Gotham Swing Club Anniversary Party

The Gotham Swing Club had its anniversary party on Friday night at Dance Manhattan in New York City. It was a free night for members and it was a heck of a deal! Free workshop - dancing - a Jack n' Jill and cake!

About 100 club members turned out for the celebration. John Festa - legendary west coast swing dance teacher - gave the workshop. He also was the DJ and the musical emphasis was on rythym and blues.

The Jack n' Jill, just for fun, drew 11 leaders and followers of various levels - including two female leaders. One of the female leaders and her partner placed first, and the other placed 3rd.

Then, there was cake!

The club hosts a monthly dance in Manhattan. Several times a year, professional west coast swing teachers are brought in from all over the country to give workshops and private lessons. Jennifer Deluca came in April, Robert Cordoba and Deborah Szekely will teach twice this year and Jason Colacino is coming in October.

Workshops are always especially fun because the members gather for dinner between lessons and the dance party. A few months ago when Robert and Deborah were here, a group of us went to Nick's, pulled a bunch of tables together and bonded. We had only known each other to dance and had never talked. We became friends forever that night.

If you live in or near NYC - or come to the Big Apple for business or pleasure - check out Gotham Swing Dance Club. It holds its monthly dance on the first Saturday of every month. You will be made to feel very welcome.

http://www.gothamswingclub.org

Moulin Rouge Milonga

The Moulin Rouge Milonga is held on the 3rd Friday of each month in New York City. The hostess for this venue is Maria Jose Sosa - a very talented dancer, performer and teacher at Stepping Out Dance Studio.

Maria Jose is from Mendoza, Argentina and she often bring other Argentine teachers to America. We were privileged to have a lesson by the legendary Facundo Posadas who was in town to give workshops in milonga. Mr. Posadas has been teaching tango all over the world for 50 years and has performed and choreographed in three movies.

For the $12 entrance fee, a magnificent lesson was included. We were treated every bit the same as if we had paid $100! Special attention was paid to technique - the simple elegance of walking in good partnership and with musicality.

http://www.facundoposadastango.com.ar/

After the lesson, a tapas table was laid out including a variety of cheeses and fruit. The lights were turned down low, and the music began to play. Approximately 100 dancers glided around the dance floor. Cafe style tables surrounded the floor, enabling everyone to stop and chat with friends between dances.

It was truly a lovely evening!

http://moulinrougemilonga.multiply.com/journal

Big Apple - Saturday Night Fever!

What a night! Festivities started with an amazingly good dinner in the main ballroom and a fantastic show. But it was just the beginning. After the show the room opened up for social dancing with a mix of 2-step, waltz, cha-cha and east coast swing. There was another room for west coast swing - and it was packed!

Many people from all over New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania came just for this legendary west coast swing party. The level of dancing was very high, very challenging and very fun! Just watching some of the dancers was a treat.

The music was awesome. It was the perfect mix of swing, blues and contemporary rhythms. Music is the engine that drives the dance. The degree of complexity leads to the level of creativity. This was a party for seasoned dancers. The atmosphere was social and friendly - but the priority was dancing.

The Jack n' Jill was held at 11:30 pm. Everyone was thoroughly warmed up and ready to hit it. First up was Newcomer - and for the first time in my experience - it had fewer people than in Novice. There were no partner changes and only two songs. This puts people at a disadvantage if one gets a poor partner. There is really no hope.

Novice competitors packed the floor. Because of the strict point system, it is very difficult to get though this category and therefore the level ranged from those who were out of Newcomer after placing once - to UCWDC Division I competitors. I didn't envy the judges: who included Robert Royston and John Lindo.

Intermediate and Advanced competitors were so few that the categories were combined - another first for me. It was dissappointing to the Advanced dancers since they had worked very hard and most had taken 10 years to reach that level.

But, even if the competition was not as fun and fair as usual, its toughness is what makes competitive dancers thrive. The experience was challenging and memorable. There was plenty of social dancing, seeing old friends and people who don't come into Manhattan very often.

The Big Apple Country Dance Festival was refreshing and an experience I would recommend - none of us thought about anything else - the cares of our personal lives and the world's problems simply did not exist beyond the ballroom floor.

Big Apple Country Festival - HOT Saturday!

The Big Apple is a three day country dance weekend and the highlight is on Saturday. Lessons were offered all day in 2-step, west coast swing and line dances. At the same time, in the main ballroom, pro-ams and Divisions III and IV competitions were held.

The pro-ams were very interesting. The ages ranged from 10 years old to people in their 50s. All of these adorable children clearly had ballet training. The older people were certainly highly skilled in ballroom dance. No one appeared nervious.

I had an amazing class with Kyle Redd and Sarah Van Drake. First, they paid attention to the basics of the 50 members of the class and helped us clean up. Then, they introduced three very distinct and simple patterns. Everyone got the material and the time seemed to fly by. One of the best workshops I've attended.

Robert Royston (world renowned dancer and choreographer) said that these two young people introduced contemporary music to west coast swing, which was traditionally danced to swing music. There is some very good contemporary music out there I feel that Kyle and Sarah did the swing community a big favor.

Another great event on Saturday night was the dinner show. Roberto Pagan and his new partner performed an incredible hustle-paso doble routine - sort of bull fighting to 80's music!. Dale and Anita Strawser performed the most beautiful country waltz I have ever seen. It was easy to see why there were world champion many times over.

Also, there was an outstanding performance by Dave Paris and Zoe Klien who were recently featured on "America's Got Talent" with their astonishing acrobatic dancing.

The show was just the start of an amazing dance evening. More to come!

Big Apple Country Dance Festival

Last night was the kick off party for the annual Big Apple Country Dance Festival held at the Rennaissance Airport Hotel in Newark, New Jersey. Wes Carrajat DJed this awesome party - playing a mix of 2-step, west coast swing, salsa, night club 2-step and waltz. The room was packed with attendees from all over the eastern seaboard who came to take lessons, compete and dance! - Dance!! - DANCE!!!

When I arrived I did not recognize a soul in the room. Nevertheless, before I could even change to my dance shoes, I was asked to dance. After that I never sat down again! When I looked around the room, all the other women were always on the dance floor too.

The amazing thing that I noticed about the female dancers was that regardless of age, they were all svelt and glowing. The guys really seemed to enjoy the feeling of flowing around the room as they danced waltz and 2-step. Dancing brings something out of people as is evidenced by the look of serenity and joy on their faces.

During the next couple of days there will be lessons in country cha-cha, 2-step, waltz, west coast swing and line dances. There will be ballroom style competitions in which couples will dance five routines: 2-step, swing, cha-cha, waltz and nightclub 2-step. There will be pro-ams and showcases.

Stay tuned: I'll tell you all about it!

http://www.bigapplecountrydance.com