dance

Swing For Scrap: A Scrap Exchange Fundraiser Dance, November 19, 2011

Can't find a good photo of the floor, but here is the lovely ceiling!

On Saturday, November 19, 2011, I will be DJ’ing at the Swing and Scrap Fundraising Dance, a DJ swing dance to benefit the Scrap Exchange. From their website: “The Scrap Exchange is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote creativity, environmental awareness, and community through reuse. We collect materials from hundreds of individuals, businesses, industries, and municipal sources and distribute those materials through our retail store in Durham, North Carolina as well as through workshops, parties, and outreach events across the Southeast.”

This dance will be held at Duke Gardens in the Doris Duke Center, which has the most beautiful inlaid wood floor in the Triangle – I’ve been dying to dance on it!

The details:

7:00 p.m. Beginner East Coast Swing lesson with Jason Sager

8:00 – 11:30 p.m. Swing dance to music provided by DJs Chris Owens and Laura Windley

Tickets are $12, or $10 for Scrap Exchange Friends Club members and also members of the Triangle Swing Dance Society, Carolina Dance Club, or the Piedmont Swing Dance Society. Tickets are available at The Scrap Exchange, 923 Franklin St., Bays 1 and 2, Durham (behind Golden Belt) or online (with a small processing surcharge) at http://swingforscrap.eventbrite.com/.

The Scrap Exchange will provide snacks and drinks, and have dance bags and other goodies for sale. Raleigh Rolfing will offer short bodywork sessions in exchange for donations.

For more information, call (919)688-6960 or email scrapdance@yahoo.com.

Eastern Balboa Championships 2011

This weekend, November 3-6, is the Eastern Balboa Championships, the epic Balboa workshop and competition weekend that takes place in Raleigh, NC every year. I’m pleased to be a part of the DJ roster again this year, along with head DJ Kyle Smith, DJ Kristy Milliken, and DJ Abigail Browning. I am also excited to be a featured vocalist with Russ Wilson’s Nouveau-Passe Orchestra on Saturday night.

On Saturday, I have made arrangements with the Raleigh Vintage Collective to have a trunk show at EBC from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. that will feature clothing and accessories for men and women from the 1920’s, 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s. This is an exciting prospect because everything offered will be era-appropriate for swing dancing! Lindy Shopper will be reporting, of course.

Closed Doors, Open Windows, and Starting a New Band

In light of recent events and a lot of questions from friends and fans, I feel the need to clarify a few things. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Atomic Rhythm All-Stars bandleader, George Knott, terminating my involvement with the band as the vocalist and as the marketing person for the band. My involvement was terminated over a dispute regarding intellectual property rights. As of two weeks ago, I will no longer be performing with the Atomic Rhythm All-Stars and have been removed from all future performance dates.

I’d like to thank those of you who have been supportive of me during this time. It’s tough to pour your heart and soul into a project for three years, use your contacts to obtain gigs for the band, invest time and effort into developing an online presence and fan base, share in the joys and woes of being part of a band, and see something you got into on the ground floor grow and flourish, only to have your efforts and talents be deemed unnecessary.

To borrow from lyrics, the song is ended, but the melody lingers on…after hearing the news, my friends expressed that I should start my own band. I discussed this with my husband, trombone player and arranger Lucian Cobb, who is leaving the Atomic Rhythm All-Stars as well, and we both decided that we love this music too much to stop playing it. As our options for joining other bands as regular members are non-existent in Raleigh/Durham, we will be forming our own group to play 1920’s, 30’s, and 40’s jazz, featuring Lucian’s arrangements from Atomic and many more new arrangements. We will also need a band name, equipment, ideas for songs, a book, a website, and gigs, among other things I’m sure we haven’t considered. It’s hard to start all over again, but, hopefully, we will continue our dreams of playing vintage jazz music and share the joy of this music through a different conduit.

We already have a gig on the books for next year and are accepting gigs for dates in March 2012 and beyond. Thank you to everyone who has faith in my abilities as a vocalist, organizer, and business-woman. I look forward to performing for you again!

Looking Good But Feeling Bad: The Choreography Begins

On October 27, 2011, I will begin teaching a four part workshop series for Hot Club of Durham of a routine I choreographed to Fats Waller’s “Looking Good But Feeling Bad.” I created this routine as a submission for the 2012 Hawkeye Swing Festival’s choreography contest and hope to submit a video of the class doing the routine in time for the December 15 deadline to enter the contest. Please join me, this routine is going to be super fun!

Dates for the workshop series:

October 27
November 10
November 17
December 1

All classes will run from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Trotter Building, 410 W. Geer St., Durham, NC. The cost is $40 for all classes and $32 for students; otherwise, $12 per drop-in or $8 for students. The price includes admission to the Thursday night Hot Club dance.

