Jam Cellar Subject!
I apologize,
Loyal readers, but I'm so exhausted from the All Balboa Weekend that I'm just gonna give the facts today. (And, well, a little note)
BOOM. DJ Naomi Uyama,fresh from her incredible singing with the Boilermaker Band in Cleveland.
Social Move Heaven
(Week 3 of 5) Tonight, we continue our series geared towards incredible lead and follow moves. Ifn' you're an intermediate/advanced dancer, it's for you.
Brooks Teglar will drum and your soul will cry
This guy bases his drumming on that of legends like Gene Krupa and Chick Webb, so you know it's gonna be tight. Glenn Echo, June 27. Presented in cooperation with the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture, Inc., the National Park Service and Montgomery County, MD.
A Quick Note on The Balboa
Recently, I've heard a few people in the "Lindy scene" put down the "Balboa scene." There was a lot of this about five years ago, most focusing on this criticism: most Balboa dancers have a stick up a certain part of their body and are too worried about doing moves and patterns and looking like their teachers and never seem to be feeling the music or are even alive. I stopped hearing these criticisms awhile back, but now I'm afraid it is just because people don't say this stuff to my face now that I teach it.
A few years ago, this criticism made sense, and for totally understandable reasons (the scene was still really young, small, and very few people knew how to comfortably play around with the dance to the extent that they could interpret the music and express themselves). But times are changing, and recent events like this year's All Balboa Weekend are proving that Balboa is doing great work towards destroying that criticism. There were plenty examples this weekend of people dancing in the moment, feeling the music, showing off their own style, and making Balboa look damn near electric.
It makes me hope the recent complaints I've heard are merely the ghosts of old grievances-a first impression the dance has yet to shake off. If you haven't already, I hope you will see some Balboa soon that will make you to say "Damn, that was inspiring."