July Newsletter
SUMMER IS HERE!
Summer at Sugar Swing arrived in full force with Summer Solstice! What a party...we cannot thank enough everyone who organized, participated, volunteered, and danced the night away! We are already anticipating next year's festival.
Summer at the Ballroom is full of July classes, fringe shows, and outdoor dances. That's right -- you told us how much you love dancing outside, so we're making an effort to have a bunch of outdoor dances this summer. They're a fantastic way to enjoy the summer sun as well as Edmonton's beautiful green spaces. They take some extra work though! If you'd like to pitch in, watch for volunteer callouts from Kamyar Pooyeh and our other outdoor dance organizers. And stay tuned on Facebook or visit our website for all of the summer updates!
Lastly, some big news: the Ballroom building, owned by the C3 church, has been sold. While this is sad, it's not an entirely bad thing. We are still running fall classes at the ballroom, and in fact, are pumping up the volume with more classes and options! We are currently looking for a new and better place, just as accessible and hopefully bigger. The swing community has been so supportive that we are confident we can find a great new space for the Sugar Foot Ballroom.
Lastly, we have to SPAM you...due to the new Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation we require your consent to continue sending you this fancy newsletter. For consent, please click the following email dance@sugarfootballroom.com and press send. Thanks!
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Upcoming Classes
Beginner Swing
Jitterbug Swing: Charleston at 7:10pm, Wednesday, July 9
Jitterbug Swing: Jive at 8:20pm, Monday, July 14
Intermediate/Advanced
Lindy Hop 2A at 6pm, Wednesday, July 9
Lindy Hop 2C at 6pm, Monday, July 14
Lindy Hop 3F at 7:10pm, Monday, July 14
Partnered
Bal-Swing 2C at 8:20pm, Wednesday, July 9
Solo
Solo Jazz 2C at 6pm, Tuesday, July 8 - Drop-ins welcome!
Specialty
Practice Session – Saturdays at 6pm
Only $5 - Practice, refine, and have space to move!
Fall Schedule
Our fall schedule of classes is coming soon -- please stay tuned!
Weekly Dance Update
**Please note that some events, especially outdoor dances, are not fully confirmed because they depend on variables such as weather. Make sure to follow and check our Facebook page for the most current updates on dances!
Thursday Dances – click here!
Friday and Saturday Dances – click here!
Volunteering – click here!
Thurs July 3 - Jump Session
Fri July 4 - Outdoor dance
Sat July 5 - Sugar Foot Stomp
Thurs July 10 - Ivory Blues
Fri July 11 - No dance
Sat July 12 - LIVE! Sugar Foot Stomp w/ Sexual Chocolate
Thurs July 17 - Jump Session
Fri July 18 - Balboa Formal
Sat July 19 - Sugar Foot Stomp
Thurs July 24 - Ivory Blues
Fri July 25 - No Dance
Sat July 26 - Sugar Foot Stomp
Thurs July 31 – Jump Session
Fri Aug 1 - Outdoor (to be confirmed)
Sat Aug 2 – Sugar Foot Stomp
Check our Facebook page and website for upcoming special dance events at the Ballroom!
Facebook
Events
Edmonton Special Events
Outdoor dances all summer long! Check out the calendar on the website for dates and locations for our around-town Friday Night Stomp!
Lindy Harvest - A Sugar Swing workshop weekend featuring world-class intructors and amazing music! Edmonton, AB, October 16 - 19
In Alberta...Canada West... Beyond
Summer of Blues Workshop Series - Winnipeg, MB, July 25-27
Northern Comfort Blues - Ottawa, ON, August 1-3
Capital City Stomp - Victoria, BC, September 5 - 7
Rhythm City Mess Around - Vancouver, BC, September 26 - 28
Lindybout IX - Vancouver, BC, April 10-12, 2015
International Summer workshops
Herrang Dance Camp - Herrang, Sweden, June 28- Aug 2
Studio hop Summer Camp - Toulouse, France, July 28 - August 24
International Lindy Hop Championships - Washington, DC, August 21 - 24
Camp Hollywood - Los Angeles, California, August 29 - September 1
Balboa Castle Camp - Beesenstedt Castle, Germany, September 8-15
Music City Shuffle - Nashville, TN, November 21 - 23
Thank You's
We want to give a massive and heartfelt thank you to all of the amazing people who helped make the Summer Solstice Swing Dance Festival such an amazing weekend! In no particular order, these are the folks whose efforts made the event truly unforgettable.
Lindsay found housing for all the wonderful out-of-town dancers who came to dance with us. It was a huge job and she took care of it all. And thank you to everyone who opened their homes to our guests; it really shows how welcoming and friendly our scene is when we can host so many people.
Justin and Amber put together an impressive menu and it really raised the bar for dance event food! Shout outs to our food volunteers Nicole, Sierra, Adam, Nicolette, Michael, Rob, Ariel, Sophia and many more!
