New to the forums...

[Dame Swing Kitty]

Hello all!

I just registered a bit ago, and have been browsing for the past hour or so. I've already gotten several PMs welcoming me, so thank you all for the lovely messages!

I'm a Lindy Hopper from Central Washington state. I've been dancing now for a year and a half, and while I dance Lindy Hop almost exclusively, I can also salsa, cha-cha, tango, waltz, balboa, east coast, and charleston.

I dance with two different college clubs in Wenatchee and Ellensburg, Washington, and I make it over to Seattle a couple of times a month to swing in their scene.

I am thoroughly addicted to social dancing, especially swing. Someone on here said something about big band being better than neo-swing, and I agree wholeheartedly! Neo-swing has its place, and is fun to listen and dance to, but the old big band music is the best.

I have a special affinity for blues and jazz--I love to spice it up and slow it down while dancing, and often bring my own CDs to our club meetings to encourage the sexier side of swing.

Billie Holliday is my favorite artist of all time.

I dance exclusively in Bleyers.

I make all my own swing clothes.

I always wear something red when I dance, even if it's just a flower in my hair.

That's a pretty basic rundown of me.

Here's the Wenatchee Valley College's Hepcats website: www.wvchepcats.org. Check out the photo albums (I'm very proud of the pics, as I took all of them!). We're a small town club, and I'm very pleased with the quality of dancers that we put out.

I look forward to talking with all of you!

 

[SalsaGeek]

Hi from Spokane

Welcome to DF. Nice to see a fellow Washingtonian. Do you travel to Spokane to perform or dance? If you do, I will try to find some Swing venues for you. I know they have Swing every Thursday & Sunday. Wish I could Swing better because all I know right now is just some basic EC Swing stuff. I am only good at the Latin stuff right now so I need to take more lessons on Swing and Smooths. Glad to have you on here.

 

[danceguy]

Welcome to DF Dame Swing Kitty! Ah, you said the magic word "Salsa"...I believe you will find many, many friends here.

Sincerely,

SG

 

[Dame Swing Kitty]

Re: Hi from Spokane

Welcome to DF. Nice to see a fellow Washingtonian. Do you travel to Spokane to perform or dance? If you do, I will try to find some Swing venues for you. I know they have Swing every Thursday & Sunday. Wish I could Swing better because all I know right now is just some basic EC Swing stuff. I am only good at the Latin stuff right now so I need to take more lessons on Swing and Smooths. Glad to have you on here.

I have never actually been to Spokane to dance. I've been to Pullman for the Swing Out Nowhere event that occurs as a joint venture between University of Idaho and WSU, but never to Spokane.

East Coast is a good place to start with swinging. It's simple, easy to pick up in just a lesson or two, and gives you a good foundation for the basics of Lindy. We mix it up; our "Lindy" social dancing usually includes some East Coast mixed in...

We're having a huge swing bash the weekends of the 14th and the 22nd in Ellensburg and Wenatchee. The weekend of the 14th we've got two days of workshops as well as live band dances all three nights, all for a cost of $50. Check it out here: http://www.cwu.edu/~swingcats/. If you're free, you should come! Would love to see you!

The weekend of the 22nd is another bash, this time the AppleTown Lindy Championships. This is our second Championship event, and it's a big one! We've got live music, and six hours of competition and dancing. That one's being held in Wenatchee, here's a link: http://www.wvchepcats.org/springout.html. It's actually going until 1am (the website says midnight, but they've recently changed that and seem to have forgotten to update the website).

You're about three hours from us, and I have a friend going to school over there in Spokane who will be coming home for the competition. If he can do it, so can you!

Anyone else within driving distance of these events, come on down!

 

[SalsaGeek]

Re: Hi from Spokane

Driving 3 hours isn't the problem. Heck, I do it all the time since I go to Seattle to Salsa dance whenever I have a chance. The problem is that I don't know how to Lindy. Wouldn't be fun to just sit all night long.

We're having a huge swing bash the weekends of the 14th and the 22nd in Ellensburg and Wenatchee. The weekend of the 14th we've got two days of workshops as well as live band dances all three nights, all for a cost of $50. Check it out here: http://www.cwu.edu/~swingcats/. If you're free, you should come! Would love to see you!

