Themes

I'm not much on themed dances, but this one on July 3 looks like perfect timing for some Red White and Blue - at least some decorations and berries with whipped cream on cupcakes. Town will be super full with the Monday holiday. People may wonder what to do on that Sunday evening. Visiting guests welcome! AC!

Our grandson was born 10 days early, so I don't have to worry about whether I'll need to go see the beautiful baby and/or help out. All is well. Baby is perfect, and my daughter-in-law's mother is 15 minutes from their apartment.

Treasures

My weekend at my mother's yielded a tiny amount of dance stuff in proportion to the amount sent off for recycling, dump, swap shop, Salvation Army, Antique Lamps Store donation, artist friend, and local theater company.
I have People magazine from 1987, a Fred Astaire issue when he died. Two Jacob's Pillow souvenir pamphlets, one 1975, one 1988. Most impressive is a book of Serge Lido's photographs from Paris 1949, in French, marked 550 francs. Leslie Caron as the Sphinx.
One circle skirt I can mend for my granddaughter.
Dance is an ephemeral art.

That dancer's trick for boating

My dance technique to avoid seasickness, recorded on this blog back in 2007, worked again.
This time I was able to teach it to a visitor from the City (NYC).
While I was out sorting my mother's stuff (rainy weather, not too hot- I made a dent in the attic) the visitors went out on Joe's motor boat, and one came back woozy.
We went again yesterday, and she stood next to me, not sitting in the choppy seas, working with the knees to keep ears level. My mother's old suggestion, "Watch the horizon," is a start because it makes sure you don't look down or up, but knees as shock absorbers are the crucial extra step. Can be tiring, but better than feeling sick.

Cape Cod Dance Center Newsletter

Cape Cod Dance Center has a newsletter now with a newsletter maven who asked me what we do for Ballroom. I prepared this statement to go out to their list, mostly the parents of school children.

Ballroom classes continue as always with a Basics Class on Mondays at 7:15. We cycle through the dances so that students gain a proficiency in the usual styles without getting confused.
Mondays at 8:15 is the Advanced Class, a group that has been with me for years, adding in by invitation.
Wednesdays at 8:00 are Intermediates, a great class for those who need to take their time, who are new to the studio though not to Ballroom Dancing, or those on their way up to advanced.
We get mostly couples on Cape Cod, but I take singles and enjoy their company.
Cape Cod Dance Center continues the classes year round, including the summer.
The class card system allows students to come as they can without losing their place or their payment, and we have held to the same fee since Mary French owned out of the building.

PAA

Another year, another set of officers for the Portuguese American Association.
I don't know the new president. perhaps he can make things happen. 501 c 3 designation maybe?
So there's hope for that local beautiful dance floor, but not much.

Arts Alive Falmouth 2011

A lovely event with local people out to see the local art and craftsmen. Paradise Rock was too loud and all original songs (good for them, but not easy to listen to). Turning Pointe's show was good. I heard it was mobbed Saturday when I missed Cape Cod Dance Center and many musicians. If I'd gone to see the Klezmer Swing I'd have had to get dressed for the wedding in the car.

Dancing at the wedding

Sure enough, as Dawn told me, the floor filled up with dancers.
Why not? Great band, open bar, everybody dressed up.
Early on, bands often they play the older dance music, Sinatra type foxtrots, and we did glide around between courses.
After the meal and cake, the music got louder and less inspiring to us. The service at the Copley Plaza is exemplary so the spilled drink (not a Drunk) was cleaned up. They didn't notice the lemon leaf that got free, part of the snazzy place setting, holding two butter pats per person - oops- that's slippery!
We gave up at quarter to midnight. The band went until 1 AM.

Dressing for Copley Plaza

Middle son David's best friend's wedding.
My daughter-in-law says black is fine. Joe is wearing a gray suit.
The word is we are not right on the dance floor so that we will inspire others to dance on our walk there? Could this be true?

Arts Alive

Falmouth's outdoor festival starts tomorrow night.
The Town Dance at 7 PM features a band I do not recommend, but before they start, Paradise Rock is on at either 5 or 6 PM depending on where you see the schedule. Their facebook says 5:00, so I would guess that was right since the Arts Alive folks have a ton of other stuff to keep track of.

