Boundless Blues

Dear Tucson Blues Dancers,

I am closing down Friday Blues events at the Movement Shala for the time being. I warmly thank everyone who attended and supported the event. But do not worry, Tucson’s social dance scene has a host of other events going on. I highly recommend the following:

Swingin’ Saturdays (West Coast Swing) at Armory Park http://www.swinginsaturday.com/

Warehouse Stomp (Lindy hop) every Friday at the Dance Loft! http://thedanceloft.com/swing.html

Chicago Bar (Blues) free lesson, dance and live music every Tuesday.

Sky Bar Tango on Sundays (4th Ave)

And of course, I recommend classes at the beautiful Movement Shala. http://www.themovementshala.org/

Perhaps the boundless blues events will continue at some future point. Until then, I hope that Tucson blues dancers will continue to find each other and dance as often as they can. I’ll be participating in blues events outside of Tucson, deejaying and teaching in other cities until the right time comes again to organize an event for the Tucson community. Again, I thank everyone who attended and supported the event with their bluesy movement, and I hope everyone continues to dance together in one place or another.

I end the post with a poem on dance from Rumi:

Dance, when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you’re perfectly free.
– Jelaluddin Rumi (13th century)

Thank you everyone who came to our workshops and dances. As it turned out, we had more leads than follows! That’s lucky for Tucson’s followers. Now we have a team of super blues dancers in Tucson armed with dynamic dips, tricks, fluid and fierce movement! Come out next Friday to spot them out on the dance floor.

Here is a video of Mark and I during a dance practice session last night at the Shala. This is completely improvised in the spirit of vernacular blues dance.

I look forward to seeing everyone out on Friday!

I spent this past weekend at the Albuquerque Lindy Exchange. One of the highlights of the event was being able to participate in a Charleston competition to live music, and a room full of enthusiastic dancers. I was so inspired by the energy in the room, and am very glad to have participated. I’m especially grateful to my Tucson crew who got up last minute to join the competition and make it possible. Here is a video of the event:

Beginning Nov. 4th, Friday Blues presents an introductory lesson featuring vintage blues dance. Learn partner and jazz movement inspired from the 1930s and 1940s. This slow, vernacular style of movement, with roots in African dance traditions, will add fluid, strong movements to your blues experience.

Taught by Mija and assisted by Howard, this three-week series will progressively build new skills from week to week. While it can be taken as a drop-in class, we recommend taking the entire series. This class is free and is part of our regular Friday Blues Dance event beginning November 4th.

Here’s a short blues dance film from PortlandBluesDancers on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/user/PortlandBluesDancers#p/a/u/0/vquqYc93mGg

<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px”>

First of all, thanks to everyone who came to Fusion Sundays to support blues dance in Tucson through their dancing. We are off to a great start! I’m thrilled to dance blues again next Sunday, if I can handle waiting until then

In order to cater to a broader part of the blues dance community, I have added a dance on Fridays at the Movement Shala. This dance will begin November 4th, and will be our regular every Friday dance (except for major holidays). Fusion Sundays are continuing this week on October 23rd,  and on November 13th.

I look forward to dancing with everyone again soon on the Shala’s smooth, buttery floors.

A small note, please remember to wear non-marking shoes, and if you are unsure, test them when you arrive.

Hey Friends,

Check out this cute music video made in Istanbul by Istanbul Lindy hoppers. (http://swingdans.com/)

SinCity

Description:

Story of how we find and bump into each other, then loose each other or love by coincidence; how we are distracted and seduced by consumables or others’ charms within the chaos and complexity of modern city. A flaneur within the city and where it leads us by chance. Also a combination of 20’s aura, Charleston, Burlesque, Swing , retro and jazz in today’s setting of consumption, hustles, risks in citylife. Set in Istanbul, where historical views are combined with modern items in daily life already.Mixture of joy, suffer, beauty, dance, loneliness and love and all the things and views that this city gives us.

Credits:

Director&Cinematography: Tuğçe Taçkın
Producer: Tuğçe Taçkın
Secondary cinematography: Bedri Fırat Koçak
Editor: Fuat Sebatli
Camera equipment by: www.artifotograf.com
Bedri Fırat Koçak

Check out this article about Portland’s 2011 Urban Blues Recess event:

A partner-dancing pilgrimage to downtown Portland for the Urban Blues Recess. BY DEVI CHUNG

We forgot to sleep and danced through the night.

—————-

In a cold warehouse, filled with sweaty bodies, we set up our tents and built a city from inspiration. A weekend of exchange, teaching and learning in a community brought together by a shared passion for blues-inspired music and movement. It was a weekend of recess, granting us a break from our daily lives; a time to let go and be creative, the Urban Blues Recess was an event to remember for its people who love to dance.

More here:

http://groovemine.com/article_interview_the-dance-goes-on_urban-blues-recess