DANCEGOURMET WELCOMES JASON WAYNE!

Jason Wayne & Kim Brolet

Jason Wayne-ified the Connecticut dance community last Saturday 

and left them all asking for more ...!

For a while now, I've been hearing about a recurring event called: DanceGourmet. 

Workshops, food, dancing all sound good to me but its a bit of a trek for this New Yorker. 

This event has quite an AAAwesome rep so I made the journey.

Five times a year, Thomas Johnson puts on an special event.


He invites dance professionals from other regions (mostly) to give a fresh perspective on west coast swing in Hartford, Connecticut at the Circle of Life Ballroom.  

Mariel Manzone and Lou Klimoski

This is a real SERVICE!

 

Where else are these people supposed to be exposed to the wide variety of concepts developing in the larger
dance environment?

A lot of us are schlepping to the west coast for GOOD lessons. 

Thanx Tom, for bringing the lessons to us!

Jason was brought in from the San Francisco 
Bay area where both he and his wife Yvonne, have been dancing for 24+ years and teaching for 17+ years.

Country style was Jason’s first love but 
he teaches everything and he’s no slouch in
Lindy Hop!

The last time I saw Jason was during his final in the All American 
Jack n' Jill at Monterey Swingfest. 

He drew 12 year old Advanced level dancer Karla Catana 
(the next Jessica Cox).

Of course, they got 1st place. That's because Jason morphed into a 13 year old boy!

Monterey Swingfest and it's summer version, Jack & Jill O'Rama were AAAwesome!

http://www.centralcoastswingdance.com

As I walked into this place in central Hartford, I immediately ran into a bunch of my favorite New England dance friends that I hadn't seen lately.

Then I looked around the room ... and I thought ...

Chris Johnson and Ann Goulet

Westies are a unique breed. Lots of us like it funky! 

Doesn't matter whether it’s a dive bar or a church hall. 

As long as it has a comfortable “rec-room” quality,
good dance floor and ... music to move around in our jeans and 
broken-in dance shoes. 

              

That's what makes a westie happy!

 

Circle of Life Ballroom is a typical westie-type venue. The kind of place that everyone feels at home and can relax. Real people decorated that room in a fun way. 

No pretense, no arrogance and nowhere to hide!

Suzanne Hardwick and Steven Currier

The workshop series emphasized a musicality
approach. 

In California, dancers are not doing patterns so much.

Instead, they are responding to the music somewhat more organically. 

These workshops are very useful in that regard but I do think that a prologue was in order.



In the northeast, the only way this dance has ever been taught is by patterns and a strict flat count. 

It was wonderful that Jason explained and demonstrated three types of counting. 

Perhaps it would be helpful in the future for Thomas to create a written introduction to the course material.

Four workshops were offered: 

3:15 -- 4:15 Ground Floor Basics And Their Potential For Your Dance

4:30 -- 5:30 Critical Timing Skills

5:45 -- 6:45 Shuffle Techniques

7:45 -- 8:45 The Ultimate Continuous Move

We broke for dinner at about 6:45 pm and it was clear that Tom really enjoyed feeding us!

Dinner was deeelish!!! Caesar salad, two kinds of homemade soup (caramelized carrot and tomato cheddar), pulled pork sandwiches on whole wheat rolls and … of course … Muffkies! 

In case there is anyone on earth who doesn't know about it, 
Tom started a company whereby he makes and sells these
healthy muffin-cookies.

They're gluten free, low sugar and mostly made from
pistachios, whole rolled oats, butter, dried apricots, stone 
ground whole grain rice and white whole wheat flour. 

 http://www.muffkie.com/

At dinner, some of us got to chat with Jason and get to know the guy - not just the Pro. He told us the story of how he started dancing ... when he was 10 years old.

Out west, country nightspots are often family oriented (I know this because I was raised out west, too). When his mother got divorced, his grandmother advised her to get back in the saddle! She hitched up the wagon, piled her kids in the back and went out dancing. 

So ... an "energetic" 10 year old ... what's a kid to do? 

Certainly not his homework!

Jason Wayne and Kirsten Shaw

Jason has a very personable style. 

People like him right off the bat. The guy is just a guy who can dance really well! 

Watching Jason move, it seemed to me that what makes him so interesting to watch is that he lifts his center when he dances. 

This is what the guys want to look like. I suggest Jason bring some tools next time to help them out with this. 

After the workshops, there was a dance which was DJ’d by Robert Jacke. 

I was impressed! 

Bobby played it like he was sitting in for Victor Loviera at a major convention! 

The tunes were current and fresh. 

Every song was fun and inspired all kinds of interpretation. Here is a local budding DJ Superstar!!!

