Posts Tagged ‘glen echo’
DCLX Report: Day 3
Posted on: April 23, 2012
Well, sorry to say it, but other obligations forced me to miss yesterday’s barbecue as well as the main dance with the Boilermaker Jazz Band. But I did make it to the afternoon dance, so I can tell you about that.
It got rained out! It was supposed to have been at Dupont Circle but it got moved to the annex of the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo instead. All this rain, you’d think I was back home already. A bunch of wet clothes and socks dancing around in a small ballroom made it pretty clammy, but it was still fun.
The high point for me was when the Bitter Dose Combo played “Swing 49″ and right in the middle the vocalist started singing “I Will Survive.” Sang it right through, in fact.
I was deliriously tired anyway, so I’m afraid I was rather giggling like an idiot. My dance partner was nice about it though.
That’s all I have the energy to report right now. If anyone reading this attended the exchange and can add any details I missed, please feel free to comment here, I’d love to hear about it!
(P.S. Oops – I mean “Minor Swing.” I guess I really was delirious. Here’s the video.)
DCLX Report: Day 2
Posted on: April 22, 2012
Bothering celebrities: swinging out with the Father of our Country
Wow. So many good dancers out last night! My head is spinning.
The Band Battle at Glen Echo was incredible, of course. With the Tom Cunningham Orchestra and Glenn Crytzer’s Blue Rhythm Band it couldn’t hardly be otherwise.
But I totally didn’t realize that Meschiya Lake was going to be there! I saw her standing off to one side of the ballroom – you can’t mistake Meschiya for anyone else – and before I knew what I was doing I barged up to her and said, “I didn’t know you were going to be here, I’m totally stoked!!”
She looked at me a little bit like, who the hell is this? And then she smiled, turned her head away slightly and said, “You and me both, sister.” She was so elegant; I felt distinctly like a doofus.
So I decided that as long as I was going around bothering celebrities, I might as well barge up to the lovely and talented Andy Reid and make his day too. I asked him to dance – one of the braver things I’ve done in my life – and we had a very nice time. Or at least I did. With these friendly, cheerful types, you can never really tell, can you? Anyway, he was very gracious.
I saw a couple more celebrities there, but I was too scared to ask them to dance. I did have a whole bunch of really great dances with some non-celebrities, or at least if they were celebrities I didn’t know about it. I tried to get all their names and remember them, and of course I forgot. So thanks, everyone who danced with me, whoever you are. I had a great time!
The downside – everyone was dressed up but me. All the girls were cuted up in their little vintage dresses, and here I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Duh! Must remember to dress up next time.
The Careless Lovers were delightful as always; nevertheless, late-night defeated me once again. Although I did stay until three, so that beats my former record anyway. See you all tomorrow!
DCLX Report: Day 1
Posted on: April 21, 2012
So I survived the first night of the DC Lindy Exchange. I’m pretty tired, though, so I’m just going to brainstorm some observations here, in no particular order:
Glen Echo Park is lovely. It’s an antique amusement park in a woodsy setting; feels just a tad bit like the Oregon Country Fair, but without the nudity.
The dance last night was in the Bumper Car Pavilion, an open-air structure with a wooden floor that would have been just marvelous except it had recently been treated with linseed oil. So it was a bit on the gummy side. Didn’t seem to slow anyone down much – people just wore their second-best shoes and didn’t worry about it. Lots of good energy, and the band – Craig Gildner’s Blue Crescent Syncopators – was swinging in a most respectable manner.
Only saw one other dancer there from Portland, my pal Christina. We’re really just very slightly acquainted, yet we greeted each other like long-lost relatives. Had a fun dance together. But it was kind of embarrassing: here we are, representing the beautiful Rose City, and nary a tattoo between the two of us. In Portland, most people are covered in them from stem to stern, and folks tend to look at you funny if you don’t sport at least two or three.
I always find it amusing, when I travel, to discover that dancers everywhere tend to fall into types. Everyone I dance with turns out to be the exact equivalent of some individual I dance with back home. Someday I’ll have to make up a catalog.
The late-night venue was super chill – a proper ballroom with a very nice floor. Only downside was the huge mirrors everywhere I kept having to avoid being obsessed by. The food was perfect. The band, an organization called Bruce Tegler’s Joy of Sax, featured three saxophones and totally rocked the house.
Even though I tried to pace myself, I’m afraid I did get a little carried away. So I didn’t make it much past two a.m. Maybe I’ll do better tonight. Gonna miss the afternoon dance and tour Mount Vernon instead, but I’ll be back at Glen Echo for the main dance, and I’ll try to go the distance at late-night. Let you know how it goes.
