You know, for the Sylvia Sykes and Marty Lau Balboa workshops being held in Boston on the weekend of February 4-5.
And if so, what were you thinking?
Maybe you don’t know who Marty Lau is?
Well, here’s a video of him winning the All Balboa Weekend American Classic Balboa Championships in 2002 with his wife Jen.
Yeah, that guy.
And he’s teaching with Sylvia Sykes.
You’re sorry you missed the deadline, aren’t you?
Well, have no fear, we’re still offering pre-registration discounts if you register by January 29th — they’re just not as crazy and amazing as the early-bird discounts. If you haven’t registered already, DO IT NOW!
We’re still recovering from EBC — the Eastern Balboa Championships held in Raleigh, NC — one of the major Balboa events in North America, East-Coast or otherwise. And this year, it really came into its own with a new, larger hotel, 4 full nights of dancing and the usual world class instructors. And of course, the usual EBC shenanigans. Best of all, we had a terrific showing from New England, with 18 people from the area!
Thanks to all of you for being a part of it! I’m already looking forward to next year, where we’ll hopefully have even more familiar faces in attendance.
Hope to see you Sunday at the Crosby Whistle Stop for Balboa on a Sunday Afternoon where we can practice and play with what we learned!
The weekend is finally here which means that Adam & Nelle’s Balboa workshops are TOMORROW afternoon at the Whistle Stop in Charlestown. If you aren’t already, now is the time to get really excited! And if you’ve got stuff during the day, you can still come to the practice session/dance which will start a little after 4:15pm this month due to the workshops — still only $3 or FREE if you’ve signed up for any of the workshops! (There won’t be any planned mini-lessons this month, but still feel free to ask for help, ideas or feedback.)
But you don’t have to wait until tomorrow to see Adam & Nelle because Blues Cafe is happening TONIGHT! Adam & Nelle will be teaching a beginner lesson at 8pm and will be doing a demo later in the evening. Adam will also be be one of the guest DJs so you can totally get your Bal on!
It seems that October is shaping up to be a great month for Balboa here in the Northeast. There are lots of great Balboa opportunities this month, so I figured I’d mention them while I should be packing for CBC…
And if you can’t make the drive up to Montreal, maybe check out Minor Swing in Lincoln, RI — live gypsy jazz at Swing Cafe!
Thursday Oct 7 we’ll be DJing for the Balboa night at the Stomp at 21 Marathon St, Arlington, MA from 9-11pm (FREE!)
Perhaps you’re thinking about a trip to NY? Why not head down the following weekend? And then you can check out the Balboa Crash Course with Carol Fraser on Sunday Oct 10 from 1-4pm.
Saturday Oct 16 Balboa Workshops with Steve & Rebecca Drzewiczewski from 12-5:30pm at the Providence Tango Mill followed by the Harvest Moon Dance from 8pm-midnight. (Special early registration rates end Friday, Oct 1!)
Here’s the playlist from August’s Balboa on a Sunday Afternoon. I don’t have the BPM numbers up, but one of the things I find challenging is that many of my favorite Bal songs are in the 220-240 BPM range, but people have generally preferred songs around 190 or below. When I went through the playlist after the event, there were only 8 songs over 200 and none over 210.
What are your favorite songs to dance Balboa to? Post a top 10 in the comments or send me an email!
Other comments and feedback are always welcome, of course.
