Commentary
On Saturday, March 30, 2019, I presented my exposé about dance as protest at the American Studies Conference at Fairfield University. I showed and discussed various examples such as competing tea dances during the revolutionary period, Native American Ghost Dancing of the 19th century, free-speech dancing at the Jefferson Memorial in 2011, and subway platform dancing in New York City in 2011.
Yesterday, we had a really fun Valentine’s West Coast Swing night in Norwalk, CT. There were about 35 dancers and I taught a beginner and intermediate class. In the beginner class we focused on Sugar Pushes, Right Passes, Left Passes, and Whips. The intermediate class focused on the follower’s inside turn, becoming comfortable with using basic moves to get to closed position, and head loops. This class was centered around training the leaders to utilize closed position to create connection and empathy with their followers, and it gave the followers an opportunity to create a moment when they resolved the movement in open position.
On February 9, 2019, Christina Dufour and I were invited to teach partner dancing at the Sweetheart Ball at the Stepping Stones Children Museum in Norwalk, CT. We had five classes full of children and their parents, who participated in group movement, partner dancing, and freestyle dancing.
We had an excellent first West Coast Swing class of 2018. There were thirty dancers for the beginner class, which learned how to do the Sugar Push, Right Side Pass, and Left Side Pass. We had numerous regulars and a handful of newcomers.
2017 was an incredible year. We had great development and large turnouts. While I was involved with personal challenges, the dance community came together in a way that develops faith in humanity.
The first West Coast Swing class in Norwalk, CT started strongly on January 5, 2017. We had many new attendees and even more regular dancers.
2016 was transformative year. In January, I celebrated my 10th anniversary for teaching West Coast Swing in Connecticut. I was so surprised that a decade had passed to quickly. So much had happened and I had met so many people. All thanks to dance.
January 2016 started very well: we had new people in our Salsa, Hustle, and West Coast Swing classes, and we completed our 4th annual Dancing New Year's Eve CT event in Stamford, CT. But, it was the celebration of teaching in Connecticut for 10 years that made the beginning of 2016 so sweet.
2015 was a great year! Our year started in a new location in Norwalk, Dance Dimensions at 15 Cross Street. This new location was twice the size of the former studio and took the West Coast Swing, Hustle, and Salsa dances into the 21st century. A new dance floor really helped our big dance classes. The dance events we attended as a community brought everyone together and Dancing New Year's Eve CT was a success once again. Even Charlotte made great strides (literally).
We had an excellent set of Week 1 classes for Salsa, Hustle, and West Coast Swing in Norwalk, CT. We had newcomers in all 3 of these dances and continue to have over 30 people in our beginner West Coast Swing class.
