Be My Jazz Baby 01/11/2012
 
So, back at Lindy Focus, Jerry told me I needed to write a new post, and Jerry is basically King of the Lindy Hop Blogosphere. Which is why here you have a blog post. Ta-da!

It's been a while, but that's what happens when you travel all over the place and start new job(s) and everything. And most recently, I spent a good chunk of time working for, preparing for, traveling to, and having an awesome time at Lindy Focus, run by my friends Michael and Jaya Gamble. 

Michael and Jaya are great organizers, and ginormous assets to the lindy hop scene in general. They know what they're doing, and on top of that, they are kind, and generous, and creative, and dedicated, and some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Even better? They're also great dance teachers! They bring a calm and clear approach to what can be a difficult subject, which is why I'm excited to get to see them again, teaching at another event I'm working with, Be My Jazz Baby in Norfolk, VA!

I'm really excited for this event for a couple reasons, and Michael and Jaya are only two of them. My friends Aba and Adam will also be teaching, and a superstar from my own scene in Philadelphia, the amazing Drew Nugent and his Midnight Society, will be playing for both nights of the event! I've spent a little bit of time with Drew recently, and hearing him talk about the music of the swing era--from great pianists like James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, to killer leaders of the genre like Joe Venuti and Bix Beiderbecke--is just a good time. Drew's passion for the music is evident, and I think it translates very well in his playing, which only means great things for the dancers that get to dance to him.

Just to psych you up a bit (because you should definitely come to Be My Jazz Baby, even if only to dance or buy something from one of the many vendors that will have wares available), check out this brief clip of Drew at one of the Jazz Age Lawn Party events in summer 2010, talking about his motivations. (Edit: this is not the original clip I chose, but I think it's a good one to showcase why it's fun to have Drew around.) We dancers are lucky to have someone like Drew to play the music we love. (Related: tip the band! Whenever you get a chance! More on that later.)
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Okay, so it's now February, and I'm about to write about three events, all of which happened before Martin Luther King Day. There's been plenty written about two out of three of these events, so my reviews won't add much. I just wanted to add my 0.02 about how great they all are.

Lindy Focus IX ran from December 27, 2010 all the way into New Year's Day, 2011. This time around marked my fourth consecutive Lindy Focus, and every time I go, the sheer quality of the event, and all the work that Michael, Jaya, and Sosh put into it, simply astounds me. I've participated in the event every which way and sideways, and I've boiled down my Lindy Focus formula to one of volunteering, competing, social dancing, and hanging out. There's simply not enough time in the day to do everything, and Lindy Focus offers great classes from top-notch teachers, but I take my time at this event to hang out with all the people I never get to see enough of, and dancing with even more of them. Lindy Focus is always a great combination of social time and inspirational dances for me, and this year was no different--I left feeling completely exhausted, but also completely fulfilled and missing the entire camp. That's just the way Lindy Focus works--you want to live there, and you never want to leave!

The following weekend, I was off to Philadelphia for Lindy and Blue's LaBLove event for 2011, from January 7-9. In the past year or so, I've developed a great connection with the Philadelphia dancers. The community in Philadelphia is amazing! There are great things coming out of the city, in choreography, in organizing, in energy and exuberance, and the attitude is contagious. I took this weekend to capitalize on that great energy, socialize to my heart's content, and explore Philadelphia even more. In addition to the event, I managed to go out on a delicious chocolate tour with some friends, have a lazy waffle breakfast and shopping day with another friend, be coffeeshop-productive with other friends, and thoroughly enjoy myself. The Philly group have managed consistently now to bring out my good side, dancing and otherwise, and LaBLove was no exception. Extra kudos for letting me DJ at Jazz Attack beforehand and Powerhouse Blues afterwards!

To complete my trifecta of awesome events, I hit up the Lone Star Championships in Austin, TX the following weekend (for those keeping track, that would be January 14-16). I managed to make it to the event last year, and had a fabulous time having fantastic dances all weekend long. This year didn't disappoint! I come to Austin expecting good music and even better dances, and Lone Star provides all that in the best low-key environment you could imagine. I was lucky enough to make finals in the Advanced Strictly with Michael Gamble, and we had hours and hours of great dance time through the whole weekend. I also got the opportunity to work a bit with one of my other favorite people, Nathan Bugh. It was all time well spent! Between all the dancing, all the great music, all the great people, and all the time spent at the Fed, Lone Star definitely had to be my last weekend for a while. I left Austin completely satisfied and completely exhausted. It was the perfect end to my trio of travels.

