DCLX
I spent the last week in DC for a class for work. This was a required class, but I was never given any details about when/where I had to take it, so as soon as I could, I opened up the swing/blues exchange page and found a class that would be held in a city with a pending exchange. Of course, it was nice that it was in DC, so I could combine other things.
I didn't end up seeing any family on this trip, but I did catch up with a couple dancer friends and my grad school friends. Most of the DC dancers knew I looked familiar but couldn't figure out where they knew me from. Go figure. Obviously I didn't dance often enough while I was there. To be fair, I went as often as I could; I was just extremely busy during those 2 years.
DCLX was overall good. The two main dances were rather follow-heavy but I managed to dance pretty frequently. I've gotten decent at being aggressive in chasing down leads. Since it was all swing/fast swing/balboa music, I had to chase down leads because I really don't know how to lead during anything that fast. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really should learn.
My host was cool, so were her roommates, and there were only 2 of us staying in her apartment. Therefore, showers were easy (no queuing in the hallway) and I had my choice between a couch and an air mattress. Also, she lived near a Metro station, which was extremely convenient. This came in particularly handy on Sat night/Sunday morning. My host wanted to go home at 3am, but me and the other girl were enjoying ourselves so we decided to stay until the end of the late night at 5am. This left us without a ride. Luckily, the Metro opened at 5am that day (not normal on a Sunday) and we were super-lucky in our transfers, so we got home by 6.
I was a little disappointed in the late nights. The music was really good on Friday (Gordon Webster band), but both nights there was no blues room. Yes, there was an extra room, but they were considering it an "alternative" room. As in, whatever was playing in the main room, this one had music that was opposite that. The problem with this state of affairs is that bands play a wide variety of music. So the "alternative" room usually had fast swing since the bands were playing mellower music about half the time. I missed having the option of a blues room. By 4 in the morning, sometimes all you want to do is lean on someone and sway a bit. It's a lot harder to keep up concentration for a fast tempo song.
Ah well.
Back at work and trying to get caught up after my brief hiatus out of the office.
I didn't end up seeing any family on this trip, but I did catch up with a couple dancer friends and my grad school friends. Most of the DC dancers knew I looked familiar but couldn't figure out where they knew me from. Go figure. Obviously I didn't dance often enough while I was there. To be fair, I went as often as I could; I was just extremely busy during those 2 years.
DCLX was overall good. The two main dances were rather follow-heavy but I managed to dance pretty frequently. I've gotten decent at being aggressive in chasing down leads. Since it was all swing/fast swing/balboa music, I had to chase down leads because I really don't know how to lead during anything that fast. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really should learn.
My host was cool, so were her roommates, and there were only 2 of us staying in her apartment. Therefore, showers were easy (no queuing in the hallway) and I had my choice between a couch and an air mattress. Also, she lived near a Metro station, which was extremely convenient. This came in particularly handy on Sat night/Sunday morning. My host wanted to go home at 3am, but me and the other girl were enjoying ourselves so we decided to stay until the end of the late night at 5am. This left us without a ride. Luckily, the Metro opened at 5am that day (not normal on a Sunday) and we were super-lucky in our transfers, so we got home by 6.
I was a little disappointed in the late nights. The music was really good on Friday (Gordon Webster band), but both nights there was no blues room. Yes, there was an extra room, but they were considering it an "alternative" room. As in, whatever was playing in the main room, this one had music that was opposite that. The problem with this state of affairs is that bands play a wide variety of music. So the "alternative" room usually had fast swing since the bands were playing mellower music about half the time. I missed having the option of a blues room. By 4 in the morning, sometimes all you want to do is lean on someone and sway a bit. It's a lot harder to keep up concentration for a fast tempo song.
Ah well.
Back at work and trying to get caught up after my brief hiatus out of the office.