April 2026 Korean Open Report

From April 9–12, 2026, we traveled together with the Japan crew to attend Korean Open in Incheon, Korea!

Not everyone made it into this photo (even though we had decided the photo time in advance… everyone just did their own thing as usual 😂), but once again, we had a huge group of more than 30 people joining the trip.

From Westie Tokyo, many students participated together — from dancers who had only started West Coast Swing 2 months ago, to dancers in their 9th month, 1st year, 2nd year, and beyond.

One of the best parts of an overseas dance trip is getting to spend time together outside the dance floor — eating together, shopping together, exploring together, and sharing the whole experience as a group. This trip was packed with fun moments: eating tons of bulgogi and samgyeopsal, being inspired by amazing pro shows, and even challenging ourselves in competitions for the first time!

An important part of West Coast Swing culture is Jack & Jill competition — an improvised partner dance competition where you don’t know who your partner will be or what music will play until you step onto the floor.

And this time, the Japanese Newcomers achieved something incredible: they swept the entire Newcomer podium, taking 1st through 3rd place!

Even students who had only been dancing for 2 months made finals and placed 3rd — such amazing results!

As for us, we were honored to place 3rd in both the Intermediate and Advanced divisions.

And of course, after the competitions were over, we danced all night until morning 💖

Even after coming back to Japan, we’re still exhausted and half-asleep from the trip 😂

Korean Open gave us so much inspiration and motivation, and we’re more excited than ever to continue refining both our teaching and our own dancing.

Let’s keep enjoying this journey together✨