Bands and Balboa this weekend

March 15th, 2012

There are a bunch of opportunities to dance Balboa this weekend, including two great live bands Friday and Saturday night!

First up, Friday night — The White Heat Swing Sextet at Boston Swing Central! We’ve been pretty psyched by Craig Ball’s White Heat Swing Orchestra so we’re eager to check out his combo with the much touted stride piano player on BSC’s upright Steinway.

Saturday night, Hop to the Beat’s Uptown Swing Dance is bringing back the awesome Baby Soda Jazz Band!

Check it out, they’ve totally been to Boston before…

And finally, Sunday, we’re having our monthly Balboa on a Sunday Afternoon. We’re continuing to offer an introductory lesson starting at 3:30pm with the regular practice starting at 4:30pm. (Note that BSC is running its Lindy Hop Boot Camp on the same day from 1pm-4pm this month, so we’ll be starting out in the lobby of the Whistle Stop)

Hope to see you out dancing (Bal) this weekend! (Ask me to dance!)

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March update!

February 29th, 2012

So many opportunities to dance and learn Balboa this coming month! Let me count the ways:

1. Balboa at the Stomp – Thursday, March 1
   Our monthly free Balboa dance is this Thursday from 9pm-11pm at the Episcopal Church of Our Savior at 21 Marathon Street, Arlington MA. Join us at the Chilly Cow (just a few blocks down Mass Ave) for frozen custard around 8/8:30!

2. Balboa classes at Providence Swings! (5 Thursdays, starting March 1)
   Providence Swings will be offering 2 classes this month on Thursday nights: Balboa Basics A for beginner/intermediate dancers and a Balboa Performance Class for more experienced (intermediate+) Balboa dancers, both starting at 8.

3. Balboa on a Sunday Afternoon – March 18
   Our monthly practice session at the Crosby Whistle Stop in Charlestown — with an introductory Balboa lesson at 3:30pm and the regular practice running from 4:30pm-7pm. (We’re itching to practice all the stuff we picked up at RMBB!)

4. Balboa workshops with Nelle and Javi – Sunday, March 18 in NYC
   Nelle Cherry and Javier Johnson will be teaching a one-day Balboa workshop series for intermediate and advanced Balboa dancers at Dance Manhattan in NY.

5. Boston Tea Party – March 22 – 25
   A great local event with West Coast, Lindy Hop and Balboa with amazing instructors, competitions and social dances!

6. Balboa Rendezvous – March 31 – April 1 in San Diego and Newport Beach, CA
   World-class international instructors, awesome bands, and an opportunity to meet the some of the few remaining original masters and to dance in the historic Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach!

   Hope to see you soon, dancing Bal!

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Did you miss the early-bird registration deadline?

December 12th, 2011

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!

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Representin’ in Raleigh!

November 11th, 2011

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!

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It’s here!

October 23rd, 2010

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!

Woo! See you soon! (Dancing Bal!)

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Balboa Month in the Northeast

September 30th, 2010

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…

• First up… CBC! Yep, the Canadian Balboa Championships are happening in Montreal this coming weekend, Oct 1-3!

• 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!)

• Saturday Oct 23 Blues Cafe is hosting another Lindy and Balboa night , with a beginner lesson by guest instructors Adam Speen & Nelle Cherry from Philadelphia!

• Sunday October 24th we’re having a special Balboa on a Sunday Afternoon with workshops with Adam & Nelle from 12-4:30pm followed by our practice session from 4:30-7pm (special early registration rate ends Friday, Oct 15!)

I hope I’ll see you at some of these great events!
(Now I gotta go pack!)

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The August Playlist and a Request

September 8th, 2010

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.

Tags: BOASA
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The Playlist from July

August 27th, 2010

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.

I’ll try to post the list for August soon.

Tags: BOASA
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Balboa Workshops with Adam Speen & Nelle Cherry (on a Sunday Afternoon)

August 9th, 2010

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.

Tags: events, local, whistle stop, workshops
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Upcoming events in August and beyond

August 1st, 2010

Here’s a couple of things to keep in mind if you’re looking for places to dance some balboa in the upcoming months:

August
5 Thursday	Cat’s Corner at the Stomp Originally started as a balboa dance in Boston. And, it’s Free!
7-8 Sat-Sun	Balboa workshops with Zack & Maryse at Dance Manhattan Spend a weekend in New York City and catch some quality balboa workshops while you’re at it! There’s also a dance and competition Friday night! (August 6) [flier]
15 Sunday	Balboa on a Sunday Afternoon at the Crosby Whistle Stop That’s us! Come dance!
28 Saturday	Blues Cafe In August, Blues Cafe is hosting a Lindy and Balboa night with DJ Jay Provost and another DJ TBA.
September
2 Thursday	Cat’s Corner at the Stomp Originally started as a balboa dance in Boston. And, it’s Free!
11 Friday	Cangelosi Cards w/ Gordon Webster at the German Club A great venue in Pawtucket, RI hosted by Daryl Begin and Jennifer Stout
19 Sunday	Balboa on a Sunday Afternoon at the Crosby Whistle Stop
October
1-3	Canadian Balboa Championships Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec
16 Saturday	Balboa Workshops with Steve & Rebecca Hosted by Providence Swings
23 Saturday	Blues Cafe Another Balboa dance (Whoo-hoo!) with a beginner Balboa lesson from guest instructors Adam Speen and Nelle Cherry!
24 Sunday	a special Balboa on a Sunday Afternoon at the Crosby Whistle Stop Featuring workshops with Adam Speen and Nelle Cherry followed by the regular dance. More info TBA.
November
4 Thursday	Cat’s Corner at the Stomp Originally started as a balboa dance in Boston. And, it’s Free!
4-7 Thu-Sun	Eastern Balboa Championships An awesome long weekend event with workshops, dances and competitions in Raleigh, NC.
20-21 Sat-Sun	Balboa workshops with Jeremy & Laura at Dance Manhattan More info TBA.

Tags: events, schedule, upcoming, workshops
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