Another dream come true for me in less than a year. It all started with DC, last August.
Then, out of the blue, I ended up getting this fantastic gift from my daughter (with a little help from her boyfriend): A trip to San Francisco!
It all started with a family wedding invitation to B & N. The wedding was happening in Sacramento but B & N were encouraged to fly into San Francisco. N knew San Fran was in my Bucket List and invited me to tag along but I couldn’t manage to make it fit in my budget. Continue reading →
As I said I would , I spent this past weekend in Quebec City. Went for a dance event called Swing-A-Dance
Drove there in a bad snow storm and what would have normally be a 4.5 hour trip turned into a 10 hour drive. We got there very tired but in one piece.
Once there, it was a blast. Great conversations and great dances were had!
I am very grateful for the fact that I can dance. Considering all the health issues I have, I consider myself very lucky. Sure, every time I dance I’m in pain but I much rather be in pain and dancing than to not have dance in my life!
Friday Night Dance. Photograph by Francois Beauchemin Photographe
We didn’t win. We didn’t even place. But we got mad reviews from other dancers and great feedback from the judges.
But let’s rewind.
One of our teachers came to us with a project last November: A Short Showcase Competition.
We have several competitions during the year but they are mostly in the Jack & Jill format (you sign up alone and are assigned a random partner) or the Jitterbug format where you sign with partner but do improvised dancing. We thought a short Showcase competition was a great idea and went along with it. The date was set for January 19 and the number of entries was limited to ten couples.
Apparently, there was a void in Ottawa for showcase competitions (where you sign up with a partner and perform a choreographed routine) because as soon as we opened registrations, it got sold out in a matter of hours.
This were the Contest Rules:
Entries are two people
Any style of [swing] dance is welcome.
Original choreography is encouraged.
Music must be between 30-60 seconds in length.
My daughter suggested I did a Blues choreography with Stefan, one of our up and coming students. It’ll be a lot of fun, she said. I’ll help you with it, she said. So we registered.
Then Christmas came, I got very sick and my daughter went to Colombia.
That’s when I panicked. It was January 2nd and I didn’t have a song, I didn’t have a choreography and I didn’t have a daughter to help with.
The holidays are over. It’s back to work for me today.
And now that I have my dance thinking cap on, it’s time for me to start thinking about events I would like to go to this year. It’s funny because my calendar if filling up quickly without me even trying.
First, I’m going to Swing A Dance in Quebec City in February. Mainly because Natalia was invited back to teach (this time around with boyfriend). She came back last year saying she had loved the event. So, since those two are going, I’m going too because the trip is free for me :)
Can’t say that 2012 was a good year but in all fairness, it had some really good things. Going back to dancing and training was one of them. Finding Satchie, that adorable little craziness of a cat was another. My little DC vacation, a childhood dream come true is one of the highlights of the year, for sure.
I lost some friends but I made a few others. I laughed, I cried, I dance, I ate, I saw good movies but I was also very sick for a long time. All things considered, the balance is good, I think.
Nonetheless, I can’t say I’m sad to see 2012 go. I lost more than I gained.
Thankfully, the good things are so good, that they’re enough to allow me to look back and smile. I did win a medal this year, after all. Also, I didn’t break myself this year. This is the first no-injuries year in a long time. That must count for something, right?
And I got to perform the Sailor Girls routine again. That was cool!
The Hot Tamales & Friends
Plus! I got to be part of the Canvas of the Minds family. That’s pretty cool too.
Oh, and of course, how could I forget… We all survived the Mayan Apocalypse! D’oh!
Dancer Tenealle Farragher photographed by Jordan Matter in Washington Heights, NYC
The above photography is from the book Dancers Among Us by Jordan Matter Photography. There’s a little bit of a funny story (OK, not really funny but there is a story) about the photo, though. The actual photograph does not have the caption. Someone alerted the artist about it being circulated without the proper credit.
The following paragraph is from Jordan Matter Photography Facebook page:
This image of Tenealle Farragher was making its way around the internet uncredited until someone alerted me. And a good thing they did! When I contacted Dance World (a dance store in Dublin, Ireland) and asked them to credit us on their Facebook post, they did even better than that- they ordered 100 copies of my Dancers Among Us book!
I’m happy Mr, Matter is getting his due credit. I can only imagine how beautiful the photographs must look in the book. And of course, I am happy there’s a book about about dancers. Furthermore, I’m thrilled two swingdancers are also featured in the book.
That’s how I heard of it, actually. Because NYC Lindy Hopper Evita Arce posted this picture on her Facebook wall:
Lindy Hoppers Evita Arce & Michael Jagger photographed by Jordan Matter
As Mr Matter puts it:
Even after all the posts and articles, there are still over 50 NEVER BEFORE SEEN photos in my Dancers Among Us book, like this one of international Lindy hop stars Michael Jagger and Evita Arce. There are many more gems that you won’t find anywhere online, so what are you waiting for? Dancers Among Us is the perfect last minute holiday gift!
Here’s a favourite of mine: A cabaret piece by the best female Lindy Hoppers in North America – including my daughter and Evita Arce, that was part of Followlogie 2011. Don’t think it’s just motherly pride when I say my daughter is the prettiest of all ;)
Followlogie is an annual weekend event for women* only (know in the Lindy Hop world as follows, thus the name) where we gather to learn from the best female dancers all the secrets of the trade. There are workshops, panels, dances, competitions** and a big show on Saturday night. The video was part of the show.
Footnotes:
* Or men who dance as follows
** I competed with the Dynamite Girls that year and we placed third :)
Pro-Am J&J winners with their partners. 1st Place: Stefan Fuchs. 2nd Place: Becky Lavoie. 3rd Place: Kofi Arthiabah
And it was SO much fun.
Incidentally I haven’t got the chance to do a Pro-Am Jack & Jill as an amateur. When I finally do, it’ll be funny that I’ll be able to say I’ve already done one as a “Pro” he he
We’re reviving this choreography for a little project. That was the first routine we took to the Canadian Swing Championships and we got 2nd Place with it!
It’s been a while since I last performed it and I’m very excited about donning my sailor costume again.
Can you spot me?
Footnote: Also, I thought it was very appropriate for my 300th post. Never thought I’d reach 300 posts when I started this blog some two years ago. A big thank you to all of you, my readers, for keeping me going with your encouraging likes and comments.
On Friday, there was the 13th Anniversary dance of the Ottawa Swing Dance Society (OSDS). As a former Executive member of the OSDS I usually attend these anniversary dances but this time around I was extra excited to go because they had my absolutely favourite band – the Ottawa Jazz Orchestra playing for the night. It was amazing. I danced like crazy from 10:30 pm till 2 am. I wanted to stay till the end (4 am) but common sense told me I should go to bed because I was performing the next day with my team.
So, begrudgingly I listened to common sense -what a pesky little thing common sense is, and went home.
I made sure I slept enough and ate well.
It was a good night at Saturday Night Swing. All the teams did great and I’m overall happy with my own performance. Then I did a ton more of social dancing, deejayed the last set and went to bed at 2 am again, only to rise and shine early the next day because I had to be at the studio for a Blues workshop.
It was a good weekend.
Without further ado, here’s the video of the performance. It’s a very simple routine because it is a bootcamp one. Competitive routines are longer and much more complicated. FYI, I’m in the front line, black dress, red flower on my hair.
Summer Solstice Musings 