I love Italy and every time I go there I can’t remember why I haven’t already picked up and moved!
Kevin and I left Wednesday for Italy for the 2nd year of Swing, Brother Swing in Bologna, Italy. When we arrived in Italy, we were greeted by a driver who spoke little English, but enough to get us to his gorgeous Mercedes-Benz. It was a very luxurious car considering it was picking up scrubby swing dancers (oh the irony)!!
The event was held at the same place as the year before so we knew the lay of the land. We asked for a room on the first floor somewhere above the reception desk. Why would we specify that? Because that is where the internet was and that’s exactly where we wanted to be…..where we could get excellent reception. We headed up to the room to unpack and shower. After that I headed to the spa to get my legs waxed (if you’re a boy you probably sneered at that) and Kevin did whatever boys do when they are alone….nap!
Side note: Getting stuff waxed in other countries has always been quite an experience. Most often this is because I don’t speak the local language, but also because the type of wax and the application is unique to each country (or has been in my experience).
Teaching classes was fun, as it always is when half the camp doesn’t speak English. We had translators for some of our classes but one of them wasn’t a dancer, so I am sure some of the things we said didn’t translate well, word-for-word. We did, however, had amazing microphones. I think these were the best microphones we’ve ever worked with. They were thin, nude colored, had no ball on the end, and had a teeny tiny chord connected to a small box. It was the smallest one I’ve ever used and was the clearest. I was thinking about trying to find some to buy so I had my own personal mic when I travel, but that sounds a tad silly.
A few months before while I was thinking up names for the classes, I got a little crazy. In the States, the sillier the name, the better the attendance (er…sometimes), but in Europe, the humor doesn’t translate and it doesn’t sound like we are teaching anything useful. After getting to camp I remembered that Italy has a very new scene all things considered and that basic classes would have been extremely helpful. I’ll remember that for next year. 😀
The aerial classes Kevin and I taught were noteworthy. We had large numbers, but most of them didn’t dance any lindy hop. We started with an A-frame on the first day and when we showed how to dance in and out of the move, most people asked what that thing was we did. The aerials and tricks weren’t supremely difficult, but most of the questions we got were about the dancing before and after the move. Yet, that being said, I didn’t see most of those faces in the other lindy classed. Now thinking back on it, the memory makes me giggle.
On Friday night we did the teacher demo and it was solid. Kevin & I, Joseph & Trisha, Joel & Jessica, and Ron & Rusty performed The Big Apple live to the Nine Pennies. It was pretty awesome. The next night were the teacher demos. I did a fan dance, Chaz and Rusty did a tap number, and Kevin and I did a social demo. I think that is “top five” favorite demos I’ve done. 😀
On Sunday there was the Showcase competition and this year there was lindy hop! Well, there was lindy hop last year, but it wasn’t hte primary dance. As I recall there were 8 couples/groups and lots of good stuff. The first group that performed was a group of kids that looked fresh off the Swing boat. Steven Mitchell had just left so he didn’t get to see this, but the kids did the Jitterbug Stroll, and instead of starting on 8, they starting on 1. Not only that, but they did the song through in its entirety. Fun stuff and also rewarding to see a new group of lindy hoppers coming up the line. There were some other fun/great numbers, but the first one really stood out to me.
All in all, my time in Italy was amazing. But no surprise since it’s Italy!!!
Silvia, thanks for such a wonderful event. I can’t wait until next year!!!
