Boston Blues News: February
Julie Brown
Hey, blues dancers!
Sorry for the newsletter being a tad late. Here's what's happenin' in the Boston Blues scene and beyond this month!
- Solo with Sarah Elise at Bluesy Tuesy!
- Performing for your partner, an audience, and yourself with Ruth Evelyn & Mike Legenthal at Blues Union!
- Special performance at Blues Union on Feb 11!
- Blues Union intermediate classes are now renamed Intermediate-plus!
- Boston Blend--a blues, swing, and steppin' event--happening Sat, April 9th!
- Amy Kucharik & Friends with Benefits playing at Sally O'Brian's on Feb 14th, plus their new music video premiere!
- Travel to dance the blues in Pittsburgh, Austin, Chicago, Montreal, and more!
February at Bluesy Tuesy - Solo Solo Solo!
with Sarah Elise
Although Blues as we do it today is a partnered dance, it's also a blast to rock out on your own! Come to Tuesy this month to get your body movin’, and learn how the skills you use for solo dancing can be incorporated into your partnered connection.
February at Blues Union - Performing the Blues (For your Partner, an Audience, and Yourself!)
with Ruth Evelyn & Mike Legenthal
Blues is all about story telling. Explore the differences that your movement qualities make in the way your story comes across. We will goosh, zoom, whirr, and maybe even ka-chah!
**If you’ve taken 6 months or more of blues classes at Blues Union or Bluesy Tuesy, you can take the intermediate-plus classes at Blues Union. Alternately, you can do a blues interview with Jenn or Julie at the Blues Clinic.
Blues Union Intermediate lessons, now Intermediate-Plus!
For awhile now, the “intermediate classes” have offered material for blues dancers at a level intermediate and above, so we’re changing the name to better match that! In other words, these classes will still be appropriate and challenging for dancers who are intermediate, advanced, or anywhere in between. Just a new name :)
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.
Boston Blend - a blues, steppin’, and swing event
Saturday, April 9th - Boston, MA
This month we’ve announced a new day-long dance gala with classes by an out-of-town instructor, performances, dinner, and a dance to a live Soul band. Blend’s goal is to get dancers from various communities around town to get to know each other - including Swing, Chicago Steppin’ and Blues!
https://www.facebook.com/events/195479740787422/
Live music where you can go dance!
Amy K & Friends with Benefits - Sunday, February 14: Dance away your Valentine’s Day blues at Sally O’Brien’s with Amy Kucharik & Friends With Benefits. They’ll be celebrating the release of their new music video for “The Noncommittal Love Song,” featuring several Boston dancers.
https://www.facebook.com/events/516169055229718 /
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/
Weekly/ongoing:
-Mondays at Toad to the White Owls
-Americana Mondays at PA's Lounge
-Friday at Atwood's to Tim Gearan
-The Sunday blues jam at Johnny D’s is moving, stay tuned for new location
-Sunday evenings after 9, there’s a jam at the Cantab Lounge in Central Square.
-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.
Blues+Swing Dancing in Western MA!
Hogan Student Center, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
Practice every Sunday - regular meetings of the blues & swing dancing group that meets every Sunday at 8pm. There will be a sign pointing out the exact room.
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.
Steel City Blues
Pittsburgh, PA - March 4-6
Boston always sends a large group to this great workshop and party weekend. Plus, cheap flights!
http://steelcitybluesfestival.com/
https://www.facebook.com/events/874774039245822/
Austin Blues Party
Austin, TX - April 1-3
Come on home to Texas and enjoy Austin in the springtime. Experience the biggest damn party around!
http://www.austinbluesparty.com/
BluesSHOUT!
Chicago, IL - April 14-18
Check out the biggest Blues exchange going! People come from around the world, there are tons of great classes, bands, performances, and competitions!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1504266406539470/
Montreal Bagel and Blues
Montreal, QC - April 21-24
Come to Montreal for the bagels, the blues dancing, and more! 5 tracks of workshops (including a teacher track), 4 social dance nights, and all the bagels you can handle.
https://montrealbagelandblues.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/events/381546925365364/
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.
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