Black History Month

February was Black History Month. The elementary school where we were dancing A2 last night had a display case of mini-biographies of famous black Americans selected and prepared by the students.

There were images & commentaries of Langston Hughes, Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones, Condoleeza Rice and... Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson?

Well, he was African-American years ago... I'm not sure how he would self-identify anymore.

Black History Month

February was Black History Month. The elementary school where we were dancing A2 last night had a display case of mini-biographies of famous black Americans selected and prepared by the students.

There were images & commentaries of Langston Hughes, Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones, Condoleeza Rice and... Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson?

Well, he was African-American years ago... I'm not sure how he would self-identify anymore.

Plus Workshop

Today's Plus workshop went swimmingly. Indeed, it's hard to imagine going better.

In all, we had three squares (barely) on the floor; kent4str and I took turns dancing to ensure we had a third square as long as we could.

We brought a white board with markers so dancers could add their own ideas to the workshop list. We already had the entire 'spin' family (spin the top, all 8 spin the top, spin chain thru, spin chain the gears, spin chain & exchange the gears), 'peel off,' 'peel the top' and 'crossfire.' Dancers added 'load the f***ing boat,' 'chase right,' 'coordinate' and 'relay the deucey.'

I actually started the workshop with a thorough look at 'acey deucey,' largely to test the floor and establish to them my expectations. We tackled it from every position available: waves (lefty & righty), two-faced lines (lefty & righty), lines facing in & out, inverted lines, thar stars (righty & lefty) and such.

The thar stars were a useful segue into 'all 8 spin the top.' As a club, we do 'peel off' fairly well so I used it to reinforce the peel movement and then move on to 'peel the top.'

Technically, the workshop was 2.5 hours but since folks really wanted to address 'relay the deucey,' we stayed for an additional half-hour to cover as much as we could albeit down to two squares. I had hoped for enough time to do a left-handed 'relay the deucey,' but we did pretty well nonetheless.

There was some small chatter about an Advanced workshop before the upcoming IAGSDC convention... I'm looking forward to the possibility!

Plus Workshop

Today's Plus workshop went swimmingly. Indeed, it's hard to imagine going better.

In all, we had three squares (barely) on the floor; kent4str and I took turns dancing to ensure we had a third square as long as we could.

We brought a white board with markers so dancers could add their own ideas to the workshop list. We already had the entire 'spin' family (spin the top, all 8 spin the top, spin chain thru, spin chain the gears, spin chain & exchange the gears), 'peel off,' 'peel the top' and 'crossfire.' Dancers added 'load the f***ing boat,' 'chase right,' 'coordinate' and 'relay the deucey.'

I actually started the workshop with a thorough look at 'acey deucey,' largely to test the floor and establish to them my expectations. We tackled it from every position available: waves (lefty & righty), two-faced lines (lefty & righty), lines facing in & out, inverted lines, thar stars (righty & lefty) and such.

The thar stars were a useful segue into 'all 8 spin the top.' As a club, we do 'peel off' fairly well so I used it to reinforce the peel movement and then move on to 'peel the top.'

Technically, the workshop was 2.5 hours but since folks really wanted to address 'relay the deucey,' we stayed for an additional half-hour to cover as much as we could albeit down to two squares. I had hoped for enough time to do a left-handed 'relay the deucey,' but we did pretty well nonetheless.

There was some small chatter about an Advanced workshop before the upcoming IAGSDC convention... I'm looking forward to the possibility!

Ewww!

I just replaced the furnace filter. The old one was positively *fluffy*! Ick!

Ewww!

I just replaced the furnace filter. The old one was positively *fluffy*! Ick!

Hey!

I've been thinking of ordering some new shirts. Fortuitously, the JC Penny catalog arrived in the post this afternoon.

Women's wear is on pages 2-77. Men's wear is pages 78-85.

Do I detect a slight shopping imbalance?

Hey!

I've been thinking of ordering some new shirts. Fortuitously, the JC Penny catalog arrived in the post this afternoon.

Women's wear is on pages 2-77. Men's wear is pages 78-85.

Do I detect a slight shopping imbalance?