Frankie 95, Part 6: The End

Final day of classes.  I’m very tired at this point.  And all the classes are all levels.

Class 1, 11:00AM-12:10PM:

Chazz Tap

Lance B Charleston

Warren Hayes Lindy Hop

Daniel & Asa Shim Sham

Sing Lim Big Apple

Lennart Jazz Steps

I kinda wanted to take Chazz’s class, but I really don’t like tap.  And I knew I wouldn’t be able to get the Big Apple in a 1-hour workshop (considering I couldn’t get it in 2 1/2 hours of workshops a few years ago).  And the Big Apple workshop was in another building altogether.  So, I took Lindy Hop with Warren from London.  I kinda like taking these classes because they make me aware of the bad habits/things I’m doing wrong that are so horribly basic that they aren’t touched on in upper level classes.  Like the fact that I have too much tension in my right arm.

 

Class 2, 12:30PM-1:40PM:

Catrine Black Bottom

Paul Grecki Peabody

Jerry & Kathy Blues

Sakarias Solo Charleston

Dawn Bhangra

Sing Lim Charleston Stroll

Ryan & Jenny Technique

So many good classes, and an unofficial picnic at Central Park...  I wanted to take Dawn Hampton’s class and Ryan & Jenny’s, but they were both in other buildings and couldn’t overcome my love of the blues.  It was nice, taking this class with what I know now of the blues.

 

Class 3, 2:00PM-3:15PM:

Chester Chester’s Bag of Tricks

Steven Jazz

David Dalmo Instructor’s Choice

Paul Grecki Lindy Hop

After seeing Chester’s performance in the show last night, I really wanted to take his class.  He brings humor into the dance.  He taught us a Savoy Lindy routine, made up mostly of stuff we already knew, but did toss in a few new moves or variations on ones we already knew.  He ran 15 minutes over, in a small, crowded, hot-as-hell dance room, and we loved it (or I did, at least).  It was a good way to end the workshops.

 

Jillian and I went back to the dorm, changed into our outfits for the evening, then hit a Japanese restaurant that she was telling me about.  We weren’t too concerned about the presentation that night, about rediscovering Frankie and Lindy Hop in the ‘80’s, but we managed to make it with time to spare.  The crowd was significantly less, and I didn’t dance much, to my great disappointment.  I tried to push my way through the crowd to be one of the 95 girls Chazz Young would dance with, keeping the tradition of his father dancing with as many girls as he was years old (as soon as I got up to the front, it was over with).  Doing so gave me an amazing front row view of the jam circle right afterwards (so close I nearly got kicked in the head several times).  Then a Shim Sham, where, despite being towards the front, in the middle, I managed to be the only one in the area without a partner and had to weave my way off the floor.  I preordered the videos of the event ($75! And it’s going to go up), and Jillian and I left the dance and the event around 1:00, where we proceeded to crash.