This beautifully-decorated event look with its night-and-day theme was courtesy of Breanna and Caitlin and their team of volunteers Derek, Nathan, Hannah, and Ashley along with others. These folks put in hours and hours of preparation and setup. You guys really outdid yourselves.
Thank you John Marian and Krystal Moss for documenting the event, as well as Chris Kuchmak and everyone else who took photos of the event! With your great photos and video we will be able to look back at this event for years to come.
Julie organized an entertaining Cabaret with great talent! We are very proud to be a part of a scene with so many gifted dancers, singers, and musicians.
A big thanks to Ben and Tanzi for being our Masters of Ceremonies, keeping everyone informed and maintaining the flow of the event all weekend long. We really appreciated your improv and joke-telling skills when a little extra setup time was needed between presentations!
Caitlin Wilshire organized the second annual gelato crawl, and it was a great time. An extra shout out for having the most creative vintage swimsuit – your diving helmet was so cool! Also, thank you to our gelato crawl ambassadors.
Jenna, thank you for doing such great graphic design work on this year's promo material, website, and t-shirts!
Thank you Derek, Jamie, Keanu, Kirsten Horton, Miriam, Arielle, Caitlin, Ben, Marie, Amandine, Keith, Alicia, Krista, Tanzi, Rhema, and Nicola for working reception, watching the hot tub, and manning the bar all weekend and until all hours! We could not have done it without you!
The disc jockeys that played this weekend were off the hook! Thanks to Kamyar, Tom, Harrison, Sarah, Leah, and Roger for keeping up with the bands. You guys have great taste and great skill at keeping the dance floor packed for hours.
Kamyar and Tom: thank you both for being our sound technicians for the weekend. And to Kam for also being our lighting tech! The bands sounded great no matter where they were playing and we loved the lighting you set up.
We want to give a huge thank you to the hardworking musicians who, in some cases, travelled long distances to play hours of world class swing music: Aurora Neeland, Ian Hutchison, Brad Shigeta, Al Muirhead, John McCaslin, Josh Roberts, Dean Pierno, Tom van Seters, Ben Sures, the Bullies of Basin Street, and Read and his Happy Hep Cats. Your music was inspiring and an absolute delight to listen and dance to!
Thank you Julie, Beth, Peter, Ian and Justin for your great Fresh Prince of Solstice Rap! Ha! It was also awesome to see everyone enjoying the hilariously nostalgic bad music hour (including revenge of the banana phone), and to be dazzled by the relentless contestants in the Jedi Jack and Jill. You guys really know how to show your lindy love.
We had many helpers at the hot tub, but we truly want to recognize Lloyd for providing his camper for the weekend and setting that up for us, and especially for moving it at 5am Sunday. What a guy!
Finally, we want to thank everyone who attended the event and who helped in big and small ways to make this event so special. It is our amazing community of people who really make this event so fun to be a part of. Our list of helpers exceeds 50. Yes, 50! This means that we may have missed a few people, and for that we apologize. Edmonton, you really know how to make our guests feel welcome. And guests, you really make us feel special when you come to visit!
See you all next year! Love,
The Solstice Team
Birkley Wisniewski and Read Fenton
And, a shout out to all of our June dance volunteers!
Remembering Frankie Manning
…Lindy Hop has come to be synonymous with the joyful energy and loving cameraderie that marks the global community, and THAT is the greatest gift that Frankie has left us. He left us his heart.
In honour of the legend, we remember the life of FRANKIE MANNING.
In swing dance the constant name that is referenced is the late, great Frankie Manning. His 100th birthday was just celebrated around the world by thousands of lindy hoppers, and dancers alike. His devotion to the history, preservation and progression of swing into contemporary society filters into the world swing dance community. If you don't know the man, take some time and learn as much as you can. He's an inspiration!
"Always gracious and kind, he was old school—treat your dance partner like they’re the most important thing in the world—because they are, at least for a song. The love and respect he gave came back to him in spades." - from memories of Frankie Manning
Videos:
Frankie Manning & Norma Miller 1990 - Part 1
Frankie Manning & Norma Miller 1990 - Part 2
Bookings
Mad Cat Swing - This swing dance performance group usually sends out 2, 4, or 6+ dancers to entertain or teach people at both private and public events, such as continuing care centres, schools, corporate events, birthdays, weddings, and festivals. You name it!
Private Lessons - Julie, Birkley, and Krystal regularly offer private lessons from beginner to advanced levels, either in their home studios or at the ballroom. Contact them for yours!
Rentals - The Sugar Foot Ballroom is available to rentals! It is also available for very-affordable rehearsal bookings in the $8-$18/hr range. Check out
Rentals and Bookings.
A Little Inspiration
Here's your inspiration, no words, just videos.
Our very own, Julie Kiraly, in CSC Showcase finals
WOW! Hellzapoppin' Finals at Frankie 100
Get Connected
For more information on classes or the Sugar Swing community, visit us at:
www.sugarswing.com
www.sugarfootballroom.com
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