I wholly reserve the right to be grouchy tomorrow, but tonight, I am HAPPY! And you're AWESOME!

[tearoha]

I’m meant to be writing about something that makes me happy. Something, in fact, that “makes (me) ache because it's so beautiful / feel so small in its vastness / implode with wonder.”

It’s Monday night and that is the PERFECT night for writing about this because every Monday night I am completely BUZZED and sitting here on my patchwork quilt just

Comments

Awesomeness

[ext_1060770]

:-D

This reminds me of when I used to walk down the road, step-step-tri-ple-step, step-step-tri-ple-stepping my way along. And the overly enthusiastic Italian guy in this video.

Dancing with live music is the best! I was dancing last Saturday night at a Kamao Quintet gig in Hackney - they played some cool gypsy swing, it was fun, and a fair bit of it danceable, though not all so much - and danced with a girl from New Orleans, who was saying how there is live music to dance to every night of the week there, and she hardly ever dances to anything DJed. I was rather jealous. Though London is not too bad either.

Re: Awesomeness

[tearoha]

:D

That gig sounds fantastic. Swing dance in Hackney! And I'm so jealous of that girl from New Orleans. Live music, how fantastic. we do have the Roseneath Centennial Band, but I actually haven't been - how slack.

I'm going to queue that video up for when I've got half an hour free :)

When it was Val and Nick and I going to Swing, we used to go to Scopa afterward and practice our swingouts going down Cuba street. Occasionally we got looks, but one night we bumped into a middle-aged American couple outside a hotel who wanted directions to a restaurant. They got directions, and we got a demonstration of THEIR swing style - I don't know what it was, but it was fantastic.

Re: Awesomeness

[ext_1060770]

Go, next time they are playing! Seriously. Dancing to live music can be a bit trickier at first but is totally worth it.

The video is rather long, skipping bits of it is entirely legitimate.

Are Val and Nick no longer going? That is a pity. Very cool that you had that American couple give you a demo on the street though! When I was walking through Central Park wearing my LSF t-shirt the other week, on Friday 22nd June I think, some middle-aged woman walking past with her husband and friends stopped me to ask if I was a swing dancer, and said that her daughters were also into it. (-:

Re: Awesomeness

[tearoha]

You know I don't think I've ever done swing to live music! And heh, as long as they keep reasonably to the beat, it can't be that much harder for a follow.

Val's got choir on Monday nihts now, and Nick, um, last I heard, didn't like the style of any of the follows!

Cool story bro! Spreading the swinginess :)

Re: Awesomeness

[ext_1060770]

Part of it is the variety I think. You are probably used to dancing to certain songs within a certain range of tempo that are carefully selected to be easy to learn to and good to dance to, whereas a live band will be more likely to play unfamiliar songs, faster or slower than you used to, perhaps some more complicated rhythms, perhaps less obviously danceable, and generally different. At least that was what I found the first few times I danced to live music. That is also part of what makes it so great though! New challenges, things to play around with, and the interaction with the band. There tends to be a lot more energy.