So, I haven’t posted in a while. To those of you who take the time to read this blog, first of all: thank you. Secondly: my bad for not posting recently. I’m going to try and be better about getting back on the horse, as it were.
Anyway, I’ve recently had a couple of ocassions outside of my normal social dancing to employ what I’ve learned from swing and blues dancing in Boston.
The most recent took place at Johnny D’s, one of my favorite bars in the Boston area. One evening, a friend of mine suggested that I come join him at Johnny D’s. When I asked him what was going on there, I was only given the answer, “awesome things”. So naturally, I had to check it out. When I got there, I was greeted with a pleasant surprise: not only was my friend there, but he was with a mutual friend of ours from back in high school that I hadn’t seen in years! It was great to see her; we’d just unfortunately lost touch over the years. So of course it was fun chatting, catching up, etc. over drinks.
This was on a Friday night, so there was a great funk band playing namely The Amerian Symphony of Soul. Naturally, hearing fun music, I wanted to dance. So I told my friend that I hadn’t seen in many years that we should totally dance. She of course was hesitant, saying that she didn’t know how to dance “like that”. I just smiled and told her that I’d be leading, so anything that went wrong was my fault anyway. 😛 So we inevtiably ended up on the dance floor. And while we danced (blues, which works very well with funk music), we continuted to chat and catch up, and have fun. She was actually a very good follow! 🙂
The American Symphony of Soul got everyone dancing!
So we eventually all decided to head out after having a lovely evening. I later texted both of my friends, saying how great it was to hang out with them. And I got a response from the friend with whom I’d danced that was one of the nicest compliments I’ve received regarding my dancing. She said, “You know, I have never been so comfortable dancing like that…”. I was so glad I was able to make a friend feel comfortable on the dance floor simply by applying what I’ve picked up at social blues and swing dances!
I also had the chance to do some dancing in NYC. A few weeks ago, I was in the big apple to help a good friend of mine celebrate her birthday. 🙂 We eventually ended up at a fun bar near her place, and some dancing broke out. So of course, she and I had to break it down on the dance floor. Her friends were impressed, one of them commenting that I had moves “like Patrick Swayze”. 😛 Dancing definitely made the party more fun, in my humble opinion (and more importantly, the birthday girl seemed to feel that way, as well).
If you’re interested in checking out some Boston blues and/or swing dancing, there are lots of opportunities. There are blues dances at Bluesy Tuesy every Tuesday, swing dancing at MIT every Wednesday, blues dancing at the Blues Union every Thursday, and swing dancing at Boston Swing Central every Friday! They’re all great dances (and they’re easier on your wallet than hitting up the bars). 
dancewithme2 
Great title for this entry! How much do the weekly dance venues cost? Are there refreshments available? If so, what’s the detail? Food? Drink? Alcohol? Your blog makes me wanna go dancin’!!!
The price varies a bit from venue to venue. Bluesy Tuesy is $5 for the introductory lesson, and and additional $5 for the social dance. MIT is free, both for the lesson and the social dance, which I personally love. 🙂 The Blues Union is $5 for the lesson, and and additional $5 for the social dance. Boston Swing Central varies depending on if there are special events, but generally speaking the price is $15, $13 for students and seniors. The cost covers both the introductory lesson and the social dance.
There is always a source of free water at each of the venues; they don’t want anyone to get dehydrated! They don’t serve alcohol, but there are often free snacks, cookies, etc. that people bring, particularly at the Blues Union. Hope this makes you want to go dancing even more!