As mentioned in my previous post the venue for the first night of the Seattle Lindy Exchange would be the Rainier Chapter House, a historic site a couple of blocks from Broadway in the Capitol Hill area. The building itself was beautiful. Complete with pillars in the front, it was two stories tall, white, and had a stone patio. There were tables out front which were used later for cooling off in between dances. Registrants needed to check in just inside the front door, after which they entered a beautiful room containing a grand piano and fireplace. The walls around were adorned with old photos and paintings of historic scenes and figures. Here, the (amazingly designed) event t-shirts could be picked up.
At the time I arrived, the band hadn’t started up yet so I dumped backpack and jacket behind the piano and took the time to explore. Re-entering the main hall through a second doorway that emerged behind the registration desk, I spotted the doorway leading to the ‘Speakeasy’ (where alcoholic drinks would be served during the dance) and staircases leading both up and down. I went down first into a room where the first thing I spotted was a very large old safe door built into the wall. To the left were two doors, one leading into a men’s sitting room, and the other into a women’s. The bathrooms for each were on the opposite ends of the sitting rooms. The men’s room (I didn’t get a good look at the other) was decorated with old patriotic American posters.
I found the dance floor on the second floor of the building. The ceilings were curved in the corners and there was a performance stage at the end of the hall. The band was still setting up so I returned to the main floor. Here I met some of the attendees from Seattle and other places. The bulk of the Calgary and Edmonton dancers hadn’t yet arrived as they either had late flights or were still on their way by vehicle. In the end, there would be 12 Albertans present.
Around 9:00, the Loose Marbles began to play. They were excellent. They also played very fast swing and charleston-type music much of the time. I tried dancing a few songs, but between being over-tired from my early flight and subsequent tourism, having drunk copious amounts of coffee, having had a lack of recent practice, and having been intimidated by the skill of the other dancers, I couldn’t take too much dancing on the first night. I ended up in the Speakeasy as my energy waned, and continued to enjoy the music from below.
Before moving on to the late night dance (early morning dance, hours 1AM-5AM), our crew opted for a late supper at IHOP, a late night breakfast joint in the area. There we met Seattle Lindy hoppers, Rae and Mitchel. The food was passable (for most– one of our crew is allergic to gluten, and another found a clump of hair on her fork). For my part, getting food in my belly merely distracted my body from staying awake and I began to shut down.
Late Night with Seattle DJs
When we arrived at the late night destination, the Washington Dance Club, I was too tired to stand. I sat on the sidelines sleeping on my folded hands and waking periodically to the sound of music by local DJs. As I understand it, people had fun at this dance. It would have been nice to have been awake for it, but I was also glad to have spent my energy doing the touristy thing during the day. After catching up on sleep, I figured I’d be ready to go for the rest of the weekend.
At 4AM on Friday, August 1 I was off to the airport for an early departure to Seattle via Vancouver. I’ve never flown to the US through the Vancouver International Airport before but I have to say this airport really makes it a hassle. In order to transfer from a domestic flight to a US flight they make passengers traverse a very lengthy series of easy-to-locate corridors within the gate area (supposedly secure zone, having just disembarked from a plane) and then a well hidden hallway or two to the American customs desk. After the customs desk, they plop the passenger right back down in the unsecured area between the general use American customs desk and the guy who has to take his filled-out customs card after it’s been stamped. He will at this point be wondering, why not simply leave the secure area from the get-go and avoid the painful network of walkways entirely? Good question. Immediately afterward, because he’s now been placed in an insecure area, he has to go through the whole metal detector and carry-on xray process again (I already went through it before getting on my domestic flight due to Canadian travel requirements). It’s ridiculous. In any case, the flights themselves did go smoothly. As my roommate and three other Calgarians were traveling on the roads I sent my luggage with them rather than check it on the airplane. This way I was just carrying my backpack from flight to flight and didn’t have to worry about whether my luggage would arrive safely (I just didn’t know when exactly it would arrive).
Around 11 AM, I watched out the airplane window as my flight descended into Seattle and I caught a view (and a photo) of my first intended tourist destination: The Space Needle. The airplane landed cleanly and I disembarked, walking across the tarmac to the airport.
Seeking the Space Needle
Once inside the airport, I chatted for a few minutes with a Rosetta Stone salesman parked by the escalator before changing floors and boarding the tram to Departures. The tram itself amused me by virtue of the fact that its electronic announcements were voiced and displayed in English and Japanese only. Manufacturing defaults or strategic choice? You decide.
