alain’s dance blog

Mike Faltesek, one of my favorite Lindy Hop dancers, came to visit Montreal this past September, and I decided to paint a t-shirt for him. I combined two elements, the famous picture of him doing a lowdown, and his lovely blue bike. As it turned out, he looks more like a kung fu dude than a Lindy Hopper.

Because more than 50 Montrealers are going to ALHC, we moved our Halloween swing dance to November 2nd.

The Cat’s Corner Halloween theme this year is the Undead. Zombies, vampires, ghosts, mummies (and anything that lives between life and death…perhaps your boring chemistry teacher?) will be welcome in our jazzy cemetary. Bring your imagination, your lust for death and… your dance shoes of course. Be prepared for surprises and a prize for the best costume.

Here are some pictures from last year’s Pirate Halloween swing dance party at Cat’s:

Shona Harris interviewed Fred and me during the Dance Museum show broadcasted every Thursday from 2-3pm at CKUT 90.3 FM, Montreal’s McGill campus community radio. We’ve been on this show before with Katherine Blekinsop, and it’s always a pleasure to talk about the swing dance scene in Montreal.

You can listen to the CKUT interview (26 mins). I apologize to Fred for cutting him off and monopolizing some of the answers. After listening to the interview, I realized I need to improve my interview skills. I need to work on listening, on enunciating and on being less of a control-freak. And maybe brush up on my dance history.
Oh, and if there are inaccuracies in our answers, please let me know. I definitely don’t pretend to know everything.

It was cool doing the interview. Thanks Shona! And tune in to CKUT 90.3 FM, the voice of artists in Montreal.

The AARP Bulletin (American Association of Retired Persons) features an interview with Frankie Manning this month.

Frankie Manning is 93 years old and still teaches Lindy Hop today. He’s living proof that dancing keeps you young.

I’ll be seeing him at The American Lindy Hop Championships in two weeks. Sweet.

I had met Dianne Eramo a few times in Lindy Hop events, but only got to know her a few weeks ago at Showdown when she shared a hotel room with us Montrealers. She’s an awesome person and inspiring dancer, and she totally deserved making the final in the Solo blues contest there.

So when she told us she intended to visit Montreal in November, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to inspire Montrealers with her dancing.

So here it is, straight from New York City for the first time, two drop-in classes on Saturday November 3rd with Dianne Eramo. It’s gonna be hot!

Here’s a video of Dianne and Lee Tucker winning the Strictly at Wicked Lindy in Boston 2007.