The dance party was AAAbsolutely excellent. It was mostly attended by the local Connecticut and Massachusetts dancers.

We were treated to a demo by Jason and
Mariel Manzone. 

In this dance, Jason fully demonstrates what
dancing to the music is all about.

She and Dave Damon drew straws to see 
which one would get to perform with Jason. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMfTtgu47Mc

But nothing could rescue Dave, since Jason has a wicked sense of humor!

After we watched the BEAUTIFUL Mariel dance 
with Jason – we watched the EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL Dave … fight with Jason over who was leading!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YWwJ46lPO4

Dave and Mariel have the very popular “Swing Dance Studio” in the Boston area. 

The northeast could use a lot more organization and structure in the dance community. 

If anybody is WILLING do it ... 

                                              

it'll be Dave and Mariel. 

http://theswingdancestudio.com/

If there is any question whether it was worth fighting the evil traffic to attend this event (about a 2 hour drive from the NYC metro area), I’ll let my friends do the endorsing.

Dave Cronin said: This is my 3rd time attending the Jason Wayne workshops a DanceGourmet. 

Jason genuinely cares about bringing up the level of his students. His workshops are fun, informative and cover key fundamentals missing from many local dancers, including me. 

After a delicious 5 course meal, Jason taught one last workshop involving a cool pattern. Jason danced all night and with everyone. 

He has an engaging, playful style that makes it both fun for his followers and spectators! (He's personally my favorite pro to watch. 

Social dancing was so good that a large group, including Jason, kept the event going an hour later than planned.

Pam Marshall (right with Tom Gendrachi) said: 

Jason's workshops are the perfect mixture of challenging concepts and hilarious moments. 

I came away with some great new ideas to work on that I can actually remember several days later.





Peter Khoo (left with Sue Heinz) said: 

I enjoy Jason Wayne's WCS lessons so much! 

Makes the trip up from NYC very worthwhile. 

My thanks to Jason, Tom and all involved in making this happen.






Vivian Young (right with Johanna Barnes) said: 

Thomas, thank you for organizing another workshop series from which I benefited. 

Jason Wayne's material, your delicious meals, talented dancers, good music made for a worthwhile trip.

Out in the SF Bay area, Jason & Yvonne run West Coast Swing University where the philosophy is “Don’t just take a dance class … Have an educational experience.” That sums up what many dance communities really need. 

Most regions have programs and learning structures in place for maximum success. The program is expanding and we may see one in Maryland. http://wcsstars.com/

They are also responsible for the Northern California Swing Dance Challenge 
where friendly and supportive competition is fostered. This is a 6 week program encouraging participation from several dance communities. The program doesn't just produce successful competitors, it develops good community relations.

I was quite disappointed that Yvonne was not at DanceGourmet with Jason. 

Yvonne is a UCWDC winner. (With her former husband Tony Gutch)

Yvonne is not a 20 year old ballerina the size of a peanut. This is a person who has something in common with the majority of us women.

Yeah, I know Jason is good whether he's teaching both leaders and followers ... nevertheless ... it just ain’t the same thing!

Chris Vartuli and Beth Farinha

This was my first DanceGourmet experience and I really enjoyed myself.  It was the kind of westie experience that us true addicts enjoy so much.

Yeah, lots of us do ballroom and tango. All dancing is fun. But west coast swing has a certain earthiness to it that seems to fit into our life journey.

Tom offered a comprehensive price which included all of the workshops, 

dinner and dancing for $75 ($55 to students).  

Individually, each workshop was $15 – dinner was $15 – and the dance was $10. 

East Hartford Community Cultural Center is in the downtown area at 
50 Chapman Place, East Hartford, CT.

Deborah and Davis Thurber

The next scheduled event is May 17, 2014 with Deborah Szekely. 

You can take the girl out of the city … you can send her to Texas … but she’ll always be a wise-ass New Yorker! We know this girl well. 

A true original ... she's got a Big heart and BIGGER mouth!!! 

And an interesting choice here: 

Lindsey Nastos and Joshua Sturgeon will be at DanceGourmet on September 20, 2014. 

I've seen these two Allstars on west coast. 

They’ll probably bring more groovin' style to the workshops.

As I drove back to the New York City metro area late Saturday night, the theme song to the Beverly Hillbillies kept singing in my head.  

Well now its time to say goodbye by to all the westies ... and their kin. 

And they would like to thank you folks fer kindly droppin' in. 

You're all invited back again to this locality ... 

To have a heapin helpin' of their westie hospitality!

West Coastie ... that is ... 

     Set a spell, and (please don't) take off your (stinky) shoes!

Y'all come back now, y'hear?

http://www.dancegourmet.com/