A Late May Catchup

Life is good. Very busy, but very good. Especially when it comes to dancing.

A lot has happened since I last chatted with you. I though it was about time to catch you up on things.

To start things off, I'm now part of a dance team lead by Ben and Ariel. This past Monday we had our third practice and it's been a great experience already. We've been learning parts of Trickeration every week, along with practicing partnered stuff. At our last practice we a lot about competitions and learned a ton of good stuff that I can't wait to apply at Camp Jitterbug and the Mix and Match at Eastside Stomp next week.

Speaking of Camp Jitterbug, it starts tomorrow!!!!!!!!!! To say I'm excited would be an understatement. I'm excited for all the awesome instructors, competitions, bands, and dances. It's going to be a grand time! I'm registered for the advanced track and one of the competitions, which should be fun.

Then a few Saturday's ago I finally made it to Revival Rhythm in Fremont. So. Much. Fun. Seriously, I was on cloud nine all night. They have a blues room, balboa room, and a lindy hop room which makes it super fun and unique. I did the blues drop-in lesson beforehand, which was great, and had a wonderful time dancing the night away. Later in the night they have an informal jam too, which was awesome.

Beyond that, regular Friday nights at Eastside have been wonderful, like usual. I feel like I've reached a new level in my dancing in regards to creativity and have been having a lot of fun experimenting with styling on the dance floor. This past Friday I got to take photos, which I really enjoyed. I haven't had a lot of time to do much photography lately, but it felt so good to get those creative juices flowing and capture everyone having such a fun night.

Social Dancing: 4/13 Edition - The One Where I Finally Danced Shag

It's been a while since I've updated this little corner of the internet! A lot has been happening in my life the last few months. Things like getting into the LEAP Apprenticeship at Microsoft, moving out of my childhood home, buying a car, starting the LEAP Program and doing fun stuff with my cohort, and my family moving out of state.

But that's not what this post is about. I'm here to talk about the most wonderful time I had this past Friday. It was amazing!

Before spending the night at Eastside, I went bowling with a bunch of people from my cohort. Tons of fun, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm still sore from that. So my day was already off to a great start. Then after fueling with MOD Pizza and catching up with dance friends, the night of dancing began.

One of the magical parts about Friday was the band playing, which included some special out of town guests: The Brothers Arntzen, Evan and Arnt. The rest of the line up included the wonderful Jen Hodge, the piano and ukulele master Casey MacGill, and the always amazing Julian McDonough. How can you go wrong with that line up?!?! And the band was on. fire. Seriously. The crowd at Eastside is know for always giving the band a lot of love, but the enjoyment and enthusiasm that night was through the roof, and rightfully so. They were amazing and so fun to dance to!

Then there was the dancing, which was wonderful. The floor was full of people having a great time and I had a lot of really fun dances. One of the highlights of the night was dancing collegiate shag for the first time. You have no idea how happy that made me! I was out on the dance floor when my partner asked if I knew any shag. I said a tiny bit and we started dancing it and a minute or two in he asked "what's up with you only knowing a tiny bit?!" and I told him how I've practiced a lot on my own, but had never actually danced it with a partner. Oh my goodness, it was so much fun and it made me so happy! I definitely need more shag in my life. The next morning I had to DM Kendall, my biggest collegiate shag inspiration, to share as she's always so encouraging and I knew she's be excited as well (and she definitely was). Love all the awesome people in the dance community!

Emerald City Solo Jam 2018

Emerald City Solo Jam.

It. Was. Awesome.

I ended up having a last minute opportunity to attend the event, which made me super excited. When I went last year, it was my first dance event ever, so it definitely holds a special place in my heart because of that. Plus is hosted by Eastside Stomp, now part of the Syncopation Foundation, and is a weekend filled with solo dancing, something I've been working more on lately.

Because I didn't know I was going until last minute (like a couple days before the event) I had to work both Saturday and Sunday mornings which meant not only was I dancing all weekend, but on my feet at work as well. Even with all the work and dancing I held up pretty well, thanks to lots of cal/mag tablets, arnica gel, and tacos.

The instructors where the same as last year: Nathan Bugh and Gaby Cook. I'm not sure how it's possible, but they were even better than last year.

