Those Weeknight Dances

Generally speaking, very few things bother me about the social dances I regularly attend. They’re a ton of fun, the people are friendly, and it’s much cheaper than going to a bar. There is one not-so-great thing that stands out to me, though: the times of these dances. Or more specifically, the days they fall on. The majority of social blues/swing dances in Boston fall on weekday nights. In other words, evenings where most people have to get up early to go to work the next day. And I find this to be a bit of a drag.

As I’m sure this blog makes abundantly clear, I love going out and dancing. If I could do it most nights a week, I probably would. But sadly, anytime I attend a dance that is not on a Friday or Saturday, I then pay the price the next day in the form of fatigue from staying out relatively late. (And it doesn’t help that caffeine and I don’t get along). Don’t get me wrong; I never regret going out to dance. But it does sometimes make the next day at work (or school, for some) a bit of a struggle, particularly in the morning.

Mmm, this chair is awful comfy…zzzzzzz…

This of course begs the question: why are some many of these social dances on weeknights? I actually don’t know of a regular blues or swing dance that occurs on Saturdays. I find this rather odd, as one would think Saturdays would be one of the prime-time dance nights. Of course, it could be that there is such a dance, and I’m simply not aware of it.

But whatever the case, I find it odd that so many social dance activities (both dances as well as classes) occur on nights when most people can ill afford to be out late, even if it’s for something as awesome as dancing. Of course, it can be done, but that next day can be brutal.

I guess I simply wish there was more regular social dancing on the weekend. That being said, I love all the dances that happen during the week. It’s just too bad I can’t generally make it to said dances because of that silly “having to get up in the morning” thing. 😛 But if you’re one of those people who doesn’t need sleep, head out to the dance floor! Know that you’ll have an awesome time, and also that I’ll be jealous.

If you have any thoughts, questions, or experiences of your own you’d like to share, feel free to post a comment! I’d love to hear what you have to say!

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! 🙂

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Sweet Molasses Blues!

As I mentioned in my last post, this past weekend, July 26-28, was the Sweet Molasses Blues Exchange in Boston. My friends got me a weekend-long pass as a grad school graduation gift. So I spent most of this past weekend at Sweet Molasses. And it was awesome!

I wasn’t able to make it on Friday, missing the dance and late-night dance that evening. But come Saturday morning, I was there. Throughout the entire day were classes designed to improve one’s blues dancing and teach them new moves. I was in the “beginner/intermediate” track, which was appropriate for my skill level. It was a bit of a misnomer though, as there was no class track for complete newbies.

Doing classes all day was fun, albeit tiring. Not only physically, but mentally as well. Focusing intensely on anything for 5+ hours can be tiring. Add into that the physical demands of blues dancing, and you’ve got yourself a pretty intense day! Time flew during the classes though, thanks in no small part to the excellent instructors doing the teaching. Instructors I had the pleasure of learning from included Julie Brown, Shawn Hershey, Joy Arico, and Jered Morin. If you ever get the opportunity to learn from and/or dance with any of those amazing folks, don’t miss it!

Each night there was a main dance that went from 8pm or so to about 11pm. But dancing certainly didn’t stop there. After the main dance, a late-night dance started each evening at someone’s loft in Chinatown. I’d say there was over 100 people dancing (and sweating profusely) in this one small apartment. But despite the crowding and the ridiculous heat of the room, it was still a ton of fun. 🙂 One thing that was kind’ve cool was you could often tell by how people danced who had been able to attend the classes that day, and who hadn’t been able to attend. And of course, I got to implement some of the stuff I learned in the classes, which was a great feeling.

Another aspect of Sweet Molasses that was really cool was how many people were there, both in the form of local dancing regulars, and people who came from hours away to take part in this fantastic weekend. I saw people who hadn’t been able to make it out to a dance for months, which was great. I had a wonderful time getting to reconnect with folks like that. I also met a lot of cool new people, coming from places like Providence, Rhode Island to Vermont. And I got to hear about the dance scenes in these other places, which was really interesting.

I’m now really excited to (hopefully) hit up the Blues Union this week, and put into action all the fun, cool stuff I learned at Sweet Molasses! I find there are few things as gratifying as being able to see and feel your own improvement on the dance floor. And I was able to do just that at Sweet Molasses, and I’m sure I will again the next time I hit a blues dance floor. 🙂

If you have any thoughts, questions, or experiences of your own you’d like to share, feel free to post a comment! I’d love to hear what you have to say!