Song Title
Album
Artist
Year
1
Hop, Skip And Jump
D5vb1105 RCA-20-1800
Artie Shaw’s Gramercy 5
1945
2
Chicago
Django Reinhardt 1936-1937
Django Reinhardt
3
At The Clambake Carnival
M791 Okeh -6896
Cab Calloway & His Orchestra
1938
4
The Seargent Was Shy
The Classic Tracks Of The 1920′s & 1930′s
Duke Ellington
1930
5
Peckin’
09569-1 Victor -25621
Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
1937
6
Four Or Five Times
All-bal 2006
Mora’s Modern Rhythmists
7
For Dancers Only
Jimmie Lunceford : 1934 – 1942
Jimmie Lunceford
2007
8
Rose Room
The Genius Of The Electric Guitar
Charlie Christian
1939
9
Jacquet In The Box
The Ultimate Jazz Archive 23 [disc 2]
The Illinois Jacquet Sextet
1946
10
Flying Home
Lionel Hampton
11
Sioux City Sue
Decca 18745
Hoosier Hot Shots (v. Sally Foster, Two-Ton Baker)
12
Cross Your Heart
055064 RCA Victor-26763-b
Artie Shaw And His Gramercy 5
1940
13
Three Swings In And Out
M746 Vocalion-3995
Cab Calloway & His Orchestra
1938
14
King Porter Stomp
Brunswick-8366
Harry James And His Orchestra
1939
15
In The Mood
Harlem Joys
Edgar Hayes
2005
16
Strictly Swing
027958 Bluebird-10012b
Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra
1938
17
Muskrat Ramble
Sidney Bechet Bluenote Jazzmen
1945
18
Vol Vist Du Gaily Star
The Very Best Of
Slam Stewart
2009
19
Jump Steady
20th Century Closet
Mora’s Modern Swingtet
2004
20
Satchel Mouth Swing
Decca-1636
Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra
1938
21
Hawaiian War Chant (ta-hu-wa-hu-wai)
Coral-60510
The Ames Brothers Feat. Roy Smeck And The Serenaders
1951
22
Candy Shop
Oh! The Grandeur
Andrew Bird’s Bowl Of Fire
1999
23
Night And Day
Souvenirs
The Quintet Of The Hot Club Of France
24
Minor Swing
All-bal 2006
Django Reinhardt
25
Oh, Lady Be Good
Complete RCA Victor Small Group Master Takes, [disc 1]
Benny Goodman
26
McPherson Is Rehearsin’ (to Swing)
Ella Fitzgerald
1939
27
Massachusetts
Anita O’day
28
Pennsylvania 6-5000
Best Of The Big Bands – Ii – Various Artists
Glenn Miller
29
East St. Louis Toodle-oo
The Classic Tracks Of The 1920′s & 1930′s
Duke Ellington
1930
30
Ragging The Scale
Jimmie Lunceford : 1934 – 1942
Jimmie Lunceford
2007
31
Reet, Petit And Gone
Five Guys Named Moe: Original Decca Recordings, Vol. 2
Louis Jordan
1946
32
Out West
Swing Session
33
Three-quarter Boogie
Gold Collection-lionel Hampton [disc 2]
Lionel Hampton
1941
34
Sweet Sue, Just You
Complete RCA Victor Small Group Master Takes, [disc 1]
Benny Goodman
35
The Flat Foot Floogie
The Very Best Of
Slam Stewart
2009
36
The Jumpin’ Jive
The Jumpin’ Jive
Cab Calloway & His Orchestra
2008
37
Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho
Sidney Bechet
38
I Want To Be Happy
Victor-25510
Benny Goodman And His Orchestra
1937
39
Dig These Blues
The Four Clefs
40
Sugar Foot Stomp
19669-2 Brunswick-7735
Artie Shaw And His Orchestra
1936
41
Rock Hill Special
Victor 26114
Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra
1938
42
Lindyhopper’s Delight
Strictly Jive
Chick Webb
1999
43
Sing You Sinners
The Chronological Classics: 1937-38
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
1937
44
I Want The Waiter (with The Water)
Lunceford Special
Jimmie Lunceford
2001
45
You’re A Lucky Guy – V T P
Bluebird-b-10482
Artie Shaw And His Orchestra
1939
46
Jacquet And No Vest
The Ultimate Jazz Archive 23 [disc 2]
Illinois Jacquet
1946
47
Posin’
The Chronological Classics: 1937-38
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
1937
48
Tutti Frutti
The Very Best Of
Slam Stewart
2009
49
Jeepers Creepers
Quintette Du Hot Club De France
Django Reinhardt
50
Darktown Strutters Ball
Stomping At The Savoy Featuring Ella Fitzgerald 1934/1949
I’ve been hoping to write a post reflecting on the first two dances but I’ve been swamped with work and just haven’t been able to get around to it. In the meantime, I figured I could at least shoot out a quick post on the music I’ve been playing. I’m hoping people will find it of interest, if not helpful. And if people would like to send feedback about particular songs or the music in general or would like to pass along suggestions and recommendations, I’d love to hear it.
It’s been a challenging experience collecting songs for the dance. While I’ve always been pretty good at identifying a large swathe of popular music from the 80s simply based on the first second and a half of the drum machine intro, I’m still developing an ear for the music of the 30s and 40s, so I often have some difficulty identifying songs or recalling a melody simply based on the title unless it’s something crazy-obvious like Rigamarole or Joshua Fit. The exercise of preparing to DJ the dance has helped a bit — it’s still a struggle right now, but I can already see it getting easier.