Friday night was the kickoff dance at Eastside Stomp. The Jen Hodge All-Stars were playing and the lineup was fabulous:
Jen Hodge - bass and vocals
Jonathan Doyle - reeds
Sky Lambourne - trombone and vocals 
Josh Roberts - guitar 
Julian MacDonough - drums

I did a little solo stuff, but mostly lindy hop that night and really enjoyed myself. During the first band break we had a performance from the Syncopators, who rocked it like they always do. Then Nathan and Gaby did an instructors demo and oh. my. goodness. Watching those two do their thing is so incredibly amazing and inspiring. Seeing that kind of skill and talent in person is something you can't really describe, you just have to be there to fully get it. Ahhhh, it's was all just soooooo good!

Since I had to work early the next morning, I headed out the door about 10:45pm, so I missed the prelims for the competition. The next morning after work I dashed off to Crescendo for classes. Classes started at 1pm, though I wasn't able to get there until 2pm each day. I was in the beginner track which I worked out well as there were only 10 of us compared to the advanced track that had around 40 students.

Our first half of classes were with Gaby where we learned a routine. This was probably my favorite routine of the weekend, as I really liked the choreography and was actually able to remember most of it. It had some fun kicks, fall of the log, and charleston.

After a break, we got to start our classes with Nathan. The first half he taught us a combination that he had just taught to the advanced class. It was slower and bluesy and he really broke down the complected turn. That's something I love about how Nathan teaches: he breaks everything down into tiny pieces that you completely understand what's happening, even if you're having trouble getting your body to cooperate.

The second half we did different jazz moves and put them into a combination. We worked on Susie Q's, jump charleston, Charleston with a drag, and eagle slides. My Susie Q's to the left are pretty decent, but even after all this time doing them to the right is still so challenging! The charleston moves we did were good as I "knew" them, but breaking them down and knowing the timing makes a big difference. The jump charleston he taught us was a bit tricking on the timing for me and definitely something to work on. The eagle slides were my favorite that day. I never knew the prep for them and now having that with the timing it all makes a lot more sense.

I got to the dance venue a bit early so I could change into my outfit for the evening. The Syncopators were practicing for their performance later that evening which was fun to watch, especially since I had to leave before seeing them perform it for real. I also went over some of the content we'd learned in classes. Before I knew it, the band was starting! We got to dance to Jonathan Doyle's Swingtet all night. Doesn't get much better than that! The thing about that venue, though, is that the floors are super slippery. It's the same ballroom where the advanced track was and I'm not sure how they took classes for two days in that room; it was super slick!

The band line up:
Jonathan Doyle - reeds Chris Davis - trumpet Dave Loomis - trombone Jen Hodge - bass Josh Roberts: - guitar Julian MacDonough - drums



After the first band break was the contest finals. The finalists were Samantha Nguyen, Nika Jin, Damian Cade, Christina Nourmiev, Elaine Buchignani, and Bailey McCully. So much crazy skill on the floor that night! Watching everyone giving it their all was so exciting and inspiring. Plus the energy in the room was crazy high with lots of cheering and excitement from everyone watching. That's probably the best part about watching competitions in person.

Since I had to be up at work the next morning, I headed home right after the finals. I was sad to leave early, but I definitely needed the sleep.

Sunday's classes started with Nathan. Since I was late I missed the first hour which apparently they went over basic music theory for dancers which I was sad to miss out on. But the second half we broke down more jazz moves and created a new combination. This time we worked on Shorty George, apple jacks, and fall off the log. I really enjoyed the breakdown for apple jacks and it definitely helped me improve them. Once again we put them into a little combo.

Our last couple hours with Gaby were super fun. All of the classes during the weekend were fun, but the this was on the next level. We went over boogie forwards and all did 8 counts of boogie forwards then 8 counts of shortie George as a group, or gang of dancers as Gaby said. She was in the front the first time and was pretty much begging others to come and "lead" the pack, saying how powerful she felt. lol! It was great! We also did knee slaps and spank the baby. While going over the boogie forwards we ended up with some James Bond inside jokes that you just had to be there for.

After we did a thing that I can't remember what it's called, but where everyone stands in two lines and one person from each side at the top go down the middle and show off their best stuff. I'm gonna be honest and say that I was really nervous at first, but I ended up having so much fun and letting the nervousness just melt away. Besides, who wouldn't be happy dancing to Boogie Shoes?

The last hour was spent doing another routine. By this point my brain was melted and the choreography definitely wasn't sticking, but I stuck with it. I ended up learning some good tips on my turns, which I really appreciated as that's a place where my technique is really bad.