Obviously, I would recommend any of these events to anyone. Just maybe not all three in a row, if you're not up for it!
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So, recently, I had the opportunity to DJ for Blues Muse, an awesome follower-focused event up in Philadelphia, PA. I also, lucky me, had the chance to DJ for some of their regular venues, including Jazz Attack on Thursday, Powerhouse Blues on Monday, and was scheduled for Lindy and Blues (LaB) on Tuesday but couldn't DJ because my computer chose that day to fall apart. Long story short, I had way too much fun and did a whole lot of DJing, despite the last-minute disaster-adventure of my motherboard failing.

I played a good set at Jazz Attack, there was great energy and I got several compliments on it. Same with my set at Powerhouse on Monday. I even got plenty of compliments on my sets during the weekend for Blues Muse! But DJing for that event was one of the more stressful DJ opportunities I've had in a while. Why? Because, generally, I am not as familiar with my blues music (or bluesy-jazz) as I am for any of the music I would play for a lindy hop or balboa crowd. Jazz Attack was natural and flowing, even Powerhouse was only an hour and didn't make me panic. Blues Muse, however...eep!

Don't get me wrong, the event was great, the organizers were great, and I think the music all weekend long was great. My issues stemmed from the fact that I really wanted to impress the crowd, as it's a crowd I don't see very often, and I don't DJ (let alone go to) very many large-scale blues events. I definitely wanted the organizers to feel like it was worth asking me to DJ for their event. I wanted to put my best stuff out there, and regardless of how prepared I was, I never felt completely certain that I was doing so. The longer sets (1.5 or 2 hours) made me question--did I even have enough good music to play? Could I keep the dancers interested? I even got a little worried when the first DJ on Friday, Christine Moser, played several of my go-to favorites, which of course meant that I couldn't play them later that night. 

Overall, the worry was for nothing, and just like the last time I DJed a blues weekend, I came out feeling confident, successful, and stronger as a DJ. Of course I had more than enough good music, I was able to keep the crowd interested, and even able to throw in a few well-received surprises here and there, to put my own stamp on my sets. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have DJed for the event, and I'm even more glad that I was able to attend (and hang out in Philly) at all, because it was one of the absolute best weeks I've had recently. Sometimes it's just worth putting out there--your DJs really are concerned with giving you their best, and there are times when they work really hard to do so. Or at least, I do!
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Hello there, internets! It's been a while. Things happen, y'know, things other than writing become priority when you're not a serious blogger. Enough excuses, though, I need to tell you about one of the most entirely enjoyable times I've had recently!

I got the chance to go to Philly (a city I haven't been to in 4 years) and go to Hot Mess, a fast lindy hop and charleston event featuring Joanna Lucero, Karen Turman, Reuel Reis, and Adam Boehmer (who was unfortunately sidelined at the last minute), as well as music by the Loose Marbles and Glenn Crytzer's Syncopators--some of whom looked suspiciously like Marbles :)

So, of course I jumped at the chance, and made my plans, with the addition of the Monday after the event to hang out in Philly and teach/DJ at Powerhouse Blues, the weekly blues event put on by LaB. Turns out, I ended up catching up on sleep, email, various work-type things and not actually hanging out much on Monday except for with Mike the Girl in her apartment, but it all worked out well enough because I got plenty of social time during the weekend, which is NOT how things usually work out for me! And on top of that, I participated in every class but one (body refused), and had plenty of dances with plenty of new people!

There's too much goodness on the weekend to go over in detail, so I'll just include the highlights:
-Meeting yet another "twin", Meredith
-ALL THE HUGS. And cuddles. And people piles, and general touching that I am comfortable with. This includes my tandem upward dog with Beffs.
-Swinging out like crazy and being so happy with getting to hear the Syncopators.
-Gelato and whatnot with Haggai, Beth, Ben, and Dylan. Good, naturally-flowing, comfortable and diverse conversation!
-Good classes, especially the Jam class (my favorite of the weekend, with Reuel/Joanna's "When You're Smiling" routine not far behind)
-Ridiculous 5 flights of stairs totally being worth it for the excellent late-night dances and meeting more new people
-"NASHVILLE!!!!" and adopted "Nashville"-ians and pelvis and all the silliness that I easily fall into and that is just furthered by me and Beth ever being in the same place at a dance event.
-Public transportation! EFFICIENT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION! And walking!
-Pretty much everything about Sunday's late-night party, including the mansnatch and Dylan's pancake, impressions, "battles", pancakes with Beffs, swingouts, chilling-outs.
-Mike the Girl-Cat, instant friendliness with so many people, cricket sounds, carmonica  concerts, 2-in-1-seat traveling, silly awkwardness, EVERYTHING. Mark, Nelle, and "woop woop!". Also, Mark. And Nelle. I can't say it enough, EVERYTHING.

