Last year I wrote, "New Year's Eve without the people you love is...lonely. Even surrounded by lindy hoppers." So this year I decided to skip the last dance at Lindy Focus, and drive back early to hit our traditional NYE party with friends near Athens. It's not exactly on the way from Asheville to Atlanta, but it's mostly in the right direction ( Read more... )

On Christmas Eve I came down with the cold Aaron had been fighting off the previous week. It never got particularly bad, and seemed on its way to clearing up by the time I got on the road for Lindy Focus ( Read more... )

3pm: Walking down the hall, past hotel conference rooms converted into dance studios. Behind one door come the strains of Count Basie. Another: "a-five, six, seven, eight!" Another: tap-a-tap-a-tapitty-tap-t'TAP, first from one pair of shoes, then thunderously echoed by a dozen ( Read more... )

I cannot believe I'm still awake and functional. I stayed at the dance last night til 3:30am, went back to my room to pack up, and went to bed at 5. My roomies showed up at 6:30, and we set the alarm for 10. Then I drove 3 hours to Athens to visit Tyme and Elizabeth of Crimson Art Henna, where I was reunited with Aaron, who'd stayed the night ( Read more... )

About 3am, I realized that dancing all night was a great plan for someone who didn't have to pack up and get on the road tomorrow. And the fringy flapper dress, while a hoot to wear, is not particularly comfortable. Besides, I was missing Aaron, and our friends we usually spend NYE with. New Year's Eve without the people you love is...lonely. ( Read more... )

We counted down, we toasted with champagne, then...there was a jam circle. Now, breakfast. Soon: more dancing.

Karen and Andrew did the most astonishing performance where they had put together clips of famous moments in lindy hopping, and danced them while they were playing on the screen. Sort of a Rocky Horror Lindy Show, without the toast throwing. Notable were the 1998 Gap Khakis commercial, and the 1941 Hellzapoppin' routine, where K&A danced (of ( Read more... )

Turning into a pumpkin by midnight just doesn't cut it at Lindy Focus, where the party is just getting started when the clock strikes the witching hour. I didn't really mean to stay up dancing to 4am, it just happened. I even took my dancing shoes off at one point, around 3, intending to hike back to my room and call it a night, but the music ( Read more... )

Took it easy tonight--only stayed out dancing til 2,and sat out quite a lot. This afternoon's workshop just about did me in, and it wasn't even that hard: an improv class about taking advantage of extra beats and free turns to do nifty stuff and engage in a communication with your partner. Worth doing, but soreness and sleep deprivation did not ( Read more... )

Lest you should think I actually show up at a dance at nine or ten and do nothing but dance for six solid hours, rest assured that I often rest (assured), and probably sit out at least as many songs as I dance to. Plus there are jam circles to watch, and the jam circles at Lindy Focus are pretty damn stupendous. Oh, and competition finals. And ( Read more... )