And that was the end of Emerald City Solo Jam 2018! It was such an incredible weekend filed with lots of solo awesome-ness, the best live music, amazing classes, getting to know people better, and making new friends. Couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

This was a big year for me, especially since it was my full first calendar year since starting swing dancing. What a year it was. It started off with attending my first dance event. Met tons of awesome people. I danced in Century Ballroom for the first time. I entered my first competition. I gained so many new skills and refined my technique a ton. I got better at balboa. Stayed up till 2am at the B'ham Swing Jam. Had the pleasure of dancing to many talented musicians. 

It's been a crazy year for me personally (leaving my job, going to a coding bootcamp, a trip to the ER, job searching, a car accident that ruined the right side of my car, part-time jobs, and more things), so I'm really thankful to have been able to do as much as I did this year. Dancing every week has been the only routine/regular event in my life and knowing I could dance out all of my stress at the end of the week made it a little easier during the hard parts.
2017 Stats:
-Went to just over 50 social dances, most of those times at Eastside Stomp

-Completed the last level 1 Lindy Hop class at Eastside and took a Followers Technique class. I got soooooo much amazing teaching and feedback from the followers class and has improved by leaps and bounds. Seriously, if you ever have a chance to take a class with Elaine and Stefan, do it. 

-Attended Emerald City Solo Jam, Jitterbug Weekend, B'Ham Swing Jam, some of the dances at Camp Jitterbug and Seattle Lindy Extravaganza

-Had the opportunity to dance to over a couple dozen different bands, most of them from the Seattle area.

How did I do on completing my goals for 2017?
- Learn an get comfortable with tandem charleston
Between looking up the footwork on YouTube and doing it on the social floor, I'm at least comfortable getting in and out at moderate speeds. Sometimes even fast if I realize it's coming. But tandem variations? Eh, not so much.

- Enter my first Jack and Jill competition
Done. Competed at Eastside Stomp in March.

- Improve at asking people to dance and being more social at dances and events. My quiet introvert side is definitely holding me back a bit, but I want to fix that.
Definitely made big improvements and don't mind asking people to dance anymore. Success!

- Get a video clip of me dancing (everyone from friends to family to co-workers wanna see how good I can dance)
I finally did that!

- Get comfortable doing outs and ins in BalboaMy outs and ins are better, but honestly all of my bal has improved a bit. I only took one bal workshop this year, but between that and dancing it socially I definitely feel more confident and comfortable now.

-Go to several dance events (Emerald City Solo Jam & Jitterbug Weekend are already paid for!)
I'm really happy with what I was able to go to, considering that money's been really tight this year. Beyond Emerald City Solo Jam and Jitterbug Weekend mentioned above, I went to The B'ham Swing Jam and some of the dances at Camp Jitterbug and Seattle Lindy Extravaganza.

2018 Goals:
- Go to Big Sky Weekend and The B'ham Swing Jam. I'd love to do Lindy Bout and Camp Hollywood as well, but I doubt it'll be in the budget this year.

- Become more comfortable at dancing to slower tempos. If I'm following someone who keeps in closed a lot more with slow songs I do alright and don't mind, but when I'm with someone who gives a lot of space I never know what to do.

- Learn more styling and variations

- Improve my solo jazz skills. Even though I know different moves, stringing them together without freezing up is a real struggle for me right now

Eastside Stomp Holiday Ball

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with friends and family! It's crazy to beleive that the year's over all ready. Didn't it go by so fast?!

This past Friday was the annual Holiday Ball at Eastside Stomp, which is always a fun night. It was also the official kickoff for the Syncopation Foundation, the new non-profit they've started, with the goal of expanding and sharing the love of dance with even more people.

The ball was tons of fun. Jacob Zimmerman was playing, the photoboot was fun, the live performances were great, and a fun time was had by all! My dear friend Carrie and her boyfriend were able to come, which made it even more fun. It's kinda funny as she's been there through a lot of my dancing history: she was at the same event in high school when I was first introduced to swing, went social dancing with me for our very first time, and took the into to swing class with me when I started dancing back in August 2016. She doesn't dance regularly, but enjoys coming out every now and then and it's always great when she does.

The floor was packed and there were so many people that there wasn't enough time to dance with everyone that I wanted. It was such a wonderful night though, with lots of great dances. Also, I need more red dresses in my life, as I loved wearing this one so much!

Carrie was awesome and got this clip of me dancing. It makes me happy as now I actually have video of me swinging out and it's helped me notice some things I can work on, which is always good.

The second performance of the night from Santa's Little Syncopators!