I had researched the airport-to-downtown transport situation prior to the trip to find the cheapest method available and fortunately Seattle has a very effective bus transit system to and from the airport (from/to a number of districts). I eventually (they were running behind schedule) caught the 194 to downtown. Downtown Seattle has an underground subway LRT system being built which currently has no trains but is set up so that busses can easily drive around in the same space. The LRT apparently won’t be finished until 2009, but for now the bus system seems to be quite effective.
After asking the right questions of a fellow passenger, I got directions to get off the bus at Westlake Center where I could buy tickets for and ride the monorail. I hadn’t even thought about riding the monorail and as described it was just the sort of tourist trap (/quick transport) I was looking for, what with being a tourist for the day and all. The monorail, having been built for the 1962 World’s Fair, was made explicitly to connect the Fair grounds (including the Space Needle) to the downtown core and appears to serve that purpose very well.
$2 and a short wait later and we were clunking down the rail. The whole trip takes just a few minutes and was probably more scenic prior to the construction of very tall buildings in downtown, but it still provided a decent view of the fair grounds as it approached.
I walked the short way from the monorail station to the base of the Space Needle preparing myself for a sizeable wait to get up judging from the length of the line. It took roughly 15 minutes to get a ticket and another 50 minutes or so to get to the elevator.
Once at the top I was greeted with a rather large crowd but also, an amazing view of the surrounding area. It was an incredible sight. While up top, the Blue Angels flew by several times in honour of Seafair. I had planned to eat up top but hadn’t counted on it being quite so busy. The restaurant had quite a long wait and I had more places I wanted to go. I stayed up top a while longer and then descended into the gift shop where I purchased a bag of Space Noodles (as one site puts it, “If you can’t eat at the Needle, eat the Needle”).
I left the gift shop and wandered up past the science center, watching the Blue Angels fly by again. Back down to Broad Street, I stopped at a Greek Café for a burger (yeah, what else) and found some free wifi which I used to scope out the rest of my afternoon and chat with friends.
Touring Seattle
Just up the street from the Space Needle was a tour company called Ride the Ducks. I had decided in advance of my trip that in spite of being incredibly silly, I’d give this tour a try so I could see more of the city than I would running around on public transit. As I approached the “Duck Dock”, I saw several ‘ducks’ drive into the lot playing obnoxiously loud music. This would be amusing. I purchased a ticket and after a half hour or so wait, I boarded a duck.
A brief rant here: both on the Space Needle and Duck tour, the staff took photos of me which, upon exiting the tour, they offered up prints of at an outrageous price. The Space Needle at least offered a digital copy, but this included a 1GB USB stick at a very high cost. I guess this is a good business strategy, maybe? I would imagine offering prints at a cheap price would result in far more purchases, and higher income. Frankly, I got enough photos up top to make my day without purchasing a photo of myself in front of a fake backdrop of Seattle. On the duck tour, there was nothing particularly astounding about the photo to justify the $20 purchase price. I bought neither and left content (though wondering what becomes of the waste photos).
Anyway, back to the duck. The vehicles are amphibious ‘ducks’ based on original WWII military craft. They can drive on land and drive right into the water where they can maneuver reasonably well.
Our tour guide “Greg Garyus” was a nut, but an informative nut. He was well researched on the history of the sites he showed us around. The trip tends to revolve around the driver’s antics and playing of loud popular music to get the passengers excited. Frankly, I was just there for the sights and information and could have done without the silliness, but it didn’t detract from the trip at all.
Greg drove us around downtown showing us all the major attractions (drive-by style) and provided us with history on each. Among the sights we were introduced to were: Qwest Stadium, Safeco Field, the Space Needle, the Experience Music Project, Pier 70, the Edgewater Hotel, the Pike Street Market, the entrance to old Downtown Seattle, and many other locations. Toward the end of the trip he drove us to Lake Union into which he easily navigated the vehicle.
On the whole, I was impressed by the tour. We returned back to the parking lot (at which point they tried to sell me the photo for $20 as I mentioned above) and I walked to the monorail station to return downtown.
Last Minute Wandering
At Westlake Center, I paused for coffee and to check out the bus schedules to get to the Rainier Chapter House, the first venue of the Seattle Lindy Exchange. I still had some time so from Westlake Center I walked (pausing only a couple of times for directions) to the Seattle Public Library, which I was assured was a sight to behold. I was not unimpressed when I arrived. The exterior of the building was almost all glass with an unusual shape that seemed to defy gravity. Very nice. I took a number of photos outside but was unable to enter due to a private event.