CCDC Newsletter

Our little studio, the Cape Cod Dance Center, has a newsletter now, weekly. I need to write something.
The dance tip this week was degage, disengaged from the floor, a way of moving the foot to strengthen the ankles and get some precision in foot placement. Ballet - you gotta love it.

CCBD Newsletter

Sorry to see it go.
When we started it in 1994, I wrote articles and laid it out, cutting and pasting with scissors and glue. Then Renee Ziegner and I had a newsletter party. We folded hundreds of sheets we got copied and placed labels we had entered onto our computers, along with stamps at $.35, and mailed out them out on time. Six years of 4 issues a year.
So 20th Century.

Samba Demystified by Ron Gursky

A view of Samba as done to BossaNova, easygoing and not terrifically bouncy.
Our step, a Volta that doesn't look like a promenade stutter.
Attendance - Very good. We had to take out the ballet bars. We needed the room.
Happy Birthday, Joe.

Hoy Polloy

Johnny Hoy was a half hour late and had lost his guitar player. After a few songs, an audience member joined them with his guitar and amp, but the set seemed a bit too loud and all fast. Grumpy's was super crowded. We didn't need the bachelor party that pulled up in a limo bus.
The guitar player had maybe missed the ferry - he arrived an hour late. It didn't look like he would be invited to play after the break. The sub was keeping his equipment on stage.
We left, tired from a day of family.

Second June weekend

I get to stretch out before tomorrow with my 10 AM class.
Dancing starts tonight with Johnny Hoy at Grumpy's, if we get there.
(I gave up on Day of Portugal Dinner Dance with folkloric dance performance.)
Sunday, Kati's Flamenco starts at 11 AM.
At night, I run a party following Ron's evening workshop in Samba.

Gravity

Apparently, Newton's laws are not standing up to the numbers observed as Spaceship Voyager heads out of the solar system. Instead of Dark Energy (hitherto unobserved forces), my brother proposes negative gravity (I think).
I appreciate gravity. I enjoyed my brainy relatives definition of it as a weak force, allowing us to stay connected to our places on this world yet giving the freedom to move, defining our struggles, shaping our dance.

Dancing on Tuesdays in Providence

My last scheduled Tuesday with Sloane who is now 3 years old.
We danced and played with scarves and ribbons.
Her baby brother arrives in three weeks, so the mother is wisely taking some time with her firstborn instead of with Pilates clients.

Stage 3

The brilliant setting of the Wianno Club was really full of dancers. I believe one reason is that we are starved for another venue! Betsy's, Betsy's, Betsy's, and the Conservatory in Falmouth.
Trilogy brought in a lovely singer - just what the band needed! I've sent him a note, hoping she will come in September as well.
The formation was the best I've seen - congratulations to Debbie and all her dancers.

2nd stage

Whoa! Two months in a row, extra men at my dance! Joe wasn't even there as his new love, tennis, called him away to a tournament. After inviting Tiny three months in a row, I forgot her this month - too bad, could have used her.
Highlights: skilled dancers from out of town, there for the weekend, and Mike and Nancy Ward after a year and a half.
Other surprises: Christy's friend Jim who was much better than he thought, and Chip from the Vineyard who was much worse than I expected. I found out he has early Alzheimer's - yikes.

1st stage of the weekend

Excellent CCBD dance last night. I used the Samba lesson to encourage the mostly very good dancers to enjoy the music. A few easy steps, a line dance to hammer them in, and a bit of Volta turn rather than that traveling Volta that can be such a train wreck.
Susan Coppelman did a nice job with the music, and people stuck around to dance for the whole time. And I got to see some "Senior Prom" pictures.

Blowing Hot and Cold

Funny wind we've had, and it's all full of pine pollen. I'm not allergic to the stuff, but it gives me a slight cough. I hung out my clothes to dry, and now I'll put them in the dryer for some pollen removal.
Put in the bean seeds and now I have the keeep the ground damp. That was Not a Problem for a few weeks there, as the weeds show us.
Tonight is the dancing. Today I get to hang around the house.

Video revisited

Surely by now they have a machine with a computer memory to capture a few programs the way my VCR does, without subscribing to a service? Could the cable companies be blocking such technology?
Meanwhile, the video available from the Web is daunting.
All I really want is to go out and dance anyway. When I'm there, I need to be able to discuss popular dance culture.
So far, I missed the first episode of So You Think You Can Dance.