Boston Blues News: Feb 2017
Julie Brown
Hey blues dancers,
Here's what's going on in the Boston Blues dance scene and beyond!
- Solo & Movement at Bluesy Tuesy with Amy Blank & Julie Brown!
- Whee, Zoom, Boing! at Blues Union Intermediate+ with Jenn Martinez & Forrest Rogers-Marcovitz!
- Second Sun Rising fusion dance on Sunday Feb 12th!
- Intro to Struttin' workshop with Joey Science on Feb 18th!
- Registration is now open for Boston Blend, a blues, Chicago steppin, and swing event!
- Luther "Guitar" Johnson plays at Thunder Road on Feb 10th!
- Jan Marie & the Mean Reds play at Ryles on Feb 18th!
- Amy Kucharik plays at Ester in (Dorchester) on Feb 24th!
- Travel to dance in Nashville, Saratoga Springs, Austin, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Chicago, and more!
Stuff around town
February at Bluesy Tuesy - Solo & Movement
with Amy Blank & Julie Brown
Each week, Amy & Julie will teach an all-levels topic related to solo movement. Check the Facebook group for details each week: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=bluesy%20tuesy
February at Blues Union, Int+ - Whee, Zoom, Boing!
with Jenn Martinez & Forrest Rogers-Marcovitz
Interested in adding dynamic and exciting movement into your dance, but don't want to be too serious? This series will explore moves and techniques around partner momentum, fluid traveling, and axis sharing from a goofball perspective.
Second Sun Rising - Boston’s fusion monthly
Sunday, Feb 12, Extreme Dancesport, Cambridge, MA
Ruth & Mike will be teaching an all-levels lesson from 7 to 8 p.m., and guest DJ David Rose will be DJing the social dancing from 8 to 11 p.m.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1320981134649529/
Intro to Struttin’ afternoon workshop!
with Joey Science, February 18th
Struttin' is a comfortable close embrace Blues dance that is suited to faster Blues music. This workshop is intended for dancers who have had some experience with close embrace dances, but no or very little experience with struttin' itself. If you have more experience, this workshop can still serve as a review course, but will have less new material. There is a 10 student cap, so please register in advance!
https://www.facebook.com/events/405428399848498/
Boston Blend - a Blues, Swing, & Chicago Steppin’ event
April 15th - Cambridge Masonic Temple
Come celebrate Boston’s Blues, Swing, and Chicago Steppin' communities with classes during the day, and catered soul food, performances, and social dancing at night. This year we’ve got more classes, music, and soul food coming up!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1710383252605643/
Earn free dances while spreading the love of blues!
When you dance at a blues bar, music event, or other blues bomb (or if you teach at a local college), bring some blues ambassador business cards to hand out! If people come to dances for their first time with your card, you get in that night for free! Talk to Andrew at Bluesy Tuesy or Julie Brown or Jenn Martinez at Blues Union to get yourself some cards.
Live music where you can go dance!
Stay up-to-date on where people are blues dancing to live music:
Join the Boston Blues Bombers group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/28357446101/
Jan Marie & the Mean Reds at Ryles
Feb 18th - 9pm
Live music! Room to dance! Who could ask for more?!
https://facebook.com/events/242628336180822/
Luther “Guitar Jr.” Johnson at Thunder Road
Friday, Feb 10, doors at 6PM
Tickets $15
Excellent Chicago blues and a nice wood dance floor… We had a blast last time, so let’s do it again!
Official event for the show: https://www.facebook.com/events/1225218684204915/
Watch the Boston Blues Bombers group for info on where/when the dancers will be meeting, or talk to Amy Blank.
Feb. 24 - Amy Kucharik trio at Ester
Feb 24th, 6:30-9:30 (no cover)
There’s just enough room for 1-2 couples to dance while you enjoy dinner at this excellent Dorchester restaurant.
Weekly/ongoing*:
-Mondays at Toad to the White Owls
-Friday at Atwood's to Tim Gearan
-Sunday blues jam at Johnny D’s is no longer at the Causeway Restaurant & Bar, they are planning a move to a new location to be announced in January
-Sunday blues jam at Players sports bar in Rockland MA, 4- 8pm
-Sunday blues jam at Pete’s Grill in Quincy 9-12 on Sunday
*Dancers don’t always go to all of these every week; check Facebook (Boston Blues Bombers group) and ask around to see where folks will be.
Traveling for Dance
Want a learning- and/or competition-focused event?
These events usually have multiple tracks or levels of classes during the day. At night, there’ll be tons of dancing and maybe one or more competitions or performances.
Mo’ Better Blues
Nashville, TN - Feb 17-19
Welcome back to the Music City!! This President’s Day Weekend, February 17th-19th, join us for the third year of Mo’ Better Blues!! 10 incredible instructors from around the nation and world, 3 Track Levels: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and the launch of BluesGeek, our new community driven initiative.
https://bluesdancenashville.org/mo-better-blues/
DanceFlurry
Saratoga Springs, NY - Feb 17-19
The Flurry Festival features social dancing and classes in a mind-boggling wide variety of genres including blues and swing. Bands include the Gordon Webster and Eight To The Bar.
http://www.flurryfestival.org/
Austin Blues Party
Austin, TX - March 3-5
Come to this “big damn party” for great live music, inspiring classes, and a fun and social atmosphere. Also enjoy the pleasant weather of Austin in the springtime!
http://www.austinbluesparty.com/
Steel City Blues
Pittsburgh, PA - March 17-19
Boston always sends a large group to this great workshop and party weekend. There will be lovely leads, feisty follows, wicked workshops, rocking comps, kicking bands, and inspiring dances. Plus, cheap flights!
https://steelcitybluesfestival.com/
bluesSHOUT!
Chicago, IL - April 7-9
bluesSHOUT! is an annual celebration of Blues Dance, striving to bring you the best of the blues dance world every year through classes, competitions, and dances! Several tracks of classes from top-tier instructors, inspiring performances and competitions, excellent live music, and of course social dancing with lots of awesome people!
Montreal Bagel and Blues
Montreal, QC - April 21-24
5 tracks of workshops with la crème de la crème of teachers, including a teacher’s track, 4 social dance nights, amazing bands & Djs, an alternative Fusion room & an open Dj booth Sunday night, an all you can dance buffet and all the bagels you can handle!
https://montrealbagelandblues.wordpress.com/
Looking for more chill, hangin’ out exchanges?
These events don’t have classes during the day; instead they have either dances or non-dancing events around the city that they’re hosted in. The evenings have tons of dancing again, and may or may not include competitions.
Chicago Underground Blues Experience (CUBE)
Chicago, IL - June 9-12
Every year Chicago thrown an enormous city-wide Blues festival in a park. Dancers hang out there and throw late night DJ’ed parties afterward. Where else can you hear artists like Buddy Guy play for free?
https://www.facebook.com/events/348782118833249/
Other events to travel to:
-Check out http://bluescal.com/
The Boston Blues Scene is dedicated to creating a fun, welcoming, & safe environment for everyone:
If you have concerns or want to tell us something, our anonymous feedback form is here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6JBRRK6