Including, at the end, some of me doing the Charleston in my fringy flapper dress. Boy, I was right, I do look dorky. But it was fun. :)



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So last week word went out on the local dance mailing list: come audition for a performance group. And I thought, "eh, performance, I'm not that good yet, not gonna bother." Then a second email went out saying all you need to do is be able to swing out and charleston with some confidence. And, well, yeah, if I can't do that, I've been wasting a ( Read more... )

Friday night: dancing at Emory. Saturday afternoon: dancing in Grant Park. Saturday night: dancing at Tech. Today: dancing at Peachtree Hills rec center. Tonight: dancing in Decatur.

Did I mention dancing?

Last week some ASEDA folks went out to Lakeside High School to dance to the sweet strains of their student jazz band. Aaron babysat so mom could come along, and she put together the following video:

Click to view

The first clip is Huy and Bela, who taught the beginner lesson. There's also some footage of the high school kids dancing. Then, at about 4:39, I'm ( Read more... )

Really interesting video about a couple who teaches lindy hop in India. I met these people at the Frankie 95 Festival in NY last year. You might think it's odd to teach poor children in India a dance from New York, but dance, like music, is a language that can transcend culture and expand horizons. Besides, contributing to the world's supply of ( Read more... )

One of my chief complaints about swing dances is that they start so bloody *late*. The earliest dance in town is Hot Jam, and though that officially starts at 8:30, it's pretty empty til about 9. Wednesday nights at the Graveyard don't start til 9, and Swing Soulstice on Thursdays pushes things to 9:30. So I was extremely pleased to hear that ( Read more... )

Today I am thankful for not falling on my head in dance class. I did fall on my ass, but only once.

This was the sequel to the lifts and drops class I took last month. We reviewed the babydoll drop that we did before, adding a variation and a turn (you can see it with the turn in the video below at 3:32), and then got into new stuff. The first ( Read more... )

I've decided I hate the word "intermediate." What does it mean? Not a beginner anymore, not yet an expert? But we all know that's a continuum, a vast gray in-between land of almost-but-not-quite ( Read more... )

Last night I joined Swingin' From the Heart to dance at Hammond Glen retirement community. We danced with each other and with the residents, who seemed very happy to have us. I mostly danced with Z, who would not hang out contentedly with my mom, but insisted only his Mommy would do. That was ok, though. I got a few dances in with other dancers ( Read more... )

Today I am thankful for swing dancing! Which I get to do several nights this week--*and* stay out late bc my mom is here to get up with Z in the morning. Tonight I closed out Hot Jam, which I'd never done before. Fun!