Meeting Friends and More

Blues dancing is a great way to socialize and make new friends. You meet lots of new people who also enjoy dancing and having a good time. And not only is this a great way to make new friends, but you may even find someone you’re interested in as more than friends. In fact, my best friend met his girlfriend through blues dancing. And they still attend blues dancing almost every week. When they’re not being super lame and staying home. 😛

That is, of course, not the point of going to blues dancing. The point is to simply go and have fun. You don’t want to go for the express purpose of meeting someone to date, as chances are, you will be disappointed. But you never know. As with meeting new friends, when you meet someone at blues dancing, you already know you have something in common: you both like to dance. And it’s certainly nice to ask someone out already knowing that you have at least one interest in common.

All that being said, it’s generally frowned upon to ask someone out AT a blues dance, though there are of course always exceptions. Generally, after meeting someone at a blues dance, if you’re interested in them, you ask them out at some point outside of the blues dance. That way, the dance venue isn’t turned into a bar-type scene where people go in the hopes of getting someone’s number or anything like that.

If you have any thoughts, questions, or experiences of your own you’d like to share, feel free to post a comment! I’d love to hear what you have to say!

Straight-Up Dancing

One thing I’ve found I like about general social blues dancing is that it’s not at a bar or club. Meaning that they don’t serve alcohol, which I’ve actually come to like.

…No, seriously.

That is not to say I have any kind of problem with alcohol. I don’t. I’ve certainly been known to enjoy a drink or two…or ten…on occasion 😛 . And most social dancing venues I’ve been to allow people to bring their own alcohol if they so desire. But since the place isn’t serving alcohol, nobody goes to these venues who are interested in spending the evening drinking instead of dancing. And it makes for a very safe-feeling space. Nobody really has to worry about anybody else being inappropriate or sketchy (though there is the rare exception every now and then), as most people who act that way need the aid of alcohol to do it. And so people allow themselves to open up a bit more than in other social venues, which makes for a very fun time, in my opinion.

It’s a different kind of fun, if you will, than you generally have a clubs and bars. Not necessarily better or worse, just different. And sometimes just doing something new and different is fun for that very reason. 🙂 And you also meet new kinds of people, which is a great deal of fun. It’s just interesting to see how a night out goes without alcohol acting as a social lubricant. But you find that it’s not really necessary; conversation acts as a great social lubricant all on its own.

Again, nothing against alcohol. It’s helped me have many a good time, and will continue to do so, I’m sure. But it’s fun every now and then to take it out of the equation, and see what happens. 🙂

If you have any thoughts, questions, or experiences of your own you’d like to share, feel free to post a comment! I’d love to hear what you have to say!

Quick Update

Hello all. Just to let you know, the update schedule of this blog is changing. For the foreseeable future, I think I’m going to do new entries once a week, on Fridays, as opposed to the weekly Tuesday and Thursday entries I’ve been doing. What with school starting up again, it just makes much more sense. If you have any thoughts, stories or ideas for blogs, I’d love to hear from you via comment! Thanks! 🙂

Blues With Friends

One of the things I love about the blues dance I go to is not only that I get to have a great time dancing. It also allows me to see my best friend each week, if only for a few hours. As time has gone on, since my friends and I have graduated from college, it has become harder to see each other on a regular basis. Everyone has different schedules, and lives in different areas, etc. It’s something that requires effort, as opposed to living within a few blocks of one another within a single town. But by finding an event that is planned each week, it ensures that we get to see each other. And we get to hang out and talk when we take a break from dancing (and trust me, you do…dancing gets tiring after a while!)

That’s one of the reasons I always encourage all of my friends to come and check out the blues dance at the Blues Union. Not only would they get to discover the fun that you get to experience in blues dancing, but it would be a great way for us to be able to hang out together on a regular basis.

This certainly isn’t exclusive to blues dancing. By having something that you do regularly with your friend, you ensure that you stay in touch. And that’s a great thing, because losing touch with someone can be all too easy, even if they’re not very far away. And for me, that thing has been blues dancing, though I don’t think it’s been the deciding factor of whether or not I stay in touch with someone. Even so, it’s nice to know that there are some friends that, even if we’re both busy for weeks or months, I’ll see every week on the dance floor. 🙂

If you have any thoughts, questions, or experiences of your own you’d like to share, feel free to post a comment! I’d love to hear what you have to say!

Back Next Week

Hello all. As you may have noticed, I haven’t put up the normal entries this week. I’ll be on hiatus this week. I plan to be back on the normal schedule next week. Of course, I do still plan to be at the Blues Union tonight for their dance tonight. Keep dancin’!