Immediately upon returning home I had rehearsals with Nathan Bugh, Michael Jagger and students from Dance Manhattan for a yearly celebration of dance at The Ulster County Performing Arts Theater. This was the 4th year for us to perform in this show which brings together all styles of dance. We had a great show and it's always a privilege to share the stage with other professionals like Daniel Ulbricht and Erica Pereira of the New York City Ballet!
I resumed regular classes at Dance Manhattan for the month of April which you can see on my calendar. I had an exceptionally good time with my Thursday 8 o'clock Lindy Hop class and all my ladies in Belly Dance.
On April 9-11, Michael and I taught at The Hawkeye Swing Festival. I had so much fun with the folks of the mid-west. People drove in from all over. There were more than 300 folks! And most of them were college students! I was floored by the Collegiate Jitterbug Contests. The Team Division had 10 entries! One thought: STAR WARS. Oh I wish I had a video link to that one.
I guess the next really big thing that happen was just last week. Michael and I taught for another 5 day session at Glenmont Elementary School. Thanks to everyone's support and regular voting, we won the Pepsi Grant of $25,000 which is paying for 2 more weeks of Swing classes in the school with live musicians every day, plus a dance at the end of the week. I can't even begin to list all the little light bulbs that have been turning on for these K-5th grade students. The most significant lesson learned is about communicating with their dance partners and with the musicians. We talked a lot about call and response using examples like singing "T'aint What You Do, It's The Way That You Do It", using the Pushes step that Frankie Manning always called out in the Shim Sham, and of course, watching and imitating dance steps. The whole experience has been beyond anything I could have expected. I want to send a huge thank you to Bill and Livia Vanaver who, through the Vanaver Caravan, sent me and Michael to Glenmont in the first place. Another thank you to Peter Rawitsch and Valerie Falco and all the faculty at Glenmont who support this dance education. And how could I forget, Alan Thomson's Little Big Band who worked with us everyday!
So life goes on and continues to be busy and wonderful. Underneath the work, which I am always grateful for, I struggle with finding my true wants and goals. I am often confused and pulled by others to carry out their passions, which usually gives me great joy. But now in my 29th year of being on this earth, I'm coming to question what it is I really want to focus on. I guess I'm feeling the magnitude of my accomplishments thus far and now I want to carefully choose what I do with the skills I've developed. As soon as I know more, which may take a while, I will write more.
