robinson, which made me a little more at ease going into the next question.  Everything went better than I had even anticipated.  I was extremely happy and proud of what I had just accomplished and it was even more exciting when I got to see Dan again and see how impressed and excited he was for me!  I was happy with what I had done and wouldn't have changed a thing.  It was definitely something that will remain in my memory for a lifetime and glad there's pictures and videos to look back on.  We even took more pictures after the contest was over.






 From here on out, the remainder of the trip was much more stress free and relaxing now that I had the competition behind me.  We went to the awards ceremony later that day, walking away with a pretty heart tiara, some flowers, and a small gift bag with red Besame lipsticks!  We had a fun time that evening enjoying and being mostly overwhelmed and overjoyed in the ambiance of the Cicada Club and being around the lovely Satin Dollz that I absolutely adore!  There were others there that we met at Camp Hollywood, as well, and it was fun seeing familiar faces and talking and getting to know them better as well!  So glad they were so open and friendly to both Dan and I.

Monday we spent at Six Flags Magic Mountain and enjoyed the many roller coasters that they have there - besides the Green Lantern, which I nearly cried screaming all the way down from being shot around like a ping-pong ball.  Finally, Tuesday was our day to travel home.  All in all, despite me hitting my head on the floor during the aerials class, a scary ride, missing our layover flight from Chicago back to Milwaukee from plane delays when leaving LA, and them leaving my luggage in Chicago, ALL was well worth it and I would definitely go back to Camp Hollywood again in the future - in fact, I can't wait!