RSVP to the Facebook invite at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=182285021853650

Jammin’ on the James 2011

The Blue Crescent Syncopators are playing the Saturday night dance at Jammin' on the James

This weekend I will be traveling to Richmond, Virginia to DJ and sing at this year’s Jammin’ on the James, Richmond’s annual swing dance workshop weekend, featuring instructors Carla Heiney, Nick Williams, Casey Schneider, and Mike Faltesek.

I’ll be sharing DJ duties with Bill Speidel and hopefully grab some time to go vintage shopping with this infamous sartorialist. I’ve been invited to share the stage for the first time with Washington, D.C.’s Blue Crescent Syncopators, so I will be singing a few tunes with this band on Saturday night. It’s also my birthday this weekend, so there’s a lot to look forward to at Jammin’ on the James!

RDU Rent Party: Glenn Crytzer Takes the Cake Edition, October 13, 2011

Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators played for the Gatsby Edition Rent Party last year and burned it down, so RDU Rent Party is honored to be hosting Glenn on his birthday and would like to cordially invite you to attend and help us celebrate in style.

We will be providing a cookie cake and beverages, you provide the energy. Feel free to bring other refreshments and let’s make sure and give Glenn an unforgettable birthday!

In preparation for the Eastern Balboa Championships, Chris & Holly Owens will be teaching Balboa for the Intermediate and Beginner lessons. Bring your slick shoes and canning wax.

This Rent Party will be held at the Trotter Building in lieu of/collaboration with the normal Thursday night Hot Club of Durham festivities.

The Trotter Building
410 W. Geer St.
Durham, NC

Admission is pay-what-you-can with a suggested $10 donation.

7:00 p.m. – Intermediate Balboa lesson
8:00 p.m. – Beginner Balboa lesson
9:00 p.m. – Birthday boy takes the stage and plays until midnight

Pink Renaissance: A Jazz Affair

This Friday, September 23, 2011, I will be performing with the Al Strong Quartet +1 as a dancer at Pink Renaissance: A Jazz Affair. This concert is a fundraiser sponsored by the Kappa Alpha Alpha Sorority and the money raised will go to scholarships. The concert will feature some early jazz tunes, to fit the Harlem Renaissance theme, and will feature the dancing of local swing dancers, including myself, performing Lindy Hop, Balboa, Charleston, and Blues dancing to the music performed by the band.

The event runs from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and will also feature heavy hors d’oeuvres and an amazing cake created by Gregory Bingham of The Art of Cake.

UNC- Chapel Hill, Sonja Haynes Stone Center Theater
150 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC

For more information visit the Kappa Alpha Alpha web site.

Big Apple Workshop with The Carolina Fascinators and Atomic Rhythm All-Stars at TSDS, September 10, 2011

This Saturday, September 10, 2011, The Carolina Fascinators will be holding a workshop to teach the second half of the Big Apple – the second half of that famous jazz routine that just doesn’t seem to stick. The workshop will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Triangle Dance Studio, 2603 S. Miami Blvd. in Durham, NC. Cost is $20. For more details, visit The Carolina Fascinators’ website.

If you missed the first half, Hot Club of Durham will be teaching a workshop on the first half of the Big Apple on Thursday, September 8 at 7:00 p.m. Details at http://www.hotclubofdurham.com.

Also on September 10, the Atomic Rhythm All-Stars will be performing at the Triangle Swing Dance Society dance at the Carrboro Century Center in Carrboro, NC. The band plays from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Details at http://www.triangleswingdance.org.

Jazz Age Lawn Party 2011

Two weekends ago flew to New York City to attend the Jazz Age Lawn Party, bandleader Michael Arenella‘s 1920’s themed event held on August 20 and 21, which is a rare opportunity for dancers to spend the day dancing entirely to 1920’s music, while picnicing on the picturesque Governor’s Island. The dance floor was crowded, but I managed to get some dancing in, per the video below and this Flickr video. I also had the pleasure of being photographed by DNAInfo.com and by Bill Cunningham of the New York Times!

Atomic Rhythm All-Stars at Motorco Music Hall, September 3, 2011

The Atomic Rhythm All-Stars return to the stage at Durham’s Motorco Music Hall, located in the thriving Central Park District near Fullsteam Brewery and Geer Street Garden, and is the unofficial food truck Mecca of Durham. Spend your Labor Day Saturday night at this great concert venue and bar, with live hot jazz and delicious food you can bring into the building. The show runs from 8:00 p.m. to 11 p.m. and the cover is $10.00 – I’ll let you know as soon as I know!