(no subject)
I finally got myself to go out dancing on Sunday. I had a few opportunities to go out before, but my first time going out dancing last time around in Barcelona wasn´t the best. The dance had a small attendance. Not speaking catalan or spanish, I was nervous to ask people to dance, and turns out they didn´t have much interest in asking me, so I only ended up dancing a few.
Sunday was way better--Lindy al Parc. The dance took place in a gazebo in Parc de Cituadella.
First, the parc is gorgeous. The Barcelona Arc de Triumph stands at the entrance of the promenade to the park. Now this isn´t any old European city Arc de Triumph. Forget the marble. Forget the battle names and generals etched into old white stone or statues of men doing battle. This thing is different. This arc says "I am Barcelona" and was created to welcome visitors to the 1888 World Exhibition of Barcelona. It´s brick red with figures of people from all over the world being greeted at the fair. The Catalan coat of arms circles the tunnel through and statues of bats in armour gaurd the entrance on either side. It´s fantastic. The rest of the park is just as great with strange art moderisma buildings containing the zoological museum, geology museum and a large Palmeria (greenhouse of Palm trees).
The weather was beautiful. A tiny cold front had blown in, which was great after a fast dance. The place was packed. I got up the courage to ask people to dance and lots of people asked me. I made friends with a somewhat new guy and chatted with him about the best things to do in BCN. He confided in me that the dancers here scared him that he might never be as good and I gave him a pep talk. I also danced a bunch with ´the´ teacher of BCN. (And he asked me every time!) I´ll try to go out again soon. It´s just hard to know what night is the best since there´s dances every night.
Yesterday we went to Jazz Sí--a club in my neighborhood that is a workshop for all kinds of musicians--jazz, salsa, flamenco, rock. Of course, we went on jazz night. The only thing I regret is that there was no dance floor, or dancers for that matter. Their songbook was straight out of swing dj´s setlist--Honeysuckle Rose, Cottontail, Ring Them Bells. I laughed at the Catalan singer who would occasionaly flub the english lyrics, but overall, amazing musicians and entertainers to boot.
The leader of the band was a clarinet player that couldn´t have been more than 5 foot, 2, and looked about 16, but he carried himself like a 30 year-old and was definately the one in charge. It was strange. The banjo player led the audience in the chorus Flat Foot Floogie. I used to think the song was jibberish, but now that I think, it could likely be in Catalan, with the gusto that this guy sang it. The drummer did a very talented solo in Caravan, that didn´t, as normally drum solos do, bore me.
At the end of the show I coughed up the 12 € for the CD. Make that 3 cds now that I´ve bought on this trip, but can´t listen to since I have no cd player.
On a related note, I´ve started listening to and rating my entire music collection on my IPod. It´s been over a week and I´m almost done the ´Cs´. It´s great, I keep finding gems that I didn´t know I have. I can´t wait to dj again . . . .in whatever city I settle down in.
Sunday was way better--Lindy al Parc. The dance took place in a gazebo in Parc de Cituadella.
First, the parc is gorgeous. The Barcelona Arc de Triumph stands at the entrance of the promenade to the park. Now this isn´t any old European city Arc de Triumph. Forget the marble. Forget the battle names and generals etched into old white stone or statues of men doing battle. This thing is different. This arc says "I am Barcelona" and was created to welcome visitors to the 1888 World Exhibition of Barcelona. It´s brick red with figures of people from all over the world being greeted at the fair. The Catalan coat of arms circles the tunnel through and statues of bats in armour gaurd the entrance on either side. It´s fantastic. The rest of the park is just as great with strange art moderisma buildings containing the zoological museum, geology museum and a large Palmeria (greenhouse of Palm trees).
The weather was beautiful. A tiny cold front had blown in, which was great after a fast dance. The place was packed. I got up the courage to ask people to dance and lots of people asked me. I made friends with a somewhat new guy and chatted with him about the best things to do in BCN. He confided in me that the dancers here scared him that he might never be as good and I gave him a pep talk. I also danced a bunch with ´the´ teacher of BCN. (And he asked me every time!) I´ll try to go out again soon. It´s just hard to know what night is the best since there´s dances every night.
Yesterday we went to Jazz Sí--a club in my neighborhood that is a workshop for all kinds of musicians--jazz, salsa, flamenco, rock. Of course, we went on jazz night. The only thing I regret is that there was no dance floor, or dancers for that matter. Their songbook was straight out of swing dj´s setlist--Honeysuckle Rose, Cottontail, Ring Them Bells. I laughed at the Catalan singer who would occasionaly flub the english lyrics, but overall, amazing musicians and entertainers to boot.
The leader of the band was a clarinet player that couldn´t have been more than 5 foot, 2, and looked about 16, but he carried himself like a 30 year-old and was definately the one in charge. It was strange. The banjo player led the audience in the chorus Flat Foot Floogie. I used to think the song was jibberish, but now that I think, it could likely be in Catalan, with the gusto that this guy sang it. The drummer did a very talented solo in Caravan, that didn´t, as normally drum solos do, bore me.
At the end of the show I coughed up the 12 € for the CD. Make that 3 cds now that I´ve bought on this trip, but can´t listen to since I have no cd player.
On a related note, I´ve started listening to and rating my entire music collection on my IPod. It´s been over a week and I´m almost done the ´Cs´. It´s great, I keep finding gems that I didn´t know I have. I can´t wait to dj again . . . .in whatever city I settle down in.