It was an A+ time, I would recommend it next year for those of you that didn't get to go this year. Oh yeah, and if you are awesome, you should move to Philly. I'm totally moving to Philly! More on that when it actually happens.

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Y'know, I keep meaning to write up some sort of blog post about Cumberland Shuffle, how it went down, my thoughts about it, the work that went in...but it's now something like three weeks after the event and I just can't gather that huge multitude of thoughts all at once. My short opinion: the weekend was awesome. Mike and Casey were the perfect teaching couple to have in, I had a great time, and I've heard the same from a ton of others. Was it perfect? Nope, but I'm already working on plans and ideas for next year (they're sort of always on my mind), so I'd love to hear constructive feedback from others who were at at the event, but beyond that, I'm just waiting for the pictures. I think Aris and Jon both got some pretty sweet ones!

In the meantime, here's video of a performance done by Lindsay Longstreth and Brooks Prumo, Saturday night at Cumberland Shuffle. It's a great little routine, and unique enough in the fact that it's mostly solo jazz movement done by a couple of dancers--all-girl troupes and all-guy troupes do solo routines frequently enough, but how often do you see them done by two accomplished partner dancers? Check out the sweet action (and AWESOME song):
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I just wanted to use my web outlet to draw attention to Karen Turman and Andrew Thigpen, real quick. I'm here at Swing into Spring 2010 (preparing to DJ, actually), in Columbia, SC, and these two goofballs are here teaching some classes and generally keeping the energy high.

If y'all don't know who Andrew and Karen are, let me point you to their most recent ridiculously-awesome (ridonkulawesome?) showcase routine, which completely exemplifies their silliness and innovation as dancers (below).

Karen and Andrew have been great this whole weekend, teaching fun classes and serving as awesome inspiration on the dance floor. Plus, THEY'RE ACCESSIBLE! For a smaller scene or event like this, they are one of the most perfect couples I could think to have in. They both just love to dance, and be silly, and it absolutely shows. So kudos to Andrew and Karen for being totally awesome. (Also, I don't know anyone who can top Andrew's random outbursts--you should have heard him when he heard that the late night was going to be in a bagel shop with fully operational menu.)
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I took my first trip down to Austin, TX just last weekend, for the Lone Star Championships. What a great event! Extra kudos to Scott (Angelius) and Tena (Morales) for striking just the right chord with the event.
I got in Thursday night and was super excited to dance at the Fed, Austin's weekly Thursday night dance venue (and the place where activities would be taking place for the rest of the weekend, too). Lucky me, I got put on the guest list for the evening by one of my friends who is involved in the Austin scene--those kinds of things (not paying for a dance) kind of mean a lot when you're STILL unemployed, like I am. I, like quite a few others, was only lukewarm on the band playing that night, but I still managed to have some fun dances with locals and others who were in Austin early for the event. It was nice to catch up and be girly with Sharon again, too, even though I had just seen her two weeks ago at Lindy Focus. Then Brooks, Jo and I spent a couple hours hanging out at the afterparty, watching Nick Williams absolutely nail the part of Danny Zuko in the karaoke version of "Summer Lovin", and joining in with the others for the most entertaining version of "Love Shack" I've heard in a while. Yay, B-52s!
Friday was pretty low-key, involved some bubble tea and a little bit of shopping with Jo and my new friend Gina, plus airport runs and a bit of food, kind of, and then Brooks, Jo, and all the rest of us staying at their place headed over to the dance to meet up with Beth and Yossef and really kick off the rest of the weekend's dancing festivities. Namely, a lot of dancing and competing, and not a lot of sleeping or eating, necessarily.
I said it already, but I want to say it again: super kudos to Tena and Scott for putting on a really great event. Through all the competitions (and there were tons!), I never felt like I was running out of time to socialize or grab a dance with someone. The overall relaxed vibe of the event was exactly what I needed for that weekend--games time included--and I'm super happy that I got to go. I would love to see a little bit of time set aside for competitors to speak with the judges, since the competitions are mostly focused on the lead-follow of dancing, but I understand how hard it can/could be to arrange that. So instead, I'll just review videos of prelims to see what I can pick out. Yay for Yossef winning 2nd place in the Intermediate J&J, too! He and Mallory Griggs looked fantastic out there, and I'm glad Nashville was represented. Next year, I hope we can have even more Southeast representation (outside of the usual bunch of me, Michael, Jaya, Beth, Yossef, Jeramie, and Amber). There are dancers in the Southeast, I swear!
Lone Star is definitely an event I want to go back to next year, and Austin was a lot of fun to visit. Besides having a whole bunch of my friends there (and them wanting me to move there), what I saw of the city was interesting enough to keep my attention. Other highlights include:

