The State of Independence Shall Be...

Happy 4th of July! It's my last as a free man... just kidding!


We spent the day working on preparations for our wedding- tying up loose ends for the ceremony and designing the program. It was hot and muggy today, and I seem to have come down with some kind of cold... ugh... but we soldiered on... got a lot done.


Last night I was feeling energetic and kicking up a storm in our dance class. We started learning the lindy hop, which was a lot of fun. It may have been our last class for the session, because time is running out... time for us crazy kids to face the music!

Photo ©John Whipple. All rights reserved.

Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing...

Swing dance class again tonight. We learned the Texas Tommy...

I'm realizing just how many variations there are in swing. At the moment we're learning east coast, but there is also west coast, lindy hop... hmm... we'll see what we can absorb before the wedding. 

Yeah, I want to be a dancing machine during the reception... maybe I need to watch more James Brown:

And, of course, the mother and son dance... love you, Mom.

Jump Jive an' Wail!

Back to swing dance class tonight. Jason is a good instructor and manages to slow it down enough so that we can clearly see each follow-through of movement. 

During last week's class we felt like we didn't spend enough time dancing together, but this time out I found the switching of partners to be beneficial (in dancing!!!), because it allowed me to get a feel for the right amount of tension needed to sustain the dance. 

Yes, soon we will get to this level...

Get Up Offa That Thing

Tonight Sarah and I started a month-long swing dance class. We had taken classes in the past, but it has been awhile since we have practiced it regularly. We thought it couldn't hurt to brush up on our moves in time for next month's festivities.

Sarah and I met out dancing, so it feels nice to bring it full-circle. The instructor was good, and broke down the steps in an easy-to-understand manner. He also had us switch partners throughout the class, so in reality we didn't dance together that much tonight... but it's not a bad way to learn from those of varying skill sets and styles.

We also enjoy watching dance. One of our favorite TV shows, So You Think You Can Dance, has just returned for a new season. I'm not usually a fan of these reality/competition shows, but feel that SYTYCD is a little classier and serious about the subject than others. We have seen some amazing dancers on this program over the years that we have watched it faithfully... pretty much every one since we met! Hip-hop, modern, latin... they do it all! I think our favorite is still season two... we couldn't get enough, and even drove out to Buffalo, New York, in 2006 to see the top ten dancers perform at the Shea's Theatre--it was great! The winner of that season, Benji Schwimmer, and his very charming cousin Heidi, were actually trained in swing dance--here is Benji's audition:

There is also a great dance festival called Jacob's Pillow that runs through the summer in the Berkshires. We have seen great performances there as well. That's how I originally discovered the Berkshires (good and bad, I guess), but it brought me to my current path, and forever sweetheart, who I am more than happy to lead.

Related Links:

www.fox.com/dance

www.jacobspillow.org