Merry Swingmas in Tucson, Arizona!

There is no place like HOME for the HOLIDAYS!

These days, with all the family long gone ... my SWING FAMILY really makes a BIG difference. 

All I need to do is travel across the country and walk in the door of the TUCSON SWING CLUB!!!

Matt Roundsville, Eleanor Schrandt, Scott Miller, Alex Diekman, Vera Tucker, Susan, Mary Carroll, Ellen Colonna, Rochelle Brown

Tucson, Arizona has the BEST west coast swing club in America.  This organization is run purely on volunteers who really CARE to bring quality of time and effort to this passion. It's well worth my schlepp (2 trains, 5 hr flight, 2 hr "Stagecoach" shuttle from Phoenix) to travel across America and join in on their CHRISTMAS PARTY.

Wendy Miller was honored with an award for her TREMENDOUS CONTRIBUTION to the swing community by the Tucson Swing Club board.

This was the HIGHLIGHT of the evening. No "Dance Professional" ever listened as compassionately to the concerns of the local dancers as our Wendy. 

WONDERFUL Wendy has worked with most of us over the years and everyone has benefited from her help!!!

Dinner was catered and it was AAAmazing Italian food by “Meatheads.” (http://meatheadscatering.planetsoho.com)

Tables were set out on one of the ballroom floors at "Shall We Dance" studio. I chose to sit with people I didn’t know.  It was a very interesting experience.
http://shallwedanceaz.com/

Who are the newest dancers at the Club?

My dinner companions included: Craig (left), a hospital administrator.

Sheila (left), an architecture student at UofA. (Another Larisa Tingle?)

Chris #1, a German soldier enjoying a semester of study at the UofA. 

Chris #2, a science Ph.D. candidate.

Andrew Strong, who owns Strong Brothers Moving, rounded out our dinner group.

Anyone smart enough to develop a successful business in such a transient, sun belt type of city as Tucson, will surely figure out this dance! 

(http://www.brothermover.com/moving.html)

Each of these new dancers holds a special talent that is just beginning to develop. They are wonderful assets to the club and I think they will all be quite good if they choose to stick with the dance.

Scott Miller was the DJ and he did an outstanding job of putting out superior quality music. 

He is the caliber of DJ who could be out there on the convention circuit with the celebrity DJs like Louie St. George and Beth Bellamy.

Scott outdid himself at this Christmas party!

Several of my FAAAVORITE dance partners went to the After Party in San Diego so I had to wait until the AAAwesome Monday night venue to catch up with them. Check it out ... that's Ricky Barfield on the left dancing with Susan Durst. 

Ricky got 2nd Place in Intermediate J&J and is now Advanced.

Nick Moor is sort of like a Pied Piper of Westie Tucson.

His latest venue is  “Movement Culture,” which is a yoga & fitness studio.

There have been a couple of incarnations of this Monday nite venue but the reality is that Nick has developed a hip & quirky gypsy-ish following.

This location is south of the UofA and north of downtown. Very NYC Tribeca-ish with high ceilings and lots of glass. The floor is so fast it seems to float!

Roseanne Crago, AAAmazing local comedian, is the DJ and she fits her music to the mood. It’s a funky groove by a variety of artists including some who are quite under the radar and that’s just what we want!

Movement Culture is located at 435 9^th Street. Music starts at 8:45pm and goes to 11:30ish. movementaz.org

No visit to Tucson is complete without Thursday nite at the Tucson Swing Club for a lesson and dance. 

Ellen Colonna (left with Scott Miller) … is a long time Tucson teacher. She gave the lesson with Tom Grubaugh.  Ellen is one of my all time favorite teachers.  She and Tom had a full floor of eager dance students.

Alex w fork in mouth ... 

And then we partied

Alex Diekman DJ’d and he was gooooood! 

Being one of the Tucson coooool kids, Alex was right on target with his tunes. I danced every dance and couldn’t get to every partner in the room before the night was over.

I am never so sad in my life as when I leave after the Thursday nite dance for the last time. 



After a week in my hometown … I’ve had enough yard work … 
plenty of Sonoran Mexican food …
caught up with my local friends …

savored every sunset … 

but the one thing I can never seem to get enough of … is time at the Tucson Swing Club.

My folks came from Boston to start a newspaper about a million years ago.

It felt like I was born and raised against my will in Tucson, it just never felt right. As soon as I got to New York City ... I discovered that there were many others from towns all over America who had the same feelings as me. NYC is an inside out kind of place. Everyone different fits in.

Me & Scott Miller

So, all thru my youth I dreamed of leaving and seeing the whole wide world. 

And, I surely did travel the world. I settled in New Jersey and spent my career in Manhattan. I made the BIG life happen. 

And now? All I dream of is coming home to Tucson.

Merry Christmas!