-Nearly never having a bad dance at the event
-Still being able to dance as much as I was inspired to, and being inspired to try new things
-Giant City Sextet! They were just what I wanted to hear
-Late-night Fluxx games with something like 8 people and 14 rules on the board
-The Invitational J&J silliness (see videos for proof)
-Creating the "bored stripper face" with Beth and getting it down to a science
-Meeting Wingy and Edmund, two of the most awesome orang
-Good brisket at the Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX with about 50 dancers,even if they didn't have macaroni or rolls, and what kind of BBQ place doesn't have macaroni or rolls
-Mumbling and grumbling about how "grumpus" is totally a valid word and should count for Scrabble points for team MeBeth
-Gin&Strawberries, even though the recipe is more complicated than you think
-Meeting lots of great new people/dancers (and non-dancers!) and getting to spend some time/dance with them
--And of course, getting more time to hang out with some of my favorite people

Obviously, I would highly recommend going to the Lone Star Championships next year. I bet you'll have fun!
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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.
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Monday morning I got back from ULHS--basically what is considered one of the be-all, end-all events of the lindy hop community. This year was the first in the event's history to be held in New Orleans, and the change was very much talked about all over the community.

Let's start with the easiest measure of event success: Did I have a fantastic time? Yes! I enjoyed all the time I spent with friends I don't normally get to see, and meeting some fantastic new dancers, and dancing in one of my favorite cities ever to my favorite style of jazz dance music. It didn't hurt, either, that everyone really seemed to be there for the purpose of having fun--it was a blast to see packs of dancers walking around the French Quarter at 3AM (some carrying Hand Grenades or Hurricanes, of course).

Probably the number one reason why ULHS was so enjoyable for me--the music. I couldn't sit still! Amy (the organizer) did a fantastic job of pulling together these groups of musicians like the Ultimate Lindy Hop Combo, who came together specifically for the event. Nothing is as inspiring to me when I dance as great music, and New Orleans jazz happens to be my absolute favorite, so I was just in heaven dancing to bands like the Palmetto Bug Stompers and the Loose Marbles. The registration price would have been worth it for the music alone, as anyone who was at the WWII Museum Saturday night dancing to the amazing sounds of "Uncle Jack's New Orleans Orchestra" could tell you. Such diversity! Such arrangements! And on top of it all, such soul!

Of course, in addition to the great music, I had lots of great dances with lots of great dancers! The quality of dancing at events like these is always so high, and whether it's out in the competitions or right there on the social floor, that is inspiring to me. I always end up finding myself using new variations and dancing differently when I am so inspired by those around me. For my own taste, there wasn't enough social dancing (or not enough room to do it), but I understand that in this trial  year in New Orleans, things happened with the schedule and the loss of some social dance time was just an unfortunate side effect of the way that the competitions were run. While I can empathize with this as an organizer, it's kind of a personal bummer because there were plenty of people that I wanted to dance with that I didn't even get to ask, and I really hit my stride/dance flow at the end of Saturday night, so the peak, dancing-wise, of my weekend went unutilized.

The competitions, as is to be expected, were filled with crazy-high energy. The crowd could not stop screaming, and the competitors would not stop topping themselves! I really enjoyed the fact that personal expression and individual style seemed to reign in the competitions this year--not necessarily at the expense of good, clean dancing, but just edging it out, points-wise--and I'm interested to see what this does for the lindy hop community as a whole in the next year or so. Since I started dancing, ULHS has always been an event that defines and initiates trends in lindy hop, and I don't expect this year to be an exception. Here are the competition winners, that I can remember:

Showdown (fast competition) Winners: Chance Bushman (New Orleans, LA) and Joanna Lucero (Austin, TX)
Jack and Jill First Place: Vincenzo Fesi (Como, Italy) and Alice Mei (France/New Orleans, LA)
Jack and Jill Second Place: Sara Deckard (Denver, CO) and Dax Hock (Everywhere-ish)
Jack and Jill Third Place: Thomas Blacharz (France) and Ria DeBiase (Sacramento, CA)–this is the only one I’m not sure about
Solo Jazz Winner: Ramona Staffeld (New York, NY)
Solo Blues Winner: Dax Hock (Everywhere-ish?)
Blues/Slow Dance First Place: Peter Strom (Minneapolis, MN) and Ramona Staffeld (New York, NY)
Blues/Slow Dance Second Place: Todd Yannacone (New Orleans, LA) and Alice Mei (France/New Orleans, LA)
Blues/Slow Dance Third Place: Chance Bushman (New Orleans, LA) and Giselle Anguizola (San Diego, CA)

Now, of course, I'm re-energized about dancing and also sapped of all my physical energy because I overtaxed myself in New Orleans :) Did you go to ULHS this year? What did you enjoy (or absolutely dislike) about it?
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