Tentacle Tribe in Montreal

Street dancers today were Tentacle Tribe, a duo, Swedish man and Canadian woman performing with a horn player, Charles Imbeau, and an electronic background, set up a square space delineated by a square of red tape in front of l'eglise Sainte Cecile, a very community minded church in a hip section of Montreal, near the big fruit and vegetable market, Jean Talon.
Elon Hoglund, and to a lesser extent Emmanuelle Le Phan warmed up and practiced while we got coffee and hot chocolate, listened to a Haitian woman talk about dancing Samba and waited for the guys to arrive on bicycles on their way to tennis.
Their style - flowing hip hop with tricks, jumps and a nice blend of interaction. The two passed several times before finding each other. Slow motion seemed a metaphor while the trumpeter played with a cup mute.
An encounter - the woman bumped into the musician providing a interlude as he tried to be part of the dance, to no avail.
The dancers took up more strenuous connections and provided a great show. Capoiera like, she would fall over his back. Many examples of leverage and compression, as we say in West Coast Swing.
The program says" Their limitless gestural language with its unique poetic overtones merges subtly with the live melodic flow."

Saturday September 7

At the Conservatory.
Another lovely evening with more good dancers showing up as the Plymouth crowd spreads the word, I think. Only one beginner couple showed up who found the level of dancing intimidating, as it might. I continue to lure them with the easy first hour. I had the single beginner gentleman and no single ladies until Dawn showed up with a broken foot.
It's a matter of starting somewhere besides dance class. One of my best couples told me they waited a year before stepping out. I just have to try to keep them for that first difficult year.
An interesting development with the parking lot. Expanded as it is, Highfield Theater people, other than CLOC, have no trouble sharing any more, so I can use the Conservatory consistently.
Now I wonder if I might take on second dance a month sometimes in order to use that beautiful, larger space with round tables, the St Barnabas Parish Hall. If only it had AC, the summer months would be covered.
Coming up, I have the Mary French Scholarship benefit dance October 19, but November and December can be festive, and Falmouth people might even support a February Valentine dance. Plenty of Valentine events involving eating and drinking. But why be lazy? 

Much great activity

Last night for my dance. I put together a play list that really seemed to work. I didn't have to fuss with the music. People stayed on the floor, and then we were all danced out!
Mental activity also takes a lot of energy - eggplant recipes, Mary French Dance flyers, company Friday night.
The garden is supposed to be a relaxing activity, unless you move the compost and pick a gallon of beans.
Stringing beads for a bracelet - mindless.

Waltz at Betsy's

I didn't prepare a difficult step. I'm tired of difficult steps. Historical steps, Mary's 6s, 9s and 12s with styling seemed like enough from my perspective on Friday afternoon.
Turn out was small, with mostly the core board members, dedicated dancers. If I had known how few beginners would be there, I might have pushed harder. Anyway, they all looked better after trying to achieve the best pose in close dance position.
The "Their Hearts Were Dancing" line dance went over very well, and I caught up with people I don't usually get to talk to.
Too bad I didn't get Joe to come since the single gentlemen were notably absent!

September Starts with a Bang

Everyone is suddenly gone! So I cleaned the house for a while. Also harvesting peaches.
Then, I went to Providence for crazy grandson Ian, and to pick up his sister at kindergarten.

Rosh Hashanah came early, and my mother-in-law is returning home after a few weeks in rehab.
I teach at Betsy's tomorrow night - Waltz - how much style can I get into the lesson?
Private lessons continue. My first fall dance is Saturday.
Must get the Mary French Dance flyer ready.
Perhaps a trip to Montreal, or at least Stockbridge.

"Our" Show

SYTYCD nears completion of this, its 10th, season. The final 2 young men are so uneven, we want two female winners. Oh, well.
I enjoyed the background segments, such as when Fik-shun acknowledged Amy's influence while they partnered for those early weeks. Nigel admitted that Jasmine made it on because Cat Deeley spoke up. We think of Cat as this perfect goddess-like hostess, but she appreciates the show as much as anyone.
Hightlights: Aaron's tap duet, choreographed by that new guy; Amy and Robert to the Stacey Tookie contemporary romantic duet; and I loved that floating one Jasmine and Fikshun.

Youth that Can Dance

I enjoyed watching the TV show with my two daughters-in-law this week.
The Alvin Ailey style opening number reminded me that Jasmine will be assured a place in that company once her stint with the Top Ten is over.
We all agreed that Amy and Jasmine were the treasures to see dance again while Hayley will grace many a stage in her performance life.
 As far as the young men were concerned, Marie-Eve (down for the week from Canada) felt Paul's perfection should have been rewarded, that Aaron had not proven himself since he dropped his partner, Melanie; however, the American audience did not see that when they voted last week, and the judges had recused themselves for whatever reason, just commenting, not saving, in the semi-finals. Perhaps the young man's presence, his size and strength, simply won the voters. Fik-shun's solo was quite amazing, and we all agreed on his worth.
Tyce Diorio improved choreography provided a pleasant surprise for Ali and me. Now we hope he learns to at least fake a bit of humility.