Wednesday, October 27th, 2004
HALLOWEEN COSTUME BALL at the
Gulfport Casino Swing Night
 ( Click any photo to see a larger version )

Swing Time's 3rd annual Halloween Costume Ball was an exciting evening of dancing and costumed revelry, attracting characters & celebrities of all ages!  Dancing the night away were pirates, sailors, school girls, country folk, Renaissance belles, gypsies, witches, artists, Trekkies, a cow, a belly dancer, and bizarre purple-haired characters that defy description (must have been sports fans).  The evening included a repeat appearance by Carmen Miranda wearing her trademark hat of fruit.  Other notable celebrities included Bettie Page (aka Kerin, winner of July's look-alike contest), Charlie Brown, Vampirella, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Fairy Godmother, ...and was that President Dubya I saw, or just a devil in a monkey suit?  The most popular characters this year were jailbirds and assorted shiny people.  And the scariest costume went to the European Cave Guy (pictured below in the leg warmers and short shorts).  Read the Full Story

The Full Story (continued from top)...

Highlights of the evening included the swing lesson, the dancing, the monster Shim Sham & Swing Rueda, piles of great candy, the festive atmosphere, and the costume parade & contest.  Assisting with the dance lesson & leading the costume parade was instructor Raggedy Ellen ("somebody please hold me up").  Later in the night, dancers were treated to a surprise visit & performance by visiting instructor Andrew Sutton, who danced a demo with Haley to promote his upcoming workshop.  A crew of local Lindy hopping "old timers" came to dance & cheer him on.  Hey, was that Elvis in the house?  Nope... just Stones' guitarist, Keith Richards, who briefly renounced his harsh lifestyle in order to teach the swing-dance lesson and host the evening. 

Covering the event was a fake news crew from Fox (pictured above holding the camera & mic).  Strangely enough, a dancer reported hearing second-hand from someone who saw footage from the evening air on some TV station.  However, our local Fox station searched and could not find any such story.

So who won the contest?  Taking 1st prize was Cinderella, who seemed to have misplaced her glass slipper.  Taking second prize were Miss Muffet & the Spider, who offered a business card in case you didn't know exactly who they were.  Third place went to the Wizard, pictured above in his very cool glow-in-the-dark costume.  Fourth went to the Clown, fifth to Le Petit Prince, sixth to Gladiators Steve & Bea whose impressive costume still managed to show some skin this year, and seventh to someone who wanted to be known simply as the Scary Guy.  This year's contest demonstrated that adults can't compete with cute little kids, so future contests will judge any cute little kids separate from the adults.

Sam

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