alain’s dance blog

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.

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.

This fall, there seems to be an explosion of new weekly dance events in Montreal. So no more excuses. There’s plenty of opportunities to dance!

Here’s an update on swing dance nights in Montreal.

1. Tuesday night at Les Bobards, 4328 St-Laurent, corner Marie-Anne. Live band at 10pm. This is organized by Patrick Evans and Swing Connexion. $5 cover. Of the two dances on Tuesday, this one is more appropriate for Lindy Hop. You can read a review on Carl’s blog.
2. Tuesday night at Le Petit Medley, 6206 St-Hubert, corner Bellechasse, near Beaubien metro. $4 cover and mandatory coat check. Organized by Studio88swing. A mix of swing, blues and rock and roll.
3. Wednesday Balboa practice at Studio Metronome, 4557 St-Laurent north of Mont Royal. Organized by Sylvain Tchang, who also teaches Balboa there. I’m not sure if this is regular, so you might want to ask just to make sure.
4. Thursday West Coast swing night at Union Francaise, 429 Viger Est near Champ-de-Mars metro. Run by Studio88swing. Music by Max Pitruzella.
5. Friday Downtown Stomp at Cat’s Corner, 486 St-Catherine West suite 303. $7 cover, crash course at 8:30pm, dancing at 9:30pm. My all-time favorite night of the week.
6. Saturday at Le Jazz Hot. Live band every week. $12 cover. Run by Studio88swing.
7. Sunday Swing’n Groove at La Porte Rouge, 1834 Mont-Royal East, corner Papineau. Music by DJ Daniel “Pocail” Champagne. Free. Starts around 8:30pm. I went to the first one last week, and boy did we party! The music played is not strictly jazz - you’ll be able to break out to a mix of Motown, funk, blues and soul.

So far this fall, my top three dance nights have been on Fridays at Cat’s, then Sunday at La Porte Rouge and to round it up, Tuesday at Les Bobards. But do try out every dance and make up your own opinion.

Last year, I helped some b-girl friends with their latest show, a fusion of break and swing.

I met Jodee Allen, co-owner of the dance company, a few years back when I volunteered for the Inner City Dance Project. We both gave of our time to provide young children with affordable $1 dance classes. Unfortunately, the project fell through. But we have stayed friends ever since. So when they pitched me their idea of creating a fusion of two street dances, I jumped on right away. And the result is amazing.

Why don’t people dance in couples anymore?

They premiered “Take It Back” at Espace Tangente last October, to a string of sold-out crowds. It got rave reviews in all the major newspapers. I was even wrongly credited for composing the musical score in La Presse. Here’s the official blurb about the concept.

TAKE IT BACK
With “Take it Back”, Solid State asks the question, ” Why don’t we dance in couples anymore?” It comes down to the idea that someone must lead and the other must follow. The popularization among urban youth of dancing in mass groups or the soloing format of street forms has created an environment where we dance how we want. Everyone is a leader. Who is willing to follow? So where did the role of the follower go? In an attempt to create a social partner dance for our generation, Solid State has paired the high physicality of B-boying (Breakdance) with the partnering structures of Lindy Hop (Swing) and the gestural abstractions of Contemporary Dance. The result of this fusion is a humourous yet profound look at our societal issues with trust, and the shift in our perception of gender roles.

Check out this article in the Montreal Mirror. Or these reviews in The Dance Current.

Their next performance is this weekend in Toronto, so if you have friends over in Hogtown, spread the word. If you’re in Montreal, you can catch “Take It Back” next month. The dancers are JoDee Allen (b-girl Feisty), Helen Simard (b-girl Cheeco), Raul Guevara (b-boy 4Everfresh), Joe Danny Aurelien (b-boy Dingo), Johnny Bien-Aime (b-boy Skywalker).

• Sept 8-9 2007, Dancemaker’s Center, Toronto, ON
• Oct 16th 2007, Theatre Outremont, Montreal, Q

Watch them dance at the Osheaga music festival last year in Montreal.

For more info, visit Solid State Break Dance.

Next week, we’re having our second Battle of the Swing DJs at Cat’s Corner. It’s going to be a tag team battle AC vs. DK.

In the old school corner, we’ve got DJ Danny-O, head DJ at the Canadian Swing Championships for the last six years, and superman DJ “Ka-El” Karrwright Lee, who just got back from Japan. I had to convince Karrwright to come out of retirement for this one, so this will be a rare occasion to see one of the Montreal originals in action.

In the newcomer corner, we’ve got the youngsters from Cat’s, DJ Carl Nelson who will be DJing at the upcoming Albany Chill, and DJ Alain Wong (me).

Don’t miss it. It’s gonna be violent.