Baltimore, MD

Baltimore, MD : "Somewhere....over the Beltway (Dreams come True)."

This past weekend, I was in Baltimore, MD teaching a lindy and balboa workshop with Bobby White (of Bobby and Kate). My involvement was sporadic and last minute, as I was substituting for Kate Hedin, who had a death in the family and needed to go home Atlanta. Dorry and Summer set up the event, which went very smoothly. Students were on time, classes ran on schedule, the venue was spacious, audio equipment easy to use, and we had a great time. I hope to be able to teach and dance in Baltimore again in the near future.

The most interesting thing about the workshop was the location. "The Creative Alliance" is in an old movie theater and is comprised of a large versatile gallery space and 8 lofts for residential artists. Bobby and I got a glimpse of one of the artist's residences, and it was pretty sweet.

From the Creative Alliance website:

"The Residency Program accommodates 8 resident artists or artist groups, one in each of the studios, for terms of one to three years. It is intended for emerging artists as well as mid-career artists whose goal is to reinvigorate their work in an intensive atmosphere. Artists are encouraged (but not required) to use the studios as their primary residence."

The dance following the workshop was in the CA's old movie theater, with Sac Au Lait, an energetic all-male dixieland band. Despite my burrito-stuffed stomach, I enjoyed dancing to "Dinah," "Sweet Sue," "Tiger Rag," and "Honeysuckle Rose." I DJed in between their three sets. The band tended towards either slow, medium slow, or super fast tempo songs. When we weren't too tired to stand up, Bobby and I managed to get a few Peabody dances in amongst Lindy and Bal.

After this weekend, I was exhausted, but happy to be able to dance so much with such a talented and hilarious lead. Thanks Bobby!

Yay dancing!
:) Aba

Tulsa, OK

Tulsa: "O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A, Oklahoma, OK!"  (sung)

Although I'm not really considering living in Tornado Alley, I'll go ahead and state some pros and cons.  And, in fact, I'm in Broken Arrow, OK, not Tulsa.

Pros:

• Cost of living is cheap
• Centrally located
• Moderate climate
• SW Airline City
• Awesome sushi place called "Tsunami" (happy hour roll specials!)

Cons:

• It's Oklahoma.
• Flat, uninteresting landscape
• Buckle of the Bible Belt
• Very little cultural exchange
• Invisible Lindy Hoppers?
• Miniscule Dance Scene 

However, I did meet a guy named Josh Miller here (pictured below) who knows as many, if not more show tunes (in their entirety) than I do!  We had a great time playing "Encore" in the car together on the way to Austin.

Anne (sis), this guy would be good competition for you!

Denver, CO

Denver, CO:  Purple Mountains Majesty

Pros:

• Gorgeous scenery (mountains, yay!)
• Great Airport (Southwest Compatible)
• Good dancing
• Friends 
• Dry weather, blue skies (unless snowing)
• Interesting Downtown
• Possible opportunity to train with a lot of fun dancers

Cons:

• If cold, really cold.
• Isolated from other major cities
• Altitude acclimation (able to overcome)
• Landlocked state
• No family nearby
• Cost of living is moderate
• Limited opportunity to teach

This past weekend I was in Denver, CO for the Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout.  I flew in a day early to hang out with my friend Mike Shroff, a fellow writer from Vanderbilt, who was incidentally visiting a friend of his in Boulder.  After spending 6 hours in the airport (which was fine since I got my NEW MAC! notice "photo booth" picture to right), he picked me up and we spent 18 hours in Boulder before I had to be back in Denver.

I truly enjoyed RMBB.  Mike dropped me off at Caryn's house, a kind and easy-going organizer who housed Nick, David, Denise, Val, Sylvia and me at her home.  She has gorgeous wood floors and a fabulous kitchen.  She and her husband, Eduardo, are incredible cooks, and we all had a comfortable time at her place.  

The event was lots of fun.  Classes were great, and although the band wasn't always on, I enjoyed social dancing in the evenings.  I took a couple of private lessons from Nick Williams, who patiently helped me fill in many fundamental gaps of information I had for balboa and bal-swing.   The privates certainly prepared me for the jack and jill competition...which I won with Patrick Wall!  As one of my first balboa triumphs, I'm excited to know I'm getting better (although competitions are not the best guarantee to understanding progress); I'm at least getting better at competing, which is pretty scary!

Post Script:

Yay for also getting to go shopping with Laura Keat and Nick Peterson, despite the not-so-awesome high waisted skirt at Express with gaudy gold zipper.