The weekend of the 22nd is another bash, this time the AppleTown Lindy Championships. This is our second Championship event, and it's a big one! We've got live music, and six hours of competition and dancing. That one's being held in Wenatchee, here's a link: http://www.wvchepcats.org/springout.html. It's actually going until 1am (the website says midnight, but they've recently changed that and seem to have forgotten to update the website).

You're about three hours from us, and I have a friend going to school over there in Spokane who will be coming home for the competition. If he can do it, so can you!

Anyone else within driving distance of these events, come on down!

 

[Dame Swing Kitty]

Well, that's the great part about both events...they include lessons!

The one next weekend (the 14th, 15th, and 16th) includes two days of classes and workshops, as well as dances.

The one on the 22nd also includes a lesson before the dance kicks off. That one would be great for you to come to, especially if you came to the workshops, because you could practice even more what you'd learned, and get a chance to see the pros do it...

Think about it...

 

[Sagitta]

Welcome to df!! And while you encourage us to swing I'd like to put in a good word for rueda. This is salsa in a circle and is loads of fun. Try it out sometime.

 

[Dame Swing Kitty]

Welcome to df!! And while you encourage us to swing I'd like to put in a good word for rueda. This is salsa in a circle and is loads of fun. Try it out sometime.

I love to salsa...the problem is there just isn't much of a salsa scene around here. The only time I really get to salsa is with my favorite partner, who is a dance fanatic. He's our swing instructor, and plays as much latin music as he can get away with during our swing club. That's really my only opportunity to salsa.

 

[squirrel]

welcome, Dame Swing Kitten! Hope to exchange as many ideas as possible with you!
I don't swing, but I sure SALSA!

 

[pygmalion]

Hi Dame Swing Kitty. Welcome. Check out the swing forum. There are lots of great topics there that you might find interesting. DOn't talk to dnice about the Bleyers, though. :wink: :lol: (Check out the swing clothes thread to see what I mean. It's a long thread, but has lots of fun tips. )

Welcome.

 

[tj]

Re: Hi from Spokane

Welcome to the forums, Dame Swing Kitty!

Driving 3 hours isn't the problem. Heck, I do it all the time since I go to Seattle to Salsa dance whenever I have a chance. The problem is that I don't know how to Lindy. Wouldn't be fun to just sit all night long.

Jeez, SG, you don't drive here and back in a single night, do you? You can crash on my couch if you want!

On a related note, three of my friends will drive up to Vancouver and back on the occasional Monday night. I dunno - 6 hours of driving for 3 hours of dancing isn't really worth it for me...

 

[Genesius Redux]

Billie Holliday is my favorite artist of all time.

Hi Dame Swing Kitty--welcome to df! And I'd also like to compliment you on your very good taste in vocalists. (Though BH seems a little on the dark side to swing to!)

Cheers,

Genesius

 

[pygmalion]

Oh yeah. That's "my man done left me," music. Must drink cognac and smoke something in a long, slinky holder.

 

[SalsaGeek]

Re: Hi from Spokane

Oh, thanks for the offer tj. I have family and friends in Seattle so finding a place to sleep isn't a problem. Next time when I go to Seattle I will let you know so we can have a little DF get together.

Welcome to the forums, Dame Swing Kitty!

Driving 3 hours isn't the problem. Heck, I do it all the time since I go to Seattle to Salsa dance whenever I have a chance. The problem is that I don't know how to Lindy. Wouldn't be fun to just sit all night long.

Jeez, SG, you don't drive here and back in a single night, do you? You can crash on my couch if you want!

On a related note, three of my friends will drive up to Vancouver and back on the occasional Monday night. I dunno - 6 hours of driving for 3 hours of dancing isn't really worth it for me...

 

[tj]

Re: Hi from Spokane

Oh, thanks for the offer tj. I have family and friends in Seattle so finding a place to sleep isn't a problem. Next time when I go to Seattle I will let you know so we can have a little DF get together.

Ok, good! I'm usually at the Century on either Thursday or Saturday, depending on what's going on that particular week.