Finding the Venue
I decided at this point I should really go catch the bus. I hopped on the 14 (in error, I realized, as I had intended to catch the 49). By a stroke of luck the 14 took me almost as close to my destination as the 49 would have. As I passed the Rainier Chapter House, about 2 hours early, I ran into a fellow Calgarian, Leah, who I roamed up and down Broadway with for the next while. We walked down to the Sunday night venue, the Century Ballroom, for a sneak peak and then walked back up Broadway checking out the stores and stopping for coffee.
Based on all the individual Google Maps links posted on the Seattle Lindy Exchange website, I put together a map of the places I’ll be dancing and hanging out in Seattle.
Edit: I’ve modified this map (post-event) to show all the places we danced or hung out as part of the event (cyan) and all the places I/we visited outside of the event (yellow).
10:30AM. I really should have been up earlier but was pretty beat from the night of dancing and late bedtime. A quick shower, a quick change, and out the door. Again, I was aiming for the Métro, this time for Guy-Concordia Station on the Green Line. A short wait and ride later delivered me to Lasalle Station, which definitely had the coolest design of any of the stations I’d seen yet. From here, I needed to catch bus #58 which would take me down to the South of Verdun
I asked the driver to let me off at the Douglas Hospital (which the instructions told me was across the street from the event) though, as it turned out, there were enough swing dancers on board that I wouldn’t have had to worry about missing my target. At least a couple of faces were recognizable from the Friday night. So, when we reached our target most of the bus piled out and (as I would do so often that day) I joined the herd.
Swing l’été was still being set up as I arrived so I wandered a bit and snapped photos. The whole event would take place at a large, covered, outdoor dance floor looking out over the St. Lawrence River. A still moat separated the structure from the surrounding park and a bicycle/walking path with bridges provided the only means of getting to or from this isle of dance (ilovedance?). The shore around was covered in trees and other greenery. On the whole, it was a breathtaking site.
Shortly after I arrived, a childrens’ dance class started. The girl leading the class [Edit: named Laura Brunelle, thanks to Alain Fragman for the info] had them stepping out basic rhythms, running around, flapping their arms, and interpreting the music (quite a variety of genres) for quite some time. It was all very cute.
While I was seated on the sidelines, some girls came around handing out plastic leis. After some language confusion, it was explained that the white lei was for beginners and the yellow lei was for intermediate dancers. I went for the yellow and hoped for the best given the classes would be taught in French. Eventually, as more people showed up the event got underway.
The first of the intermediate classes was taught by Max Pitruzzella and Annie Trudeau, champion dancers. They taught the first part of a charleston routine. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too hard to follow even as taught in a different language, but I became confused (as usual) once I had to remember too many things in short order. I asked if I could film the routine and they said it would be performed in full later on and I was welcome to film.
The second class was in Balboa, and unfortunately I forget the teachers’ names [Edit:Patricia Brodeur and Frédéric Barbe, also champion dancers, thanks to Didier Jean-Francois for the info]. We learned a Bal-swing turn that’s quickly fading from my memory, unfortunately. It was a nice move at any rate.
[Edit: Didier Jean-Francois also mentions: "Both couples (Max & Annie + Patricia & Fred) teach for Studio 88-SWING at it's 4 Montreal locations"]
After the lessons and presentations, the social dancing began. At this point many more dancers were starting to arrive, of all different skill levels and specialties. For the most part what I saw was six-count dance. There were occasional 8-count dances, but mostly (as at Cat’s Corner the previous night), it seemed to be 6-count dance with 8-count variations thrown in. In chatting with one girl from Ottawa, she said the same thing–Montréal is a 6-count town. She was used to 8-count back in Ottawa and said it took some adapting.
I managed to get some 6-count practice in, but couldn’t remember anything fancy. Ah well. The 8-count I danced when I wasn’t completely tired (by the end of the dance I was exhausted) was, I think, pretty decent and well received. The follows were all wonderful and didn’t fail to look good and make me look good while dancing.
By the next batch of presentations, I had danced countless times and was having to drink water at an astounding rate due to the heat (27ºC at one point). I’m sure most of us were glad for the break.
I found a good seat, cleared some space on my camera, and began filming the presentations. First up, was Swing Connexion “Lite” with a fraction of the group’s total members. They did a charming Lindy hop routine to “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey”. They were followed by the larger part of Swing Connexion whose performance I, regrettably, didn’t have the space to record. I spent much of their routine clearing old data off my memory card so I’d have room to record the next act, which was Alain Fragman and Sylwia Bielec performing a very classy Lindy routine.
