BlueMoonSwing

This Thursday

Wow, That Was Fast! Seems like we just recovered from our last Blue Moon Swing Dance (and ASDC! and John Lindo!) but here we are again.  This Thursday (that’s in 2 days!), May 3rd.  Location: Rusty’s, 405 E 7th Street (@ Trinity), downtown Austin.

What’s New This Month?

Pro teacher this month is Taletha who’s handling back-to-back Moons, in May and June.  Dance starts at 7.30 for casual warm-up, with a beginner lesson at 8.00 and open dancing from 8.30 on.

As always, everything is on me, except your bar tab. Please consider buying a few drinks so that the establishment loves us.  Under 21 welcome accompanied by a supervising adult.

With just a few weeks to go before the Austin Swing Dance Championships, this is exactly the right time to be swinging it hard at Blue Moon.

At our regular April Blue Moon dance, Thursday, April 5th, our very own “Pawn Star” look-a-like, Johnny Q, will using a hoola-hoop to make you think about your frame in a completely new way. Usual time & place, 7:30 warm up, 8:00 lesson, social dancing from 8:30-midnight.

Lindo in da House!

Then, under special arrangement with ASDC, Blue Moon Swing is proud to sponsor the Early Bird dance on Thursday, April 19th. This is a special Blue Moon mid-month dance specifically to benefit all attendees at the Austin Swing Dance Championships, especially out-of-town dancers who want to get their groove on early. It’s 2 blocks walking distance from the host hotel…and it’s at a bar, which means you can drink.

Like all Blue Moon Swing events, this is completely free. I’ve got it all covered and the only thing you need to pay for is your bar tab.

The best part? Blue Moon called in a few Blue Moon “chips” and is delighted to tell you Mr. John Lindo will come in early be at Blue Moon that evening. Warm up at 7:30, with El Lindo giving a short lesson at 8pm, and then the two of us will alternate as deejays the rest of the evening.

Normally, our Blue Moon dances run until about midnight — with this special dance, however, we’re expecting to keep dancing way past that — depending on how crazy the Texan dancers get, the bar might be kicking us out at closing time at 2am!

In memorial to Whitney Houston — better known as, uh, Whitney Houston –  our March Blue Moon will be dedicated to her. Whitney certainly had the talent and the potential to be ranked on the “Greatest Singers of All Time” list, though her actual achievements were hindered by the influence of Bobby Brown (lesson: women, don’t let a man who’s got less talent than you hold you back!)

Now, Whitney didn’t sing a lot of swing-specific music, but the few that exist are nevertheless gems.

Pro teacher this month is Angel Figueroa.  Dance starts at 7.30 for casual warm-up, with a lesson at 8.00 and then open dancing the rest of the evening.

Upcoming news:

We’ll be adding an extra Blue Moon Swing dance in the middle of April in conjunction with the first annual Austin Swing Dance Championships…a warm-up dance, if you will, Thursday April 19th. I’m happy to say I’ll have  John Lindo coming in as a special guest treat for all you Austin/Houston/SanAntonio swing dancers.

We may be deep into our (not so very) cold Texas winter, but we’re hot, Hot, HOT on the dance floor. Why not start your weekend off right this Thursday by dancing for a few hours with as eclectic a bunch of dancers as ever stepped unto Noah’s Ark? This Thursday (that’s in 2 days!), February 2nd.  Location: Rusty’s, 405 E 7th Street (@ Trinity), downtown Austin.

In memorial to Miss Jamesetta Hawkins, better known as Etta James,  and ranked by Rolling Stone as #22 of the “Greatest Singers of All Time”, we’ll enjoy a few more of her songs this week. Etta died Friday before last,  aged 73, and was one of very few singers to successfully bridge both classic rhythm ‘n blues and rock ‘n roll. And surely only Etta James could have made a B-side single into a hit with I’d Rather Go Blind (trivia: the A-side was Tell Mama).

I and a certain famous WCS dancer I call Mr Spinach had the great pleasure to hear Etta James in concert in ’07 or ’08, and let me tell you: despite the fact that she was frail enough to need to sit on a stool through the entire 2.5 hours, she belted out song after song with the vigor and cuss-word vocabulary of a 20 year old. Wow.

Pro teacher this month is Taletha Jouzdani.  Dance starts at 7.30 for casual warm-up, with a beginner lesson at 8.00 and then open dancing the rest of the evening.

Blue Moon Swing is proud is welcome James Bailey, formerly of Afghanistan, as guest instructor at our first swing dance of the year. Which is to say, this Thursday, January 5th, 2012 (!). Rumors are that James will be teaching his new move, the “Afghan Duck”.

