One of the reasons I moved to Chicago was for Chicago summer dance. Dancing to a live band with a fantastic view of the skyline won me over. Hosted by the department of Cultural Affairs, it provides free dance lessons followed by social dancing. The styles vary each night, ranging from swing to salsa, ballroom to Bollywood and beyond. One of my favorite summer dance moments was from a few years ago. It had been
8/16/2015 I’m back. I needed to take a break to work on a few projects. You have to prioritize to spend time on things that will fulfill you. Life is hard and can be a very heavy thing. I just want to encourage you to be kind and to keep moving forward. You don’t know someone else’s story or their journey. The things that pass through their minds, their daily fight, may be hidden from
8/24/14 This will be the final post for my summer apprenticeship with Denita and Desueño this summer, and I am ending on an exciting note. Denita has decided that Mi Bongo, the piece we’ve been working on, will be a duet. It didn’t feel like a great time to push all this new choreography onto the ladies, especially since everyone has been working hard to learn the bachata. Denita saw this as a great opportunity
8/17/14 As we continue to work on the bachata choreography at Desueño practices, I love feeling the steps become more familiar. Unlike Llego, I was able to learn this choreography from the first day it was taught, which makes it much easier to commit to memory. Today Denita added arms to the choreography, so there’s more to think about now. Last week I noticed some funky, broadway-like influences in this choreography. There are cheerful kicks