I’m starting to forget the exact order of events here, but at some point in the afternoon it was announced that everyone who had a birthday in the month of July should make their way to the centre of the dance floor. It took me awhile to clue in as the announcements were all in French, but eventually I asked what was going on and raced to the middle. There, a red lei was bestowed upon me to mark me and it was announced that we would be having a traditional birthday jam. A birthday jam circle in Montréal! I was ecstatic.
To fill in the non-dancers among my handful of readers, in a jam circle involves one or more individuals starting out in the centre of a ring of other dancers. Particular partners or random partners will join them in dancing at the start of the song and at random, other dancers will steal the original person from the previous partner. These can be a lot of fun.
After the (excellent) birthday jam, I was all set to go back to some ordinary Lindy hopping when it was announced that, oh no, the jam was not yet over. We would be participating in a birthday snowball!
A snowball, again for the non-dancers and perhaps the dancers who are unaware, starts exactly the same as a normal jam circle. The snowballing can occur in either of (probably at least) two ways:
A ‘caller’ shouts “SNOWBALL!” at which point all the couples break up and the individuals each seek out a new partner from the crowd, or
Pairs of dancers (lead/follow pairs) run into the circle at their leisure and perform a steal on each other couple.
At Swing l’été, the #1 method was used which confused me greatly until I figured out the caller was saying “snowball” in French. It was still great fun.
Also at a point in time I can’t make more specific, the whole group got together for a Shim Sham. I love how this seems to stay exactly the same no matter where you go. I actually managed to perform most of it, much to my delight.
Eventually, the dance came to a close and we all went our own ways. This event will definitely stand out in my memory for years to come, however. Thank you to everyone in Montréal for making me feel welcome.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed on Litui.Net reflect the personal views of Aron Burrell (litui) and are in no way representative of the views of any of the companies or organizations in which he is involved.
At the time I arrived, the band hadn’t started up yet so I dumped backpack and jacket behind the piano and took the time to explore. Re-entering the main hall through a second doorway that emerged behind the registration desk, I spotted the doorway leading to the ‘Speakeasy’ (where alcoholic drinks would be served during the dance) and staircases leading both up and down. I went down first into a room where the first thing I spotted was a very large old safe door built into the wall. To the left were two doors, one leading into a men’s sitting room, and the other into a women’s. The bathrooms for each were on the opposite ends of the sitting rooms. The men’s room (I didn’t get a good look at the other) was decorated with old patriotic American posters.
When we arrived at the late night destination, the Washington Dance Club, I was too tired to stand. I sat on the sidelines sleeping on my folded hands and waking periodically to the sound of music by local DJs. As I understand it, people had fun at this dance. It would have been nice to have been awake for it, but I was also glad to have spent my energy doing the touristy thing during the day. After catching up on sleep, I figured I’d be ready to go for the rest of the weekend.
Around 11 AM, I watched out the airplane window as my flight descended into Seattle and I caught a view (and a photo) of my first intended tourist destination: The 
After asking the right questions of a fellow passenger, I got directions to get off the bus at 
Once at the top I was greeted with a rather large crowd but also, an amazing view of the surrounding area. It was an incredible sight. While up top, the 
Anyway, back to the duck. The vehicles are amphibious ‘ducks’ based on original WWII military craft. They can drive on land and drive right into the water where they can maneuver reasonably well.
Shortly after I arrived, a childrens’ dance class started. The girl leading the class [Edit: named Laura Brunelle, thanks to Alain Fragman for the info] had them stepping out basic rhythms, running around, flapping their arms, and interpreting the music (quite a variety of genres) for quite some time. It was all very cute.
The first of the intermediate classes was taught by Max Pitruzzella and Annie Trudeau, champion dancers. They taught the first part of a charleston routine. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too hard to follow even as taught in a different language, but I became confused (as usual) once I had to remember too many things in short order. I asked if I could film the routine and they said it would be performed in full later on and I was welcome to film.
I found a good seat, cleared some space on my camera, and began filming the presentations. First up, was Swing Connexion “Lite” with a fraction of the group’s total members. They did a charming Lindy hop routine to “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey”. They were followed by the larger part of Swing Connexion whose performance I, regrettably, didn’t have the space to record. I spent much of their routine clearing old data off my memory card so I’d have room to record the next act, which was Alain Fragman and Sylwia Bielec performing a very classy Lindy routine.
To fill in the non-dancers among my handful of readers, in a jam circle involves one or more individuals starting out in the centre of a ring of other dancers. Particular partners or random partners will join them in dancing at the start of the song and at random, other dancers will steal the original person from the previous partner. These can be a lot of fun.
Entries (RSS)