Let’s face it: you’ve been eating like an oinker since November, so what better way to get a fun & healthy start on your 2012 weight loss goals by showing up for a few hours of swing dancing with all your Austin friends?

As always, Blue Moon Swing is completely free, and features a wide (WIDE!) variety of swing music spanning six decades. You know you’ve made it when you swing to Ella *and* Gaga. The fun starts at 7.30

What a great way to work off those three pieces of pumpkin pie and get a start on the holiday festivities!  Blue Moon Swing is holding its annual Santa Swings holiday party this Thursday, December 1st, with special holiday swing music throughout the night. And dancers are invited to wear some small piece of Santa or Elf costumery to match the evening’s theme.

Bring your friends! The weather is perfect for swinging, and this is only venue in Austin to hear classic swing all night long and get your dance on!

The weather has definitely moved into the chilly phase — at least for Texas — and doctors do say the best cure for winter blues is to get out and move, Move, MOVE!  That’s what we’ll be doing this Thursday, Nov 3, as Blue Moon hosts its last dance before Turkey Day. This is your chance to shed a few pounds of dance sweat as a down payment on all the damage you’re gonna do with Turkey and pumpkin pie in a few weeks.

Our guest instructor this month is Taletha Jouzdani, who’ll pick up where she left off the last time she visited us in June.

Dance warmup:  7.30pm

Lesson with Taletha: 8.00 pm

Open dancing including barn Dance : 8.30-midnight

As always, Blue Moon Swing is free for everyone, and under 21 are welcome if accompanied by an adult.

We’re happy to welcome Mike Topel as our guest instructor next Thursday, Oct 6th.

Now that the temperatures are (finally) cooling off, this is a great time to practice your swinging from all the great lessons Mike and the other dance pros in the Austin area have been teaching you all summer long! And to all the folks heading out to Boogie By The Bay for competitions that weekend, we will miss you at Blue Moon Swing but make Austin proud!

Plus, as I’m freshly back from the week-long SOS shag event in Myrtle Beach, I’ve got a lot of rarely heard shag songs that swing. Come take a listen.

Next month: Taletha in November!

With the arrival of September, the summer temps will at least start to become more bearable … and that means more dancing!

Blue Moon Swing kicks off the first dance of the fall with a “welcome Autumn!” dance on September 8th, with special guest teacher Angel Figueroa (www.AngelAndDebbie.com).  Regular dancers will want to note this happens to be the second Thursday of the month, rather than our usual “first Thursday” dance, which made sense not to interfere with everyone Labor Day plans.

We’ll have a quick Taxi dance for beginners from 7.30-8.00 with some more advanced dancer-volunteers on hand to help you out, and then at 8pm Angel will beguile us with his wily sex-pot moves. If you don’t get lucky using these moves, then it’s time for Viagra!

Then from 8.30pm-12.30am an eclectic mix of a wide range of blues, soul, and r&b for you to shake your west coast swing at. I’m expecting some beach shag folk to show up this month, too, as we get ready for the annual Myrtle Beach week-long extravaganza Sept 18-25.

Blue Moon Swing is a completely free dance, so come and enjoy.  Under 21 welcome accompanied by an adult.

We’re honored to welcome multi-UCWDC & World Champ Gary McIntyre as our pro teacher this coming Thursday, August 4th at Blue Moon Swing.   At 8pm, Gary will present his entire lesson focused on “Connection”: how to feel it, give it, and maintain it.   And, of course, as with everything Blue Moon, it’s all FREE.

Let’s also welcome our beginners for whom we have a taxi dance at 7:30 so beginners have some floor time with more advanced dancers (thanks in advance to our volunteer taxi dancers).  Just pure dancing for beginners to smooth the edge off what can feel intimidating to ask for a dance with someone more experienced. They are just regular people who love to dance so much that they volunteered to come early and dance with you!  So take advantage!

Then open dancing from 8.30pm-12.30am to the sweet, sweet sound of classic blues, soul, and r&b .  One of the best parts of our dance is the pros who come out and dance the night away. That’s what makes it fun when there’s a entire range of dance experience on the floor, beginners to pros, everyone simply having a great time.

Note in advance: our September dance will be held Sept 8th (2nd Thurs) due to the Labor Day holiday.  To make up for that slight burp in the schedule, I’m elated to welcome one of the Champion of Champions in the Swing lexicon, Mr. Angel Figueroa as our pro dancer that night.