Shall We Dance?

So--I've been missing Spokane's fantastic dance scene (no joke--Spokane Dance is a quality studio!), and T and I finally decided to start looking for some place to dance in or around the Boston area. After a rather lengthy online search, we found a few near-ish places where we could practice a bit. And last night was our first night out dancing! I still miss Spokane Dance, but it was good to dress up again and put on my (favorite!) dancing shoes to tear it up on a real dance floor. We're both pretty out of practice, but it was still fun :) Then today I dug out all my old dancing notes from undergrad dance classes and private lessons. I took dance lessons for three years at GU and loved every minute of it! Of all the dances, my all time favorite was West Coast Swing. Buddy Schwimmer, one of the greatest swing dancers ever, came to Spokane Dance occasionally for weekend workshops. He is so amazing! I was fortunate enough to have taken a few private lessons with him, and several group lessons. (Here's a video of his son and daughter dancing, followed by a demo of Buddy and his wife. This man can move like you wouldn't believe!) Here is a better video of Buddy and his wife, Laurie (only the first 1/2 of the video). While I remember thoroughly enjoying every minute of the dancing, deciphering my sparse notes on the subject were another matter (even a copious-note-taker like me has a hard time jotting things down while dancing). T was good enough to let me play teacher for a little bit and helped me decode my notes: 'kick-bat-change, kick and press, cross, step, swivel, step, step" (etc, etc, etc) :) So we're enjoying getting back "into the swing of things" (if you will allow the pun) and are looking forward to perhaps taking lessons in the fall. Also, dancing is turning out to be fabulous exercise--I'm sore today in places I never would have guessed! Hopefully between dancing, walking, biking, and yoga I can get back in shape.

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This is Benji and Deborah Szekely in a Jack and Jill competition--I'm pretty sure that these two dances are all lead-and-follow (meaning that they were not rehearsed or choreographed beforehand). So amazing. I want to dance like this when T and I go out (especially the second dance)!! This is Benji and his cousin, Heidi, the most amazing dance partners EVER (also, in 2006, Benji won the SYTYCD competition. And I've actually danced with him!). The video explains it all--this is why I love west coast swing. I want to dance like Heidi; I want Benji to teach T all he knows. Here is another video (the performance before theie first video here). This is Buddy and Laurie Schwimmer, Benji's parents and Heidi's uncle and aunt.