This week's clip is a fantastic example of social dance, and one that I was lucky enough to witness live :) Here's Chance Bushman and Kelly Arsenault, two top-notch dancers, dancing together to one of the many live (AMAZING) bands that played New Orlean's French Quarter Festival this year in April. I love the interaction they have with each other, and the awesome musicality and footwork exhibited. As you can tell by the background applause, the crowd loves it too! My favorite part might be that little section around 1:17ish.

This is the part where I'm a little behind on blog posts (hey, it's my birthday week! I can do that), so I decide to share something I know very well: girly things! I'm listing here for you some of the details about my favorite websites that make me happy to be a girl.

First up is ModCloth! One of my favorite places to get clothing/accessories/decor from indie designers, and a lot of it is vintage-inspired. As anyone of my girly friends knows, I love pretty much everything they have :) They also have amazing customer service and fantastic shipping! The site and company have a great community feel to them, and promote the idea of fans being involved as much as possible, through picture-sharing, contests, and all sorts of good stuff. Plus, like any good website, you can make wishlists and share them with your friends/family (perfect for the holidays).
Check them out or Check out my wishlist

Next, try Lulu's, for similar fare. Sometimes Lulu's and ModCloth will have the same items, but one site will have them cheaper than the other. Lulu's carries a few more mainstream brands that you might recognize, such as Billabong and Soda, that you might not find on ModCloth. I haven't picked up anything from Lulu's yet, but it's definitely a place I love to look!
You can find Lulu's here

Of course, where would any girl be without Etsy? This independent marketplace is pretty well known as a great place to find just about anything you could want. You might have to fish a bit for what you really want, but you'll get it for a good price! I especially like to buy hairpieces from Etsy (fascinators and stuff), but I've also bought a fantastic skirt and an adorable pair of shoes from them, and I have my eye on a gorgeous ring, all vintage. It's especially a great place to get one-of-a-kind type stuff. The only real con I've found is that shipping from etsy producers can be a bit costly, sometimes. But, since you can communicate directly with the shop owner through messages on the site (or even through email), sometimes you can work them down a bit if it's reasonable.
One of my favorite Etsy shops is here!

The last two I'll include are some of my favorite physical shops to visit, but they also have a website. Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe probably make up a good half of my wardrobe at any given time. They're great about having plenty of stuff that's on-trend and adorable, and they're some of the cheapest trendy pieces you can find! Of course, sometimes their quality is related to their price; I've had a shirt fall apart after only a few wears if I wasn't careeful. Overall, it's really cute clothing for a REALLY good price, and the stores are a fabulous place to go if you're looking for a trend you think you could rock but aren't sure, and don't want to spend a lot of money on. I prefer shopping in their stores because sometimes fit can be a little wonky, but their online service is just as good, and the return policy (at least at Charlotte Russe) is pretty great too. I highly recommend checking out these chains if they're in a mall near you!
Check out Charlotte Russe and Forever 21 online.

Enjoy! (Even if your wallets don't)

I just got back from my second trip (ever) to Seattle, WA, for the Emerald City Blues Festival. This trip was much rainier (pun not intended, Mt. Rainier) than my previous one, for Camp Jitterbug.
The event itself was fabulous--ask any of the attendees, teachers, DJs, or anyone else that got swept up into the fray. ECBF seems to have gathered a reputation for greatness in the blues community, and it really shows. This year featured instructors Steven Mitchell and Virginie Jensen (my first time to see them!), Ogden Sawyer and Amanda Gruhl (ditto), Mike Legett and Topher Howard (<3), and Brenda Collins and Barry (whose last name I don't know but he is a badass anyway). All the instructors were fantastic, but for some reason, I always come away from Brenda's critiques classes with my mind completely blown--so that was probably my class time highlight.
The organizers also managed to get Kim Massie from St. Louis to play with Solomon Douglas's band. Solomon had been working on new charts for the weekend, and his hard work definitely showed--Kim's voice was matched well by the musicians and it was the most phenomenal night of live music that I think I've enjoyed at a blues event.
In addition to the great music and teachers, ECBF featured a host of my favorite DJs (Bill Speidel, Tina Davis, Steven Watkins, and Downtown Julie Brown!) and some of the best social dancing anywhere. It's apparent that this is one of the events that people mark down on their schedules far in advance, and all of that combined makes for a great event.

Videos are up on youtube from the strictly contest, the jack and jill, and the cabaret show Sunday night. I have to say that my favorite routine from the weekend was courtesy of Brenda Collins, Karissa Lightsmith, and Anna (who I don't know but whose dancing I enjoy)--a slightly risque, animalistic, Cotton Club-esque show of oddity and interest. Look it up! You won't be sorry.
Overall, the weekend was killer. I wish that I had been able to spend more time in Seattle, and also that I hadn't ended up sick by Sunday, but I would definitely go again. Congrats to Topher and Martin for putting on a fabulous event, and thanks to everyone who helped enhance my experience--especially my host, Jennifer. It was nice to see more of Seattle and enjoy another subset of activities in the city. Next time, I won't forget my umbrella.

I've been teaching dance classes a fair amount lately, especially since I'm teaching this month's series classes with Yossef. One thing I've found is that my rapport with Yossef and the students is a lot different than my rapport when I'm teaching with Reuel.
In general, Reuel is very much a do-er; he likes to have the students "crash and burn" after little explanation, so that they can get the feeling of the move/technique/dance in their bodies and muscle memories. I find that when I'm teaching with him, I'm free to talk much more, because he will make sure that they get enough repetitions in to really nail something down.
By contrast, when I'm teaching with Yossef, we both tend to default towards talking/explaining, so I find myself flipping sides, trying to make sure the students get enough reps in to physically understand what we're trying to teach, and to make sure their muscles don't get cold waiting for us to finish talking :)
I noticed this past weekend that Steven Mitchell tends to not explain at all, instead preferring the students to watch him demonstrate it, then do it themselves (or something close). This is an approach that I think I fall into when I'm teaching by myself--still explaining more so than, say, Steven, but much more of a show-then-do than anything else.
Ideally, I try to balance all three of these approaches when I'm teaching, and I think a good teaching pair can do this while letting each individual stick to more of their strengths. Obviously, each of these things have their benefits, too--a visual learner will not pick things up the same way a student who is kinesthetically inclined will.

Which approach do you prefer, whether teaching or learning? Do you find that you default to one, and which is it? Is your natural teaching method one other than the ones I've listed? I'd love to hear you

Just a short clip today, from Herrang 2006. Here's some silliness courtesy of Frida (our hero) and a couple of guys (I see Todd and Peter, but I don't know who the third is). Love that this shows off what fun our dance community can be!