Anyway, here’s the list of songs I played at the first Balboa on a Sunday Afternoon in July; I lost track of a few songs and Alex DJ’d the first set so it’s far from a complete list, but it’s a start, y’know? I should mention that as far as choosing songs, I like the idea of throwing unusual tracks from different genres into the mix, but I found myself mostly sticking close to home, except for that Adam Ant song towards the end there. We’ll see how that goes.
In collaboration with Blues Cafe and Boston Swing Central, our first workshop weekend brings the awesome Nelle Cherry & Adam Speen up from Philadelphia to teach 3 workshops on Sunday, October 24! Adam & Nelle are some of the most exciting Bal dancers we’ve seen, mixing stunning musicality and innovation with beautiful pure Bal technique, and we’re thrilled to have them here in Boston!
The first workshop will start at noon, with each workshop running 75 minutes. These workshops will have something for everyone, including both new Balboa dancers and hardcore Balboa lovers. Workshops will be followed by our usual practice session/dance at 4:30 so you can try out your new skills in the wild.
Check out one of our favorite videos of Adam & Nelle:
Adam & Nelle will also be available on Saturday, October 23 from 1-6pm for private lessons (for individuals, couples or groups up to 4). If you’re interested, contact Nelle directly for more information and scheduling: thedancingcherri (at) gmail (dot) com or 216-559-2929.
(They’ll also be teaching a beginner Balboa lesson Saturday night at the Blues Cafe dance at Springstep.)
We’ll have more details soon on what they’re planning to teach and how to register, so stay tuned for updates. And mark your calendars!
About Adam & Nelle:
Adam has been dancing Balboa since 2006, studying under many of the prominent instructors worldwide. He challenges himself to improve by competition but mainly enjoys social dancing. In the classroom, Adam offers his own experiences and knowledge in order to foster a creative and comfortable learning environment. He believes that social dancing and individual innovation are paramount in a dancer’s education.
Nelle has been dancing since she was 3 years old. With a background in tap, jazz, and ballet, she was not introduced to partner dancing until 2006. Balboa came into her life as the first predominant style of swing dancing she focused on. She found Balboa to be the dance that fit due to its elegance and refined technique which complimented her dancing background. She stresses comfort and teamwork in the classroom and continually strives to pursue a constant goal of perpetual awesomeness through social and competitive dancing. She currently resides in Philadelphia where she teaches in hopes of spreading her love of Balboa.
Together Adam and Nelle have competed and won competitions in Balboa throughout the United States since beginning to compete together in 2006.
Our next practice/dance will be — yes — Sunday afternoon, August 15th at Boston Swing Central’s Crosby Whistle Stop. We’ll have DJ’d music from 4pm-7pm for dancing Balboa — come work out those new moves, work on your fundamentals or just come and dance the whole time. We’re also going to add several short (15 minute-ish) informal mini-lessons every hour if you’d like to brush up on your basics.
When: Sunday, August 15, 2010
Where: The Crosby Whistle Stop (24 Roland Street, Charlestown, MA)
DJ’d music: 4pm-7pm
Mini-lessons: 4:15pm, 5:15pm, 6:15pm
Admission: $3
Hope to see you then!
(As before, if you’re interested in volunteering for 30-60 minutes, DJing a set or helping out with the mini-lessons, drop me a line at stany@bostonbalboa.org)
We’re kicking off the first Boston Balboa practice/dance at Boston Swing Central’s Crosby Whistle Stop Sunday afternoon, July 25th. We’ll use the first hour as a semi-guided practice — bring that cool move you just learned at a workshop or just come and work on your fundamentals. After that — 2 hours of DJ’d music for dancing Balboa. All this for just three bucks.
Come chill out and dance some cool, smooth balboa at the air-conditioned Crosby Whistle Stop!
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA
When: Sunday, July 25, 2010
Semi-guided practice: 4pm-5pm
Open dancing: 5pm-7pm
Admission: $3 (THREE BUCKS!)
BTW — we’re also thinking about checking out the Tavern At the End of the World around the corner on Cambridge St — stick around afterwards and join us!
(Also, if you’re interested in volunteering for 30-60 minutes or DJing a set, drop me a line at stany@bostonbalboa.org)
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