Sweet Georgia Blues – Rediscovering the Blues

Darn writer’s block. I’ve been trying to craft an opening paragraph about Sweet Georgia Blues, but it’s proving difficult. 8 opening sentences later, I’m still running dry.

How do I describe a weekend that was both torturous and invigorating? My laptop completely died Friday morning and I spent the whole morning and part of the afternoon in a state of panic.  I needed my notes, all my music with my DJ software, my Fast Blues playlist, my Spirit Moves videos. Best Buy fixed it and then my computer wouldn’t start Saturday morning. It was dead. Dead, dead, dead. I dealt with partially transcribed notes on my cell phone, recreating material in my notebook (who uses pens anymore?), and playing music off my limited iPod collection. Evin and Noah Galang helped me greatly with this unfortunate situation.

Anyway, I discovered I have people at Sweet Georgia Blues. From Virginie Jensen, Andrew Twiss, Evin Galang, and Heather Ballew, I saw great blues dancing, quality that hasn’t been matched in years. I saw great body movement, spatial awareness, individual style, momentum, and musicality demonstrated. Their blues dancing is touched by other influences and it looks great. I was home (for a weekend).

My blues dancing is influenced by my lindy hop, ballroom, west coast swing, and jazz dancing background. It’s so great to create a wide variety of movement because your partner is also widely versed and connection skilled. I say embrace your influences, keep learning, and dance to the music. Dancing to blues music will lead you to the blues.

For example, this couple was jamming out at The Speakeasy in Longmont, CO. They were shaking it, working the fishtails, leading and following a few simple patterns. They were in the moment and rocking it. I get caught up in our tiny “dancer” community subculture and forget about this entire group of people jamming at blues bars and festivals. We could all learn something from them.

Dance. Have fun. Don’t forget to breathe. Let loose.

You can find me teaching the blues I enjoy at these upcoming events:

September 21 – Teaching a Bluesli Workshop in Zurich

October 5-6 – Teaching lindy hop, blues, solo charleston and aerials in Luxembourg with Jesse Hanus

October 19-21 – Teaching blues at Drag the Blues in Barcelona

 

Atlanta Varsity Showdown – Gangnam Style

I’m reminded of a conversation I had with Ali Taghavi in Heidelberg, Germany this past March. The primary reason I met Ali and Katja was because I saw this YouTube video. I knew of Ali and Katja before, but never had an opportunity to introduce myself. At dinner, Ali and I were talking about marketing. One of those ideas centered around me embracing my inappropriate move fame and offering similar classes based around having more fun with the dance. In the words of the Atlanta Varsity Showdown organizers: “We handpicked the teachers based not only on their killer dancing and teaching experience, but mostly on their ability to get cray cray at a dance weekend.” It’s working.

I was paired with Delilah Williams and Lindsay Longstreth. I think we brought the fun and crazy into the classes exceedingly well. For more proof, look no further than Delilah and I going Gangnam Style in class.

Wait! You need more proof? Fine! Have some animal dancing.

Anyway, AVS was a lot of fun. I met a lot of new people from the East Coast and the eastern Midwest parts. It’s really cool experiencing this young crowd and what they’re delivering on the social and competition floor. Compliments to the organizers for the rides, lunches, amenable schedule, the iPad beta testing for level tryouts, judging preparedness, and more. The DJs and live band, the Low-Down Sires, were great. I have a few days more here.

Oh, be sure to try Double Zero Napoletana, the Iberian Pig, Mac McGee, Cakes & Ale while you’re here.